Investing for children

[Comacchio]

We've recently had twins and they've been gifted a few quid each so far to start their piggy banks - got me to thinking that whilst they're growing up it might be an idea to teach them the value of putting some money away and letting it grow over time - birthday money etc being split in 2 - some spend now money and some spend later money.

I've done some very light reading on children's S&S ISAs (£9k PA, money transfers to them at 18) but haven't seen much for twins - my thinking is that 1 S&S ISA with the money pooled will return a higher profit than 2 individual accounts with the money split between, but this may be flawed?

Has anyone else done something like this for their children? I already have a Vanguard account, so that would be my preferred platform so that it's all managed in the 1 place.

[alscar]

Congratulations.
You might avoid duplication of charges with one account but doubt this would make a huge difference in profits.
We had 3 children ( separately !) and each had their own savings as such.

[nickfrog]

I couldn't resist grabbing the yearly £720 free money from HMRC by paying £2,880 into a pension for my kids on a few occasions when they were young. They will either hate me for it as they might have preferred the cash even if substantially less. Or they'll thank me for the compound interest over the years when they can finally get it. They have a good spend / save balance as it is so I never felt the need to tell them.

[MrJuice]

where's the money invested if you don't mind me asking?

[VeeReihenmotor6]

I opened an additional couple of accounts with H&L as children's stocks and share ISAs. They don't have access until they are 18. I did them both at the same time when the 2nd child was born and they both have exactly the same amounts in their accounts. I save monthly into them.

I see their accounts within my own H&L account so nice and easy to manage.

They also get little bits of birthday money which goes into a cash kids saving account and they physically walk to the bank to cash their money. Some of it they keep at home in their piggy bank for spending too.

[thekingisdead]

Monevator.com covered investing for children this week
I think one of the comments suggested using a SIPP as it will avoid the child getting their mitts on a potentially large amount of money on their 18th.

[nickfrog]

MrJuice said:

where's the money invested if you don't mind me asking?

A global equity tracker fund.

[Arranguez]

We have used my wife’s ISA allocation (last year) to invest with one of the IM funds. There is the advantage of retaining access control.

[22s]

Definitely worth having a chat with these guys: https://www.withnosso.com/

They specialise in children accounts and have a bunch of options they can help you with inc. JISAs, Bare Trusts, etc etc

[CrgT16]

I have done JISA and pension from the age of 2. Pension y it s growing very well. Compound interest and all that.

I don’t miss the money and it might free up some of his wages in the future to enjoy life a bit more if he wants.

[PeteinSQ]

One of my sons has an ISA set up with Hargreaves Lansdowne. Advantage of this is you can choose from almost any fund or equity.

The younger son's ISA is set up directly with Vanguard. I did this because I'd basically come around to the idea of putting everything in a low cost global tracker and most of the older child's money was sat inside a HL ISA invested in Vanguard funds.

Another advantage of Vanguard is that you can see any ISA of yours and your kids with the same login.

[DoubleSix]

HL recently scrapped fees for JISAs.

The ‘I’ in ISA stands for individual. So any monies will legally be in the name of that individual with administrative privileges passing to them at 16.

Think carefully.

[WhiskyDisco]

I've invested for all 4 of my kids, plus money for my twin nephews.

I used F&C, which turned into B&O, which is now Threadneedle. The funds have seen steady growth. The platform is pretty much as it always has been, low charges of £15 per annum (or every 6 months, can't recall). You can invest in up to approx 11 funds.

Worth looking into. I managed to build up quite a bit before I stopped investing. The money can't be touched until the child is 18, and it builds up quite a bit until it can get a bit unhealthy.

[okgo]

thekingisdead said:

Monevator.com covered investing for children this week
I think one of the comments suggested using a SIPP as it will avoid the child getting their mitts on a potentially large amount of money on their 18th.

Is also fairly useless to most people at the tail end of their lives when all the heavy lifting financially has been done?

I’m doing JISA, will decide whether to intercept his post when he’s 17.

I guess you can do both, personally £9k per annnum is more than enough to be getting on with.

[DoubleSix]

okgo said:

thekingisdead said:

Monevator.com covered investing for children this week
I think one of the comments suggested using a SIPP as it will avoid the child getting their mitts on a potentially large amount of money on their 18th.

Is also fairly useless to most people at the tail end of their lives when all the heavy lifting financially has been done?

I’m doing JISA, will decide whether to intercept his post when he’s 17.

I guess you can do both, personally £9k per annnum is more than enough to be getting on with.

As I mentioned above, the ISA provider will be writing to your child at age 16. So you’ll need to be engaging with them (or the postman) before that…

[alscar]

WhiskyDisco said:

I've invested for all 4 of my kids, plus money for my twin nephews.

I used F&C, which turned into B&O, which is now Threadneedle. The funds have seen steady growth. The platform is pretty much as it always has been, low charges of £15 per annum (or every 6 months, can't recall). You can invest in up to approx 11 funds.

Worth looking into. I managed to build up quite a bit before I stopped investing. The money can't be touched until the child is 18, and it builds up quite a bit until it can get a bit unhealthy.

I did the same for my 3 children and then when they all turned 18 converted the accounts into ISA’s in their names and removed myself as trustee.
Afaik all 3 still have them intact and the original investment has trebled since first invested.

[alscar]

Meant to add - at the same time we started each child’s F&C account we also bought them some Premium Bonds and started a building society high interest ( lol ) account.

[Comacchio]

Thanks all - individual JISAs it is. I'm neither powerfully built nor a company director, won't be £900 a year never mind £9000!