Compare Childrens Savings Accounts

A high interest savings account is one of the most important things you can ever give your child because no matter how old they are, they are never too young to start saving and start learning about money. However, before you choose a savings account you are going to help your child manage, you need to compare all of the children’s savings account options to find an account which suits your child and their growing needs.

To compare children’s savings accounts you need to keep in mind:

The age of your child and how many deposits they are going to make now and in the near future. If your child is just a few years old, opening an account in their name and starting a savings fund is quite different to opening an account to help a school aged child track their pocket money.
What you want to teach your children about saving. It may be tempting to choose a children’s savings account which rewards them for deposits and penalises them for withdrawals however, if you want to teach your child real financial security and independence you will compare accounts which teach your children the importance of both spending some now and saving some for later.
How your child will use the account. If you already use online banking you may be very willing to teach your child to use it too, and show them what to look for when determining a secure website. If you’d prefer to teach your children about interacting with the branch staff too as this is the way you prefer to bank then you may choose to compare children’s savings accounts which offer both branch access, and the chance for you both to learn about internet banking.

Why it is Important to Compare Children’s Savings Accounts

Teaching your children about money and finances is a skill which will serve them in every aspect of their lives and it can be important to teach them strong financial skills by opening a savings account for them. Using a high interest savings account can teach your children:

Good financial habits. It is easy to underestimate the power of learning new skills from a young age, but just as you learn to tie your shoes or ride a bike as a child and these are skills you carry with you for the rest of your life, so too can you learn good financial habits as a child which will stay with you. Getting into the habit of putting funds into a savings account and tracking the accumulation of interest can give your children a sense of achievement they will strive for in their adult finances. Planning and saving their funds for their future also teaches them to start looking ahead and while they may not be saving up for the deposit on their first home before they’ve started school, when the time comes for them to thinking about mortgages and loan deposits they will already be in the right mindset; rather than realising too late that they should have been saving sooner.
How to spend and save. Learning how to spend is as important as learning how to save because the time will come, if it hasn’t already, that your child will really REALLY want you to buy them something. Rather than simply teaching your children to spend on nothing and save everything, a savings account can also teach them how to spend responsibly while also saving for the future. This is because many high interest savings accounts will allow your child to open several sub-accounts and name them different things. Therefore, when your child deposits their pocket money or birthday cash they can distribute it to a savings fund for the near future and one for long term savings. They could name their short term savings account ‚new bike or ‚concert tickets to help them stay focussed and motivated.
Now is a good time for high interest savings accounts. Even if your child doesn’t have a lot of funds to contribute to their savings account, you can still teach them about interest rates and compounding interest in a financial climate conducive to boosting their savings to back up the point you’re making to them. With the Reserve Bank of Australia raising interest rates and the banks doing the same, now is a great time to earn high rates of interest on savings funds. So why not help your child make the most of the current financial situation and use it as a lesson in interest and investments too.

Whether you want to open a children’s savings account for your child before they’re born or to help them save for a special purchase, use the Savings Account Finder™ comparison tables here to help you sort out the features your child will need, and those which they can do without for now. From our comparison tables you can follow secure links to each provider’s online application form and in most cases your child can start their savings plan today.