# baby savings account



## shane_ctr (Dec 17, 2006)

hey guys little one is only 5 days old and would like to set up a savings account fairly soon. as some family and friends have given her some money. i would also like to put some in monthly as would grandparents.

any recommendations?

ps i keep reading about government helping with £250 to start savings how do i get this


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

How about premium bonds?

Edit: perhaps not looking at the rates, etc of them now :lol:


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## empsburna (Apr 5, 2006)

Depends on how much you want to pay in and how willing you are to look after it and if you want it to earn any interest (you might get 8k ish tax free allowance a year).


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

Afraid to say the £250 is no longer available. I believe it was for children born upto 1/1/11 or around there.

Nowadays you cant start a child trust fund but what you can do is apply for a junior ISA. Maximum per year is £3,600 and can be invested in cash or stocks & shares as per a normal ISA. Only issue is that once invested you cant withdraw the money until the child is 18

EDIT: More info http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTa...ngsAndInvestments/ISAsandJuniorISAs/DG_199672


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Hi,

We did this for our daughter about 3 months ago. We went with a Smart Junior ISA from nationwide.

No withdrawals can be made until she is 18 and all her Birthday and christmas money will be going in there.

We also put her Child benefit in there at the moment.

For some reason that i can't remember, we didn't get the £250. I think it is limited to the type of account you can have. Or has been stopped. Like i say, i can't remember.


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## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

My little girl is 4 weeks old so i really need to look into this, she currently has over £500 in here pot already just from family and friends.

She has more savings than me at the moment!


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## kh904 (Dec 18, 2006)

I think an Isa is a good idea for family members to put money in, but imo, if you are to invest for your children i'd buy gold sovereigns/britannia coins. 

It's unlikely the interest rates will keep up with the rate of inflation (the real rate is higher than the official figures suggest), so you are effectively losing money.
When ever the government 'print' (it's now usually a computer key stroke) money it destroys the value of existing money - so all this quantitative easing is killing savers (along with low interest rates).
Gold & silver are a safe haven against inflation (on average it's beaten house prices iirc). Sovereign's & Britannia's are also CGT-free as they are Currency.

Being from an asian family, i know many asians invest in gold (usually in the form of jewellery) - not the cheap 9ct stuff but 22ct/24ct.

However, like any investment the value can also go down!


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Get used to that mate.

It's great though to see her future appearing before your eyes. It gives saving a whole new meaning.

Just her £20 per week Child allowance will be £16K by the time she's 16.

Hopefully University will cost her nothing. We'll see.


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## kh904 (Dec 18, 2006)

Gruffs said:


> Get used to that mate.
> 
> It's great though to see her future appearing before your eyes. It gives saving a whole new meaning.
> 
> ...


While £16k sounds a lot (it is), in 16 years time it wouldn't purchase what you think it will. You will need to periodically check if the interest rates beat inflation, otherwise like i've said you have less purchasing power as prices i will have risen quite a bit in 16 years time.
Currently the max uni's charge is 9K a year, which means around £27K if it's a 3 year course - that's assuming the fees won't have risen in 16 years time!

What a joke this country is! People who try & do the right thing and save for a rainy day of for their family's future are being ripped off (effectively robbed/pick pocketed by the government)!


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## dubb (Aug 27, 2009)

I think when the time comes for us I'll be looking into some form of ISA. Just setup a standing order with my account and withdraw X amount of money.


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

kh904 said:


> While £16k sounds a lot (it is), in 16 years time it wouldn't purchase what you think it will. You will need to periodically check if the interest rates beat inflation, otherwise like i've said you have less purchasing power as prices i will have risen quite a bit in 16 years time.
> Currently the max uni's charge is 9K a year, which means around £27K if it's a 3 year course - that's assuming the fees won't have risen in 16 years time!
> 
> What a joke this country is! People who try & do the right thing and save for a rainy day of for their family's future are being ripped off (effectively robbed/pick pocketed by the government)!


Ah yes but that's just her Child allowance. There will be more than that. Short of buying a load of gold, there is little else i can do about it. I have what i have and that's it.

The monetary system is what it is.

Besides, I hope that I will be quite well off by the time she goes to Uni (if she goes). She definitely will NOT be backpacking on my money.

The plan is 3rds.

1/3 for her long term savings (this),
1/3 for short term savings (whatever she wants to save for)
1/3 to do what she wants with (hopefully split in half between the other two for the first 8-9 years until she wants stupid amounts of clothes and hair straighteners etc.


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## Glaschu (Sep 16, 2012)

kh904 said:


> While £16k sounds a lot (it is), in 16 years time it wouldn't purchase what you think it will. You will need to periodically check if the interest rates beat inflation, otherwise like i've said you have less purchasing power as prices i will have risen quite a bit in 16 years time.
> Currently the max uni's charge is 9K a year, which means around £27K if it's a 3 year course - that's assuming the fees won't have risen in 16 years time!
> 
> What a joke this country is! People who try & do the right thing and save for a rainy day of for their family's future are being ripped off (effectively robbed/pick pocketed by the government)!


To put things in perspective, to have the same buying power today that £16k would have had 16 years ago you would need roughly double that amount. If we return to the higher rates of inflation seen in previous years you may well find the. "real" value diminishes to a third or less....


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## mlgt (Apr 11, 2008)

I've also been researching some of this and whilst my daughter is coming up to 8 weeks I think what we will do is open 2 accounts.

One is Halifax Regular Saver 6% AER but after the first year it differs back to a standard rate of 2.25% and goes up each year you are with them.

Another is Junior ISA at Nationwide which the drawback as some have already said is that it cannot be touched until 18 years.

I will do the same and put in the £20 per week into this account and just leave it mature. Pocket money and birthday money will also go into this.

Some fixed bonds require a £500 minimum deposit. But would anyone know if this needs to be topped up with £500 at a time or can I simply put in the £80 per month into this?

Heres some useful reading and do share your findings

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/child-savings-tax-free


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## shane_ctr (Dec 17, 2006)

cheers guys plenty to read and look at


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

mlgt said:


> I've also been researching some of this and whilst my daughter is coming up to 8 weeks I think what we will do is open 2 accounts.
> 
> One is Halifax Regular Saver 6% AER but after the first year it differs back to a standard rate of 2.25% and goes up each year you are with them.
> 
> ...


I had the miss fortune to work for a bank for 4 months 

Some on the fixed rate bonds can be topped up with in a time frame eg 4 weeks and some can't depends on the product, that was for the bank i worked for not sure if they are all the same.


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