Childcare plus account

tickingclock

I am trying with massive difficulty to set up a childcare plus account. The forms can only be got from the GPO. I filled it in and brought it to my local post office. I was told they can only be set up through the GPO. Several phonecalls later no one I've spoken to in the GPO know about them. Has anyone successfully opened one and how?! Thanks

pwurple

Yes, I opened from from my local post office by filling out the forms, and may I recommend that you don't open one.

The money sits in a zero interest account for a year, then moves to interest bearing, so it doesn't earn the advertised APR for that time. They are a pain to close down and access if you ever need the cash because every year the money is in a different account... So by year 4, y have 5 different accounts on the go. It's a pain in the backside for less interest than you get in other accounts. An interest bearing non post office account works out better in terms of interest and access. Search on bonkers.ie for child savings accounts for best one. EBS offer a 2% AER on the lot (childcare plus is 1.2%, on some of the amount).

Think about how awkward it is now to open it, and multiply it by 7 for the effort involved in closing it.

Jerrica

pwurple wrote: »

Think about how awkward it is now to open it, and multiply it by 7 for the effort involved in closing it.

Oh feic, really? We've had one open for 13 months now, but I'd be inclined to get rid. How did you go about closing it?

pwurple

Jerrica wrote: »

Oh feic, really? We've had one open for 13 months now, but I'd be inclined to get rid. How did you go about closing it?

You write to them and ask for them to be closed. You need all the various accounts, dates etc.

And the terms are that if you close it in the 11th month of a saving cycle, you lose all the interest for those 11 months, so try to time it in the month after the rollover date.

edit to add the link for repayment
http://www.statesavings.ie/Downloads/OtherSavingsRepaymentForm.pdf

How Strange

Thanks for the info pwurple as I was thinking of opening one in the coming months

angeldelight

We've had nothing but hassle trying to open ours, I'm delighted to have seen this thread as I had planned in trying again next week

tickingclock

I went on bonkers.ie and now I'm more confused. A few APR of 4% but for one year only. Basically I want to save my children's allowance for my child going to college hopefully. I would like to be able to access it in the event of a major emergency. I just want a standing order to leave my account every month and for it to be hassle free and make some interest. Any one doing anything similar?

pwurple

APR 4% is really high, to get that consistently you're going to have to move your money around and keep following special offers. (and watch for conditions like moving your current account also)

If you don't want to do that, then pick one of the child saver accounts instead. The highest interest one I saw was 2%. They are designed for the saving for college thing. Tick the Child Saver checkbox on bonkers. They list them there.

heldel00

So I've decided against a childcare plus account going on the advice given by others here.
I plan on opening two accounts for my son, one for birthday money, communion etc. and one for children's allowance.
Went to local credit union last week and here's the problem -
I will have control over account but only until he is 7 yrs old. Once he reaches 7 the account is no longer anything to do with me. Now this might be no big deal but I know what I was like as a teenager and would prefer if both our signatures were needed for withdrawals. Was told we could only have a joint account when he is 18 years of age as "he wouldn't understand the paperwork he'd be signing before 18yo" - but yet at 7 he has full control of account!!!
I plan on opening an junior savers account with EBS for his children's allowance to be paid directly into. I'm assuming the same rules will apply as with the credit union but if I open the account in my own name there will be fees applied!
The clerk in the CU told me that in Northern Ireland a parent would have control over account until child is 18. She said she regularly has 12, 13, 14 year olds coming in and withdrawing considerable amounts and she is legally obliged to just hand it over without parental consent. Of course we do the thing ar$eways down this side of border!

bp

I can sign for my kids accounts at the minute, but don't plan on telling them about the account (cu) until they are 18 if needed for college, or when buying first house.

Not letting them throw away the guts of 20k!

heldel00

bp wrote: »

I can sign for my kids accounts at the minute, but don't plan on telling them about the account (cu) until they are 18 if needed for college, or when buying first house.

Not letting them throw away the guts of 20k!

This was my plan too but I remember the excitement of bringing in the post, when I was younger and seeing a letter with my name on it. Regular statements I assume with both accounts.
Maybe I'm overthinking it and he'll actually be a model teen that wouldn't dream of touching the money!!!

bp

I don't think CU send statements....I don't even know if I have gotten one but I know what you mean :-)

Books will be hidden!!!! Pesky kids!

tickingclock

Perhaps I'm taking it a step too far but even at 18 I don't want my "child" to have access to the account. It's their money but I'll decide how it's spent!! It will be about 20k and I think an 18 year old isn't mature enough for that amount of money. Hopefully it's college so it will pay fees and accommodation and all the other costs associated with college!!

heldel00

It is crazy though that at 7 they are deemed responsible enough to operate their own account yet they cannot legally sign to open a joint account with a parent until 18 years of age!!!
When the cashier told me about all the children that come in and withdraw as much as they want that alarmed me slightly.

