Child Trust Fund – what a rip-off

! This post hasn't been updated in over a year. A lot can change in a year including my opinion and the amount of naughty words I use. There's a good chance that there's something in what's written below that someone will find objectionable. That's fine, if I tried to please everybody all of the time then I'd be a Lib Dem (remember them?) and I'm certainly not one of those. The point is, I'm not the kind of person to try and alter history in case I said something in the past that someone can use against me in the future but just remember that the person I was then isn't the person I am now nor the person I'll be in a year's time.

When El Gordo first announced the Child Trust Fund I said it was a con and guess what – it’s a fucking rip-off scheme designed to make rich companies richer.

We didn’t bother “investing” the voucher we were sent for #4 (the only child that qualified) because there seemed little point as it was pretty obvious that it would be eaten up by fees long before she ever gets her hands on it.  So, the Treasury “invested” the £250 for her with a company called engage.

Last year the fund made a 6.2% loss but engage still took a 1.5% admin fee, knocking about £40 off the account.

In 14 years time when she’s old enough to claim the money, there will be nothing left – the only people who will make any money out the CTF are the “investment” companies.

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7 comments

  1. Letters From A Tory (22 comments) says:

    I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, this scheme is a waste of money and should be scrapped immediately.

  2. Rob (27 comments) says:

    Another Government success then.

  3. John Franklyn (59 comments) says:

    It stinks. My 4 were too old for this and I would suggest its too their betterment.

    Once the money has been gobbled up by admin fees, what then, do they then send the child or their parent / guardian an invoice for the account going into arrears i wonder.

  4. Icypurplepants (13 comments) says:

    We got the voucher for our littl’un born in March. Mrs Pants did loads of research and invested it somewhere. If you’re happy to let this Government make your investments for you, you shouldn’t be surprised to lose out.

    Investments can go up as well as down…..Why didn’t you at least take the voucher and stick it in a Building Society account? No fees for that, and what, 5% interest? Might not make as much as investing it elsewhere, but it’s still free money.

  5. wonkotsane (1133 comments) says:

    The voucher has to go into a CTF investment, you can’t just put it anywhere.

  6. Icypurplepants (13 comments) says:

    No, that is true, it does have to be a CTF investment, but you still CAN put it in a savings account:

    http://www.childtrustfund.gov.uk/templates/Page.aspx?id=1219

    There may still be charges taken for running this account, but no more so than any savings account. I appreciate that it is hardly going to buy you much after 14 years in a savings account, but you can top it up yourself over time. We’ve done some stakeholder scheme or whatever and are adding regular payments to the investment. if there’s any sign of trouble we can shift the money somewhere safer.

    It helps to have married an accountant I suppose! 🙂

  7. lfb_uk (15 comments) says:

    Wonk’s,

    We got the same for our child, put it in a CTF account.

    But we were more concerned with the kids having access as soon as they reach 18, which is why we haven’t topped up as the Gov would like us to do.

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