Godparents help swell children's savings

Monday, November 21, 2005

Godparents are increasingly investing in their godchildren's future through savings contributions, according to the latest research from National Savings and Investments (NS&I).

The research carried out by NS&I showed that 18 per cent of godparents chose to give a financial product or savings to their godchildren at birth, good news for the country's future savings accounts holders.

"By choosing to invest in products such as Children's Bonus Bonds, Premium Bonds or Inflation-beating Savings, godparents can ensure they are giving a gift that won't be outgrown," said Karen Jones, marketing director at NS&I.

"These gifts will grow over time and could provide a real boost towards future financial goals such as university or a first house deposit."

NS&I says that if the average spend on a christening present (£86) and the average spend on Christmas and birthday presents each year (£82) were put into savings accounts, the child could have savings of over £2,200 on average by the time they were 18.

Recently, Barclays announced that the introduction of Child Trust Funds has led to children of all ages benefiting from the encouragement it gave parents to open savings accounts for all their children.