Re the child trust fund. yes this is a real serious post.
Please bear with it...
All kids get a £250 voucher off the government which is to be invested by the parent in a choice of investment funds. If the parent is on benefits the child gets £500!
Parents are invited to add to this account and when the child is 18 they get to spend whatever has accumulated in any way they see fit.
I really don't believe the trust fund idea is fair.
this would be more fair:-
The government spends the money on child care / education / child safety / or invests it and gives an equal share to al kids when they are adults.
why will my child get half of what kids whose parents are currently receiving benefits? - in 18 years time??
why will jonny down the road have more money because his parents chose a different investment? there are no guarantees so there is no right or wrong investment to choose. it is pretty much pot luck in 18 years time which one will be the better option.
Why should my child be comparing a fund which may or may not be topped up with someone down the road who does/doesn't have the means to top it up?
I am wholeheartedly in favour of giving them a start and a helping hand, but surely there are much better and fairer ways to do this.
I wonder how parents feel who have a child who was born just before the trust fund was invented and their sibling who is born after?? the older brother/sister presumably will feel incredibly hard done by when his or her younger sibling(s) receive the book to their account.
It's not that i don't beleive in benefits per se, it is just that the parental circumstances now, bear no relation to what the childs needs will be, when they are adults.
I am dreading the day when my son gets his mitts on the money and perhaps asks me why he has got less that his best friend, in his account.
All I will be able to say is that I will have always given him what I can and that being loved, having good nourishment, creative homelife and lots of good experiences cannot be measured by a bank account. He may well have to get more in other ways than his mates.
Could the money be used in other ways? investing in books or school buildings? investing in sports equipment? Investing in IT equipment? investing in hospitals? investing in childcare places for all? There are loads of impartial ways to invest in our businesses and our kids at the same time.
I agree learning to save (or be wise with the money you have) is important, so educate the children how to. Doesn't getting a hand out at coming of age instill precisely the wrong sort of ethic?
When I was at junior school there was a school bank, run by the older pupils in cahoots with midland bank as it was (I think) before it became tsb before it merged with lloyds. You could come and put your money in, the older kids helped to do the transactions and you got a cheque book and a bank balance and a chance to handle the money yourself. You were encouraged to put small amounts aside. OK, maybe the poorest of kids don't get pocket money, but it sure as hell looks like they do to me. 10p or £10, it didnt matter what you put in, it was the principle of it and it was made to be fun. I am not saying this is the solution necessarily, but that is an example of practical saving not being handed some money regardless, on your 16th/18th birthday for which you have had no influence.
Am I being ungrateful on behalf of my child? I don't think so, I have just been thinking about this a lot recently.
Please bear with it...
All kids get a £250 voucher off the government which is to be invested by the parent in a choice of investment funds. If the parent is on benefits the child gets £500!
Parents are invited to add to this account and when the child is 18 they get to spend whatever has accumulated in any way they see fit.
I really don't believe the trust fund idea is fair.
this would be more fair:-
The government spends the money on child care / education / child safety / or invests it and gives an equal share to al kids when they are adults.
why will my child get half of what kids whose parents are currently receiving benefits? - in 18 years time??
why will jonny down the road have more money because his parents chose a different investment? there are no guarantees so there is no right or wrong investment to choose. it is pretty much pot luck in 18 years time which one will be the better option.
Why should my child be comparing a fund which may or may not be topped up with someone down the road who does/doesn't have the means to top it up?
I am wholeheartedly in favour of giving them a start and a helping hand, but surely there are much better and fairer ways to do this.
I wonder how parents feel who have a child who was born just before the trust fund was invented and their sibling who is born after?? the older brother/sister presumably will feel incredibly hard done by when his or her younger sibling(s) receive the book to their account.
It's not that i don't beleive in benefits per se, it is just that the parental circumstances now, bear no relation to what the childs needs will be, when they are adults.
I am dreading the day when my son gets his mitts on the money and perhaps asks me why he has got less that his best friend, in his account.
All I will be able to say is that I will have always given him what I can and that being loved, having good nourishment, creative homelife and lots of good experiences cannot be measured by a bank account. He may well have to get more in other ways than his mates.
Could the money be used in other ways? investing in books or school buildings? investing in sports equipment? Investing in IT equipment? investing in hospitals? investing in childcare places for all? There are loads of impartial ways to invest in our businesses and our kids at the same time.
I agree learning to save (or be wise with the money you have) is important, so educate the children how to. Doesn't getting a hand out at coming of age instill precisely the wrong sort of ethic?
When I was at junior school there was a school bank, run by the older pupils in cahoots with midland bank as it was (I think) before it became tsb before it merged with lloyds. You could come and put your money in, the older kids helped to do the transactions and you got a cheque book and a bank balance and a chance to handle the money yourself. You were encouraged to put small amounts aside. OK, maybe the poorest of kids don't get pocket money, but it sure as hell looks like they do to me. 10p or £10, it didnt matter what you put in, it was the principle of it and it was made to be fun. I am not saying this is the solution necessarily, but that is an example of practical saving not being handed some money regardless, on your 16th/18th birthday for which you have had no influence.
Am I being ungrateful on behalf of my child? I don't think so, I have just been thinking about this a lot recently.
so will be a bit awkward if he ever finds out! can't really afford to make one up for him to the amount his little brother has (or indeed this baby)
and i was quite a mature teen too 
)
they always give you a leaflet about them too when you have a baby (least in my area).