Kids bank accounts questions

Hi Bowie, its a great idea to start an account for your wee man!
i work for abank so i might be a bit biased on which bank to go with but i have to say the idea of the free PIGGIE is a great idea hehehe
Kids account are normally free and will earn interest as well, or for now you can just go with a savings account if the interest rate is higher and then later on change it to a transactional account.
As to how to control the account later, i would say you could then have one savings with the larger sum of money in and have a everyday account too, this is good to teach children the value of money as in my opinion they dont teach them this enough at school!
i dont think the fact he has savings will go against your son at all!!!

if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

We went for kiwibank for our kids, even though we don't bank with them.
Went with them as they are just easier to get to, having branches with the post shop.
All kids accounts seem pretty similar, in my opinion.

I would also totally recommend you sign your baby up for kiwisaver. Even if you don't contribute to it, they will still get the $1000 government kick-start.

we have four kids accounts with Kiwibank, it's linked to mine, so I can view, but can't touch them. and we just AP once a week into them. I think they were all roughly the same bank wise.

Remember to get an IRD number for your son if you don't already have one, something to do with tax that's charged, easy to get one as you can apply through your local NZ Post branch.

We are all with ASB now but growing up I had a Westpac Savings (my mum started) an ANZ Savings (school account one) and several term deposits with PSIS (grandparents) I then opened a BNZ bank account when I got my first job... I then withdrew my savings from ANZ and Westpac and moved them into a new term deposit with PSIS. I WAS going to go with TSB but the lady was a b!tch and said 'You need 5k to open a term deposit here and judging by your age I doubt you have than' so I told her where to go!

Lily's bank account ATM is in her name but joint with DPs bank account and my bank account (as we're unmarried we don't have a joint account). We both have access to it and can transfer money to and from.

I had a large sum of Money by the time I started working and it never affected anything although study wise it did - Student Loan, allowance etc. But he will be able to have a bank account with who ever he wants. If you wanted you could just do it in your name and when you feel he has earned it you could transfer it over to him (or in parts). Mine was joint with my grandfather name (PSIS) and until I was 18 I always needed his signature to authorise withdrawals and when I turned 18 it was all transferred to my name so I didn't need his approval for withdrawals but he still received bank statements.

Also just read above about the ANZ account and that account I didn't need anyone's permission to take money from... Which I regret now tbh!

We set Jacksons account up with ASB. It is in his name and Dh and I are just the Beneficiary for him until we sign it over to him when he is older. We are also with ASB so his account is linked to ours and I/we can control it and put savings into it as we like.

We havent done Kiwisaver for him just yet but we will when we get home. Retirement is never too soon to start thinking about and contributing to.

Hehe Im not too sure what the statements look like as we have statement stoppers at the moment being in Aus. But will be cool to see them when we get home

ETA we also opened a savings account for him as well, so he has a transaction account and a savings account. The savings account ears interest which is great and the transaction account has NO fees which is even better!

Edited by WestiesGirl

We have a rabodirect account for DS. You don't get a piggy bank or anything, but you do get a digipass thing that generates codes to access the account :)

We signed up when they were giving away free money so that was a bit of a bonus.

I have to do kiwisaver for the kids & Westpac are the only ones I know of that will wipe the fees till they are 18 if you make a deposit yearly. So better get that up & going for them.

Something to bear in mind but not too important at this stage is that school banking is done with ASB.

You could at some stage use the money to buy Bonus Bonds. You don't earn interest but they have a monthly draw which can earn you extra money, especially if you buy in lump sums, my Grandmother used to win something every month. Bonus Bonds are through ANZ I think.

Or could you put all the money into Kiwisaver on a low risk plan. I think (don't quote me as I don't have Kiwisaver!) that you can make a withdrawl from it for a house deposit can't you? That way it would be 'safe' from him spending it on 'nothing' later on and would be kept separate from any wages he gets later on

We opened a savings account for DD with ANZ (our bank) but have kept it in our name. Was going to get it in her name, but 15 is way too young to get full access to what will be in excess of $40k. We'll sign it over to her at an age yet to be determined when we're confident she's financially literate.

As for kiwisaver, I don't trust the government enough. It may be ok while the same government is in, but they're in and out so often and are bound to keep changing the rules (especially around contributions holidays). I also feel uneasy making a decision like that for DD that will affect her future financial options - once you're in you're in for life. She can always sign up when she gets her first job if she wants.