My solution is to open the children's allowance account in a neighbouring town. This might seem a bit extreme but we actually don't have an EBS in our county so perfect excuse and he will not have the opportunity to nip in and make withdrawals. (He's only 3 months old btw but I like to be organised!)

bp

tickingclock wrote: »

Perhaps I'm taking it a step too far but even at 18 I don't want my "child" to have access to the account. It's their money but I'll decide how it's spent!! It will be about 20k and I think an 18 year old isn't mature enough for that amount of money. Hopefully it's college so it will pay fees and accommodation and all the other costs associated with college!!

Yep same plan. Pay for college fees, books etc. Who knows how much it may cost in 15-18 years

phormium

Any bank should be able to open a joint account with the child's name first on the account but repayable on either the signature of the parent or both holders depending on child's age, i.e. if they can sign their name and what way you want it to be.

You can then remove the parent's name at some stage in the future or change the signing terms to either to sign or whatever you want.

CU's have different ways of doing things but they do send out statements too.

heldel00

I'll be opening his EBS account tomorrow so hopefully you're right phormium. I'll report back tomorrow

Digs

bp wrote: »

I can sign for my kids accounts at the minute, but don't plan on telling them about the account (cu) until they are 18 if needed for college, or when buying first house.

Not letting them throw away the guts of 20k!

My sister is 21 this May and she has a post office savings book coming her way with a big balance she has no idea about!

My folks never told her about it! Lucky girl

heldel00

Phormium was right.
Account opened in EBS today with both names on it. He won't be able to withdraw from it until I change the details. She said he could be 30 and still won't be able to withdraw without my permission!
It seems to be the best child saver account out there, 2%. But the catch is funds in the account must not exceed 5000. She said that when this happens the payment will be bounced back to government. We are a long way off that obviously but worth keeping in mind.

tickingclock

heldel00 wrote: »

Phormium was right.
Account opened in EBS today with both names on it. He won't be able to withdraw from it until I change the details. She said he could be 30 and still won't be able to withdraw without my permission!
It seems to be the best child saver account out there, 2%. But the catch is funds in the account must not exceed 5000. She said that when this happens the payment will be bounced back to government. We are a long way off that obviously but worth keeping in mind.

Is that figure right, not to exceed €5,000 or €50,000?

rubberdungeon

EBS Children's Savings Account Specific Terms

Account Opening

2. An Account may be opened by an adult (any person aged 18 years or over) on behalf of a child (any person aged 11 years or under). The child will be the first named person on the Account and the adult will be the second named person on the Account.

3. There is a limit of one Account per child.

4. The minimum opening balance on the Account is €1 and the maximum balance on the Account is €5,000.

http://www.ebs.ie/terms-and-conditions/childrens-savings-account-terms-and-conditions.html

Lucuma

tickingclock wrote: »

I went on bonkers.ie and now I'm more confused. A few APR of 4% but for one year only. Basically I want to save my children's allowance for my child going to college hopefully. I would like to be able to access it in the event of a major emergency. I just want a standing order to leave my account every month and for it to be hassle free and make some interest. Any one doing anything similar?

Yeah that's what I'm doing with my daughter's children's allowance. I haven't had any problems with it, easy to set up in the Cork GPO. I did put it in her name although they advised me not to, so only she will be able to access it when she's old enough. My mother saved all of our children's allowance in the Post office and when we turned 18 she handed us the savings book (it was handy I bought a laptop for college and other stuff) so I hope to do the same for my kids!
Only problem is you're only allowed to open one of those post office a/c where the children's allowance goes straight into it, so I won't be able to open one for the 2nd child in the same way ...will have to come up with another idea for her

pwurple

Lucuma wrote: »

Yeah that's what I'm doing with my daughter's children's allowance. I haven't had any problems with it, easy to set up in the Cork GPO. I did put it in her name although they advised me not to, so only she will be able to access it when she's old enough. My mother saved all of our children's allowance in the Post office and when we turned 18 she handed us the savings book (it was handy I bought a laptop for college and other stuff) so I hope to do the same for my kids!
Only problem is you're only allowed to open one of those post office a/c where the children's allowance goes straight into it, so I won't be able to open one for the 2nd child in the same way ...will have to come up with another idea for her

Your children's allowance is one payment though, no matter how many children, so it is likely it will all go into that one account?

Lucuma

pwurple wrote: »

Your children's allowance is one payment though, no matter how many children, so it is likely it will all go into that one account?

Oh really? Oh [EMAIL="cr@p"]cr@p[/EMAIL].

DD and her little sister better not fall out so as all her sister's money will be in dd's name in that case!