Life after the Child Trust Fund

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I was saddened but not surprised to hear about the withdrawal of the Child Trust Fund recently.  Whilst my girls were lucky enough to benefit from it, the fact it is no longer around has shone a light on the whole area of saving for their futures. 

It seems a fairly basic responsibility to ensure they have some sort of start in life aside from all the wonderful wisdom and top tips on being a brilliant wife and mother they will learn from...well someone, maybe their godmother.

Anyway it has led me to thinking about setting up savings accounts for the girls.  If I set them up now, and every birthday, Christmas etc we put some money into it, and we ask grandparents and so on to give them money rather than more red and yellow plastic stuff we simply don't need, I will be achieving two things:

1.  Reduction in the amount of toys they get, which I have a niggling concern over as I don't wish them to become spoilt.
2. An understanding, albeit fairly basic, of the value of 'saving up' for something you REALLY want.

I can set up a direct debit for them both so every month it's topped up.  The amount can be nominal, as they have a good 16 or so years for it to accumulate. 

In this utopian world they will then have a decent nest egg with which to pay university fees, or buy their first car or whatever they so wish.  Hopefully they may see the value of the fund and decide to keep it going into adulthood.  A debt free start in life.  Wouldn't that be great?

I inherited some money when my mother died, and after spending a fair bit on useless things that were VITAL at the time (so vital in fact I can't actually remember what they were), I invested it in my first flat in London when I was 22 years old.  My cousin rented the spare room off me, and we had a great time there for about 5 years.  I remember those days with absolute fondness, my young, free (mostly) single life in London.  Crispin and I and the rag tag bunch of friends and aquaintances who drifted in and out of our little part of Clapham North. 

I struggled financially (don't we all at that age) but fundamentally I was secure and I had a property and a modest income from the rent.   The great thing for me was knowing I was not a financial burden to my father.  I was self sufficient. (And yes my halo was shining pretty damn brightly in those days.)

I'm not suggesting my girls will be able to do that, house prices have risen beyond all comprehension since I bought my flat, but they will at least have some independence.  And I think that's a valuable gift.

What do you hope the future will bring for your children?