Investing in Your Child’s Future the Right Way
by Mashum Mollah Investing Published on: 27 May 2017 Last Updated on: 24 September 2024
Investing in your child’s future is more than just sending them to good schools and raising them in a good environment. It also entails investing in different types of insurances like cheap car insurance for new young drivers and trust funds. This is very important because the future is full of uncertainty, and the only way to ensure a better life for your child in the future is to prepare for it today.
There are many ways to get started as the first thing you should figure out is what your child will need someday. The reason why it’s better to start as early as possible is because most ideal investment packages are offered to young people.
The younger your child, the better offer you can get. In fact, most parents start while their children are newborns. Nevertheless, you can get an investment package even if your child is a teenager.
Today, we will go over some investment options that are available to help point you in the right direction for your child’s future.
1. Jisas
Jisas or Junior Stocks and Share individual savings accounts (ISA) is a very nice option because it offers a tax-free wrapper. Moreover, you can choose to pay up to £4,080 a year depending on your income. Of course, the higher the amount is better as long as you can afford it.
Anyone can contribute to Jisas, but the only ones who can open and manage it are parents or guardians. This can also be managed by your child if he reaches the age of 16, and the fund will be locked away until they reach 18.
2. Child Trust Funds and Junior ISA
Child trust funds were given to children who were born any time within a specific period that started from September 1, 2002 until January 2, 2011. These funds were created and introduced in 2005. During that time, parents who opened an account were initially given a £250 voucher, and those who were not able to open an account were automatically given one and opened for their children.
Today, Child Trust Funds have already been replaced by a Junior Isa. If you had already opened Child Trust Funds before, you can convert it now to Junior Isa. And if you have never opened an account for Child Trust Funds, you can directly open a Junior Isa as it’s much cheaper; nevertheless, both of them are tax free.
3. Junior Sipp
Sipp stands for self-invested personal pensions. This means that even your child can also have pension plans like the ones created for adults. Although this is not an alternative retirement plan, Junior Sipp works very similarly with the usual pensions we know.
The difference is that Junior Sipp must start from a child’s birth until they reach 18. When they reach 55, that’s the time they can enjoy such pensions along with other pension and retirement plans.
4. Bare Trust
Bare Trust is a trust fund which can be opened not only by parents or guardians but by anyone who wishes to give the fund as a gift. This is commonly used by grandparents to let their grandchildren inherit their money. In this way, they can get rid of inheritance tax.
Final Thoughts
Parents always want the best for their children, and one of the best things you can give them is a better tomorrow. This can be achieved by choosing the right investment option while they are still young. The above investments can be very useful depending on your children’s need; nevertheless, there are a lot more options still available.