Child Trust Fund advice

[Steve1977]

Had our first child in September (been a bit lazy in doing this) but really unsure what kind of account to open for their Child Trust Fund. There's many different places to invest and different types too (Stakeholder, Shares, Savings etc.) but I havent a clue about half the places.

How did you guys deduce which one to go with? Really unsure about shares but whats peoples experience of them in relation to long term savings such as this?

One which sprung out for me was Tesco Personal Finance (Stakeholder), I figured that Tesco's are cropping up everywhere, they'r not just opening grocery stores and god knows what they'l be doing in the future so surely investing in them would make good sense?

Would appreciate any advice.

[craig1912]

Depends on how long you want to invest for.
A long time-18 years I would go for shares where the risks are higher but over the long term the gains are likely to be greater

[stupendo]

We just put both of ours into a savings accounts then set them both up with other savings accounts.

Theory was when they are 18 they get the child trust fund whatever, who knows what they will be like at 18 and may spend the money on (I know that's a dark way to look at it). At least with a separate savings account you have control over it.