Child Trusts some questions

Can anyone point me in the direction of Child Trust Accounts....I only really have a couple of questions

Can I set the age the child gets access to the money?

Do I have to set one up using some government quango or through a government appointed company?

So basically can I just set one up and still get the governments £250...lets face it the government run scheme is bound to be a nightmare, plus I don't want to give an 18 year old a wod of money to spend on drugs/beer and women, and waste the rest!!

when you recieve your cheque from the government you have 1 year to put it into the account you want there was a couple of types of accounts one's that are based on shares (which is very risky with the share market up and down) or completely saving only gets whatever the interest rate is kind of thing (save means your guaranteed to get money on any money put in there just not as high as it could be if you get a shares.

i put my daughters money into one done by a building society as i know what the share market can be like as i know someone who lost alot of money on the shares when they crashed a few years back after the W.T.C incidents in 2001

if you dont put the cheque into an account within 1 year after your child is born then the government will place it for you as they see fit (normally in shares) i believe on the letter when you recieve your cheque there will be a website that lists everyone who does CTF accounts and what type of an account.

as far as im aware you cant set the age limit the child recieves the money it is 18 (you can check with which ever bank/building society/company you choose to set it up with) but remember not all kids will blow the money the way you are worried that they might and will save it and invest in their futures more its designed to help children when they go to university thats why its available from the age 18 to try and stop student debt being so high.

You can't set the age as it is designed to be locked away until adulthood, which is 18 in the UK, you can get accounts for it with pretty much every bank/building society. If you think you're going to be raising your children to want to buy loads of drugs, alcohol and blow money on women, then you can't really moan about them wasting their money to be fair.

Our children all have theirs with Halifax, to be honest though I don't have the slighest idea what the interest rate is though.

i didnt know the halifax did one?? I was toying between britannia and abbey and i got the best rates and the best customer services from britannia even now when i go in.

ellee1984 said:
i didnt know the halifax did one?? I was toying between britannia and abbey and i got the best rates and the best customer services from britannia even now when i go in.

I just found this, I didn't realise there were so many but it lists the providers of CTF accounts.

Trustfunds

This is my trouble with these trusts...The government dictate what funds it can be put in. And if my offspring is anything like myself at 18, then the money will just disappear.

So I think the solution is set up my own trust that gives the money on their 25th or 30th birthday and just stick the £250 from the government in any old account they suggest. Then at least the child can have a night out on the government once they are 18.

the government have nothing to do with the running of the funds - most financial institutions will have one as they are east money, and they want the opportunity to sell other financial products to you - I worked at the Halifax as these started and they were rubbing their hands with glee at all the potential new business.
Um and also from a financial pov (not advice of any sort!) now is a good time to invest in the stock market as shares are sooooo cheap!! And interest rates are sooooo low

id be grateful the government gives you money like that for your children my friend only got it for one of her 2 children cos her first child was born before that date they introduced it by a matter of months.

the child trust fund is set up to help children when they reach adulthood not every parent can afford to set up a trust fund for their child so are actually grateful for this £250 im sure if the government had it so only really low income families got the child trust fund cheque then you'd be moaning your child(ren) were discriminated against for having parents who can afford set up their own trust fund.

the government dont dictate what the funds can be put in they give you a choice of different banks, companies etc and its the same with any trust account you set up you can base it on shares or on savings and its designed that it cant be withdrawn by anyone but the child on the childs 18th birthday as their are some children out there who dont have good parents who's parents are alcohols or druggies and wouldnt think twice about taking the money from their own child to get there next "fix"

I guess you can always lock away details of the account until you are ready for the child to have it, or explain what the money is for. I am using it as a university fund, putting in a little every month. If they decide not to go to university then it can be a chunk towards a deposit on a house or a car.

I had mine invested by the government but they have both lost money, there's less in there than they started with 😬

candgsmum said:
I had mine invested by the government but they have both lost money, there's less in there than they started with :teeth:

But it is early days for them, they still have many years to run so they might just increase again.

Joseph's is with RBS. At the time of investing his I took heaps of leaflets and read them and also consulted WHich? which at the time said RBS and Halifax were the best for a stakeholder account (which I decided was a little risky but had a better interest rate in the long run rather than just a plain account)

also for people on low inmcome the chilkd gets an extra 250 on their 1st birthday and their 7th birthday to help them out.

Both girls has theirs in abbey (santander).

the goverment choice the one for you if you dont set up your own and usually goes on shares

I invested ours via Lloyds TSB's scheme. To be honest, we're not putting anything more into it. We have other things we are investing for Sophie and for Jas as I really don't trust these things that you have to put in certain places 🙁

Also, I was a bit miffed to see how much they can charge you per annum for 'running' the fund. Take care to check out the charges as almost every one is different.

Yep there are alot without annual charges - check the small print!!!!
Have some compo money I put away 5 years ago - put in stocks and shares - before the crunch it was earning about 20% a year

kristag said:
I invested ours via Lloyds TSB's scheme. To be honest, we're not putting anything more into it. We have other things we are investing for Sophie and for Jas as I really don't trust these things that you have to put in certain places 🙁

Also, I was a bit miffed to see how much they can charge you per annum for 'running' the fund. Take care to check out the charges as almost every one is different.

Yeah something else the kids are stung with, hence why I'm glad I got them a standard savings, although they make a 1p interest on it, at least what is put in there, stays there!

We made sure that we chose an account without charges too, it might be free money but I'd rather none be lost.

Hey many thanks for your replies, sorry I have only got around to responding, have had my head in the sand for a few months 🙂

I must look into it more as the website I read about them only listed three savings accounts, maybe I mis-read and it was the forms of accounts not the actual accounts themselves.

If people have an issue with whether some people can or can't afford savings plans, the government should make it means tested... I can so I will make better provisions 🙂

The child can have his/hers £250 less charges plus interest and buy loads of drugs if they want. But the money I want to save is not going to be given to them until they are old enough.

Obviously I only base this on the my history, and not on the future history of someone not yet born. But why take the risk 🙂

Once again cheers for the pointers.