Money aside for children

What are the best ways to put money aside for children? We will outlines some options.

Parents and grandparents often think about setting aside a sum of money, or starting a regular savings plan for young children, so that when the young person is older they have a capital sum to start them off in life.

This might be used, for example, to pay for further education or as a deposit for a first home.

The first savings for a child are usually cash deposits. These can be in accounts specifically set up with banks and building societies for children.

Children's savings accounts have a maximum age limit for the account holder, which can be high as 21 for some accounts.

There are also accounts available that have a minimum age limit, so they are accessible by 11-16 year-olds, for example.

Because these accounts are designed to start children off in the savings habit, they often pay a higher rate of interest compared to other savings accounts.

Most accounts also offer incentives such as CD tokens and newsletters, and sometimes a birthday card.