My eldest son turned 18 in August & we recently loaded up the car, dropping him off to start his adult life continuing his studies away from home at a lovely friendly University (emotional roller coaster of a day as any parent will know!).
He is thoroughly enjoying his independence, taking full advantage of Uni life (we try not to ask) and the freedoms it allows. One real gem he was very chuffed to receive whilst making preparations to leave the family home was the balance of his Child Trust Fund, a government savings account created for him in 2006.
Going back to its inception the government put £250-£500 into an account for all children born between 1st September 2002 - 2nd January 2011, allowing it to grow with interest over the following 18 years.
He received his letter from the account provider (Skipton in this instance, but there are many others) and was quite impressed with this ‘gift’ from our then Government.
It seems however (based on a recent press release by HM Revenue & Customs) not all children currently turning 18 are aware of the fund.
Based on the HMRC press coverage there are over 670,000 18-22 year olds with an average pot value of £2,212.00 that are yet to claim their money. Something that no doubt they will be eager to utilise or reinvest at this early stage of adulthood.
Of course, many parents will have made provisions for their children via the various different account options (Junior ISA’s for example) but the key difference with the Child Trust Fund (CTF) is ‘every’ child currently turning 18 will have at least the original £250-£500 plus interest to enjoy now.
Although the time with our lovely Nanny Alana seems like yesterday, many years have passed since 2006 so if you are unsure where the funds are held you can use an online tool found at https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund to trace the account.
Yours
Graham