Child bank accounts

[NinjaKitty]

I want to open a bank account for J before Christmas as there are lots of family abroad who want to give him something. However as I don't want him to be inundated with toys, he's only one wee boy after all and doesn't need the equivalent of Santa's grotto so I thought it'd be best if some people put direct into his bank account.

However I'm finding childrens bank accounts to be a minefield. How do you go about choosing?

 

[LikeJohnnYoko]

No advice but keeping an eye on thread as am opening one for my future niece when she's born.

I guess as a starting point - what kind of account do you want? Something you can't touch the money in ever, one that has access so you can spend his money on things as and when he needs them? Do you care much about gaining interest on it (hard job in the current climate)?

 

[NinjaKitty]

I think something that is ringfenced until he is old enough. I want to save for his future, maybe for his education or at least a start in life which seems to be harder and harder to achieve financially.

 

[tweetyfoo]

I have no advice either, but I want one for my LO too .. so will be stalking!

 

[Hope81]

Not the same ofc but we made an account in our bank, a normal account with automatic orders or around 50 euros each so 100 euros per month to go to this new account from our salaries. the account is in our name so we will see if we use it for her studies or buying her a car or just as a start in her life after she gets married etc...
As all of our relatives are abroad when she will be old enough to understand we will use a piggy bank for her to visualize the money and decide how to spend them and the consequences that come from the way that she does it. So if grandparents want to sent her money and they cant be here to personally do that they sent to that new account and we will put money on the piggy bank. If there is a big amount of money some they will remain as savings to her account.
All that hassle firstly because we want to use a piggy bank that's more appropriate for teaching reasons than a bank account for small children and second because looking around at the special kid accounts we realized that they actually have less interest than the normal ones

 

[Hope81]

Must say that's in Norway though so maybe you have better deals there

 

[NinjaKitty]

Sadly I think decent interest rates are a thing of the past. I'll settle for one that has acceptable interest rates and that can be moved if the account policy becomes rubbish. I don't want he money to become stagnant like an account my brother set up for his daughter. It was under the government scheme where they deposited £250 for every newborn child. The scheme is now defunct and the account generating nearly no interest at all. Due to the nature of the account the money cannot be moved elsewhere

 

[jaybay]

There are lots of accounts available for kids!

Most banks will let you open a "custodial account", which means the account is in their name but they can't access the account or use it without you until you drop off the account or they are 18. You can do a joint account with your kids, you are both equal on the account. There are also some banks that do "club accounts", where you get the account for a term and then get cut a check when the term is up. There are also "maturity fund accounts", where you can set it up so that no one (including you, hubby, kids, anyone!) can take any money out of the account until it reaches XXX dollar amount (they are usually set up in increments of 1,000's).

I hope this helps! All through college I worked at a bank lol, passing on the knowledge I suppose!

 

[leesey]

We opened a Junior ISA for Alyssa, and all her gift money went in there, and we're getting the child benefit put into her account too to try save up some money for her future. We went with Nationwide but I think quite a few places do them. Have a look on moneysupermarket.com or something and shop around xx

 

[leesey]

There are lots of accounts available for kids!

Most banks will let you open a "custodial account", which means the account is in their name but they can't access the account or use it without you until you drop off the account or they are 18. You can do a joint account with your kids, you are both equal on the account. There are also some banks that do "club accounts", where you get the account for a term and then get cut a check when the term is up. There are also "maturity fund accounts", where you can set it up so that no one (including you, hubby, kids, anyone!) can take any money out of the account until it reaches XXX dollar amount (they are usually set up in increments of 1,000's).

I hope this helps! All through college I worked at a bank lol, passing on the knowledge I suppose!

I think it works differently in the UK, as none of these things sound familiar!!