- Current Accounts
- Credit Cards
- Insurance
- Loans
- Mortgages
- Savings & Investments
- How Do I
- Online Banking
You are here:
Personal
>
Saving & Investments
>
Savings for children
>
The Santander Child Trust Fund
We all want to give our children the best possible start in life. So it's a good idea to start investing for their future while they're still young.
A Santander Child Trust Fund (CTF) is an easy and effective way of investing for the years ahead. It's a flexible, easy to manage account that could make a really big difference to your child's future.
A CTF is a long-term savings and investment account introduced by the Government that encourages parents to save for their children. Currently when you register to receive Child Benefit you’ll receive a voucher to use to open a Child Trust Fund account for your child. The account belongs to your child and only they can access the money and only when they turn 18.
The Santander Child Trust Fund is linked to the stockmarket so the investment has potential to grow over the longer term but please note that the value of investments can fall as well as rise so your child could get back less than the amount invested.
Although tax rules may change in the future, the returns are currently free from income and capital gains tax.
The Government is proposing to stop its contributions to CTFs altogether. Please refer to the, How is the Government changing Child Trust Funds section below to find out more about how this might affect you.
*Only children with a household income below the Child Tax Credit income threshold (£16,190 for 2010/11 tax year) will qualify for these payments.
The Government contributions are a great start, but to make a really big difference you can invest regular additional amounts every month or make occasional one-off payments throughout the 18 year account period. Remember, once money has been paid in, no-one can access it apart from your child, and only when they turn 18. The money in a CTF does not affect family benefit and tax credits.
Contributing to your child's CTF is easy. You can make your payments by direct debit, cheque, telephone or internet banking.
The good news is anyone can do it. Mum, Dad, grandparents or other friends and relatives can all contribute up to £1,200 a year between them. The account year ends on the day before your child’s birthday.
Each year, Family Investments will send your child a statement, so you can see how their account is performing. Or you can ring for an up-to-date valuation at any time. You can also manage the account online.
On 24th May 2010 the Government announced that it intends to stop all Government contributions to Child Trust Funds in the following way
If you’ve already received or are due to receive a voucher, you can still apply for a Santander Child Trust Fund today.
If you do not have a voucher, but would still like to save for your children, why not consider our great Flexible Saver for Kids.
You can apply for the Santander Child Trust Fund either online, in branch or by telephone.
> Pop into your local Santander branch
> Call us to apply on 0800 032 7652 (Lines are open 9am – 7pm weekdays and 9am – 12 noon Saturdays. Calls may be monitored or recorded for training purposes.)
You can also add to an existing Santander Child Trust Fund and can do this by clicking on the link below:
> Add to your Santander Child Trust Fund provided by Family Investments
Registered Office details of the product provider(s)
The Abbey CTF account is provided by Family Investments. Family Investments is a trading name of Family Equity Plan Limited (Co. No. 2208249) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Registered Office: 16-17 West Street, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 2RL, United Kingdom. Family Equity Plan Limited is entered on the FSA register under registration number 122351.