Best way to save to give my two neices £1500 when they're 18

[AndyT77]

So i'd like to suprise my little nieces with some cash when they turn 18, which is 12 years away for one, and 15 years for another.

Thinking about it £1500 won't sound like much that far into the future, but i think it will be a nice little suprise for them both.

Has anyone got any advice on the best way to set something like this up? Ideally i'd want the money (which equates to approx £5 a week), transferred into some kind of untouchable account.

Thanks.

[Stevenj214]

Untouchable by who?

You could:

Open a bank account for them and pay it in.

Premium Bonds.

Children's Bonus Bonds.

Child Trust Fund (if they have one).

[Paul O]

Open an account in your name, but note the accounts in your will, leaving to them incase anything happens to you.

Doesn't need to be in their name and still allows you control (if you want to give it to them a before or after that date for whatever reason).

[sidicks]

AndyT77 said:

So i'd like to suprise my little nieces with some cash when they turn 18, which is 12 years away for one, and 15 years for another.

Thinking about it £1500 won't sound like much that far into the future, but i think it will be a nice little suprise for them both.

Has anyone got any advice on the best way to set something like this up? Ideally i'd want the money (which equates to approx £5 a week), transferred into some kind of untouchable account.

Thanks.

I'm no expert, but aren't child trust funds designed for exactly this purpose?

Tax free saving too.

I don't think you can open one on behalf of someone else's child, but yoou can certainly add money to and existing one!

With 12 and 15 years respectively until reaching 18, there is scope to invest in someone which might produce a higher return than cash, but obviously there are associated risks and poor performance could leave the fund value lower than intended. It's up to you what risk you want to take!

Sidicks

[Benny Saltstein]

The new Junior ISA would probably suit. Its only open to children who missed out on the CTF and they can't get their mits on it until they're 18.

Hargreaves Lansdown are offering one from 1st November.

http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/junior-isa

[Sir Bagalot]

AndyT77 said:

So i'd like to suprise my little nieces with some cash when they turn 18, which is 12 years away for one, and 15 years for another.

Thinking about it £1500 won't sound like much that far into the future, but i think it will be a nice little suprise for them both.

Has anyone got any advice on the best way to set something like this up? Ideally i'd want the money (which equates to approx £5 a week), transferred into some kind of untouchable account.

Thanks.

I find all kids accounts pay useless amount of interest these days. All of ours are in a seperate jar at IF in my Wifes name. You just have to be disciplined enough not to touch it.

[The Ferret]

Stevenj214 said:

Open a bank account for them and pay it in.

Surely this would be the easiest way, ask the parents to set the account up then give you the account details. You can then set a standing order for £x per month and thats it. If anything were to happen to you the IHT problems are totally avoided and you also avoid the grief associated with trusts/wills.

Assuming the parents are remotely trustworthy then its got to be the easiest way. Just dont expect any kind of return on the cash, kids accounts seem to be the worst for paying interest from what I found when we set ours up last year.