Childrens Savings Accounts

One of the best things that you can teach your children from a very young age is the value of saving money. Whether it's saving for that new toy, their first car, University, a down payment on a home or for retirement, it's never too early to learn this valuable lesson. Unfortunately the number of people saving money is at an all-time low as people choose instead to overspend and buy on credit.

In order to teach your child to save money, the first thing to do is to start off with a “piggy bank”. Once they save maybe £50 or £100, then it's time to open up a children's savings account. Most major banks will offer a child saving account and won't charge any fees as long as transactions are few. Most children don't have full access to their money anyway, so it's not likely that there will be a lot of transactions. Once the account is setup, encourage your child to save a certain percentage of all the money that they receive, whether it's birthday money or money from their weekly allowance or a small job that they may have.

Many banks offer children's savings accounts, but watch out for accounts that seem too good to be true. Many times a bank will offer a free gift that will appeal to your child if they sign up for an account, but these often are paid for by offering a lower interest rate on savings that are held in the account. Compare savings accounts for children and choose the one with the lowest fees and most interest. Also, make sure you get a Form R85 to fill out so that any interest that your child does earn is paid to tax-free.