Thanks for the top advice lads
He’s only five right now but after reading bits n pieces on here I reckon I’ll get sobering rolling
I’m not going to be putting a fortune in every month but something is better than nothing I reckon
Cheers
It might be worth considering savings for when he is 18.
My mam and dad did that for my daughter and they were only putting a little bit away, but I think it was somewhere between £4 k and £5k in the end. Meanwhile we opened a ISA and a couple of savings accounts that we put money in. When I opened one I had to have a regular amount going in just to open the account, so I set up a standing order for £2 a week. Then we looked at what else were going to do, set that up, and never cancelled that £2. That over 52 weeks over 18 years with interest became £2k. When I started it was the cost of a cheap pint per week. Now it is a half!
With all the other stuff we saved, she has quite a healthy amount of money which will make a significant difference if she goes to Uni or wants money towards a house deposit. That is the big and expensive stage of life. You could then keep giving the same amount but start a pension fund for him after 18, or start now and split where you put the cash. Then it is a message to him that when he starts earning, right from the start pay something into that pot on pay day, even if it is just £20. He will never miss it, but hit 50, start to look at when he might retire and find he has a 5 figure pot sitting there.
Did that with our two. One was already renting and the other was looking at renting. Kept telling them that once they started paying rent, they’d never be able to save for a deposit. Ended up giving them both enough towards a small deposit to get them started and the pair of them have never looked back. Both have had a house now for 10 years, one has moved on to bigger and better, the youngest is planning to move in the near future.
If we hadn’t helped them out, they’d still be renting, the youngest is paying less than half for her mortgage than some of her friends are paying in rent for a property they’ll never own.
Probably one of the best things I have ever done for them financially.
I was only a year into my first job and looked at buying. Then I found HSBC were offering 100% mortgages and bought a house based on keeping mortgage payments the same as what I was paying in rent. (100% mortgages a very good to get started, but it was dick heads stretching themselves too far that broke everything, and banks encouraging it). Anyway, he was very scornful of it. What if interest rates rise? (We had accounted for that) What if the housing market collapses? (There was no sign). He was determined to save a 10% deposit before he started looking at houses.
Over the next 4 years, his rent rose each year, meaning he could save less, and house prices went up quickly meaning that 10% just got further and further away. I don't know if he ever did buy. I moved onto another job and moved out the area, selling my house a little on the cheap side for a quick sale and making a profit far in excess of what he had saved in that time.
Getting out of the renting game early in my career was the best thing I have ever done financially. But it was a different era then and it was far easier.