Although the simple basics of looking after a child aren't that costly - food, clothing, and love, we all went the best for our children, and some things will cost more than you expect. If you want to help your child in the future you should be considering saving for their future.
Maybe you want to give them a helping hand and save for their college education, maybe you want to put money aside for their first car, or maybe you want to help them get on the property ladder and save for their first deposit. These are all great ideas, and will certainly help your child, but have you thought about how you are going to do this?
Many of us use a mix of Junior ISAs, children's saving accounts, and friendly society tax-exempt plans. In fact, this is what I did saving for my son when he was a child. It was great when he got to 18 and I had some money to help him with the costs of starting university.
If you are wondering if you are saving enough for your child's future, have a look at this infographic by Shepherds Friendly below. Shepherds Friendly, which is a friendly society, (a mutual association for the purposes of pensions, saving and insurances), surveyed 2000 parents and found out of those surveyed, 43% had thought about opening a savings plan for a child. Of those that had thought about it, 65% said they would only pay between £10 and £50 a month.
Now you may think that isn't a lot but it can make a big difference in the long term even if you put £10 aside every month. That is what my mum did for me, start small and then when she could afford it she increased the amount. I remember my mum always saving for my future. Every month she would pay money to the insurance salesman, who used to collect the money door-to-door. That's what you did in those days. She is clever my mum!
When I was older then, I had money towards my first car. That was a massive help to me when I was a student nurse.
To work out how much to save for your child's future, just think about how much you can realistically afford, times it by 12 and put aside that amount every year. Of course with savings plans, you need to save on a regular basis so that's why it's important to have a realistic idea of the amount you can save. If you think about it, an average cup of coffee is £2.50 and saving the cost of two cups a week for 4 weeks is £20. Then if you can afford it increase it slowly. That's a reasonable amount to start with, that can go towards something nice for your child when they are older, such as their first car, their wedding or going to university. If you have family members that are happy to help, they can set up a savings plan for your child too. T
With the cost of a second-hand car and insurance from £2000, the cost of a new home deposit from £10,000, and university debt running up to £50,000, then any helping hand your child receives will be greatly appreciated I am sure.
*Collaborative post
I have to be honest it's hard to save towards anything at the moment. The only thing we save is any Christmas or Birthday money they get as we need every other penny for day to day living.
ReplyDeleteWe have a savings account for each of our kids and put a little in each month, but it isn't much as we are low earners, but we figure anything helps later on. Mich x
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband and I left home we had no savings or nest egg as such so we've tried to provide a little safety net for the children so that they are able to purchase a car or towards a deposit etc.
ReplyDeleteWe put money away each month for the boys, so glad we did because my eldest wants Driving Lessons next month and they are so costly
ReplyDeleteThis is very handy and explains it very well how a lot of pennies can make a good money in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a useful and informative guide. Always great to provide your children with a good financial start xx
ReplyDeleteThe future for children is so
ReplyDeleteScary and such a worry. We save a little ever Minh in a hope we have a house deposit for him when he’s older
Those figures are fascinating. I don't have children yet but savings are definitely something I will be considering for them
ReplyDeleteSuper helpful! I don't have children myself, but will share this post with a few of my friends who do. I am sure they’ll find it very useful x
ReplyDelete