When Xene was born we made the decision to open a Trust fund for her, my nan had saved for me since my birth and on my 18th birthday she handed me the bank account and I was able to purchase my first car, a Ford Fiesta Ghia, costing £395 (don’t ask me how I remember that, but can’t remember what I had for breakfast!)
The cost of living is so expensive these days and I dread to think what it will be like for our children to earn and try and get on the property ladder, so if we are able to give them all a small sum of money to help with whatever purchase they decide.
Xene has nearly completed her second year of university and so far has budgeted like an absolute star, so has not required her savings, Lochlan is about to start university and I just get the feeling he will be asking for his money a little sooner than Xene, as he isn’t so careful with money!
In January 2005 the labour government chose to give all children born on or after 1st September 2002 a lump sum of £250 to be invested into a Child Trust Fund, with a further £250 for families on low income, another payment of £250 (with and extra £250 for low income families) was made at age 7. On May 24 2010 the government announced that the payment of children’s funds would cease in August 2010.
During this time we gave birth to Neva, Kaide and Eowyn, who all received the birth payment of £250 which we invested into a plan, and Neva received the payment at aged 7. I was so pleased that the government had actually used their initiative and invested in the younger generation, but it came as no surprise that they retracted the deal! I know that many parents didn’t put anything towards their children’s futures, but at least every child born in that time will have a small sum of money when they become an adult.
So it’s no surprise that Shepherd’s Friendly latest piece of research surveyed 2000 parents and only 43% of parents said they would consider opening a savings plan for a child, but looking at the costs of living and purchases such as cars or a deposit on a house, our children are going to need some kind of helping hand!
The cost of our first house was £26,500, which means that the property prices have increased by 90% in just 20 years, pretty staggering and does make me worry about my children’s futures and how they are all going to manage, especially as the wages have not increased by 90%. But looking at the cost of a car, the same is true of that increase!
