Many parents not yet saving money, Post Office finds

Wed, 22 Feb 2006

The apparent apathy displayed by many parents who claim to not having had the time to invest child trust fund (CTF) vouchers is disadvantaging children, the Post Office claims.

From this month, the government will start investing the 500,000 vouchers which have not yet been invested on behalf of parents who have not yet done so.

A poll by the Post Office and parenting website Mumsnet reveals that the main excuse for stalling from the quarter of parents who have not yet invested their vouchers is that they "simply haven't got round to it".

Some 38 per cent say they have not yet invested their vouchers because they are unsure what the best savings vehicle would be to use for saving money on behalf of their kids, it has been revealed.

"A stakeholder account is likely to be the choice of most parents when investing their children's vouchers," comments the head of savings and investments at the Post Office Richard Norman.

He says through a mixture of stock market investments, stakeholder accounts are designed to offer "good returns" over a period of 18 years while costs are "kept low".

Mr Norman points out that the Post Office CTF is provided by Family Investments, which is "one of the leading stakeholder CTF providers" in the country.

Information on the Post Office CTF is available from any of its branches and Mr Norman claims that the application process for the stakeholder fund has been simplified.