# saving for new born child



## oscarp (19 Feb 2008)

hi,

my first child was born last week and we'd like to put some cash we got as gifts away for her until she's grown up (kinda like starting a college fund). 

any ideas - this will be a long term investment, a relatively small amount and looking for good returns in 15-20 years? 

thanks


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## aircobra19 (19 Feb 2008)

Its no different to any other long term investment is it?


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## docker (19 Feb 2008)

Hey congratulations! I'm going to do the same for the same reason....Havent looked into this yet but will probably go with 50 euro per month regularly invested onto the stock market though a unit linked fund...whichever fund has the cheapest charges....maybe you could do the same with your cash gifts with the option of making regular contributions...would also like to hear any other sugestions....


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## Jim1000 (19 Feb 2008)

Check out Quinn Life, Low charges and quite flexible.
[broken link removed]


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## quinno (19 Feb 2008)

Congrads on the new arrival - How about using the children's allowance? Works out at €160 / month, plus you get €1000 per annum until your child is 6. We put our in a Post Office account, probably the safest (and lowest) in terms of return. Might look at shopping around.​


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## sparkles (21 Feb 2008)

Hi there,
I was wondering the same.  When no 1 was born in August 2005 I opened a young savers account in BoI so Children's Allowance, Early Childcare Supplement and cash gifts could go straight in. There are no charges on the account, interest very low and my name is on the account with the children.  When no 2 arrived in July 2007 the welfare people asked did I want this child's benefits to go into the same account.  This was fine until I tried to lodge a cheque made payable to child 2.  Well, the trouble it caused!  They said that there was a legal problem with having the 2 different children's benefits going into the one account even though I am the holder of the account on behalf of the children.  I explained that while my offspring are quite clever, they cant do their own banking yet and there wont be any fighting over who owns what amount when they turn 18 as it is for their education fund! Anyway, BoI wanted me to open another account for child 2. 

There's about 10k in the account now but I should really move it to a high interest account and every year perhaps withdraw the year's lodgements and move to the high interest account.  Any thoughts?  What's the best option for this kind of savings?  I'm not very savvy on banking but feel I need to be more responsible regarding the future of the darlings.


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## ClubMan (21 Feb 2008)

It is crazy to leave regular savings or lump sums on deposit at low interest rates when there are higher rates on offer elsewhere. See the _Financial Best Buys _forum lists for details. It's also not generally a good idea to have large amounts of money on deposit for years on end due to the eroding effects of inflation and _DIRT_. Anybody investing for the medium to long term (e.g. 5 to 10+ years) should at least consider investing some of the money involved in a low charges unit linked fund - doesn't have to be high risk/reward if that does not suit. These general rules of thumb apply to any medium to long term savings/investments. The fact that it's for a child's future needs is not in itself that relevant.


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## Jim1000 (21 Feb 2008)

I Agree Clubman. You could set up a direct debit to one of the high interest bearing deposit accounts as shown in the papers each week AND/OR put some into an easy access index linked fund as I suggested above. I like the Quinn Life option as its specially directed towards this requirement (and no I'm not an agent etc..) and seems simple to operate. Ultimately you have to do your own homework though.


Invest from as little as €51 per month.
Access your fund at any time with no exit penalties
Option to set the policy up in trust
Make additional lump sum contributions at any time
Access to the full suite of Quinn Life funds
Access to your policy online with My Quinn Life
2 free switches per calendar year


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## ClubMan (21 Feb 2008)

There are other unit linked fund providers offering a wider range of funds than _QL's_ restricted list of index trackers, with similar charging structures (e.g. c. 1% annual management fee and no per contribution charge and with the same features/flexibility. Shop around. Try a few execution only discount brokers such as:

www.investandsave.ie
www.labrokers.ie
www.ferga.com
www.bond.ie
www.myadviser.ie 
etc.


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## gocall01 (21 Feb 2008)

Jim1000 said:


> I Agree Clubman. You could set up a direct debit to one of the high interest bearing deposit accounts as shown in the papers each week AND/OR put some into an easy access index linked fund as I suggested above. I like the Quinn Life option as its specially directed towards this requirement (and no I'm not an agent etc..) and seems simple to operate. Ultimately you have to do your own homework though.
> 
> Invest from as little as €51 per month.
> Access your fund at any time with no exit penalties
> ...


 
I have gone with QuinnLife for my 2 "darlings!".
Mostly for the ability to control the investment myself and ease of access.
The boys monthly and yearly (paid quarterly) child benefits go into it.
Doing quite well to date, even with the market downturn.


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