Many grandparents really want to help their grandchildren financially by putting money away for them for when they are older. The Junior ISA is ideal for this as it allows anyone, such as parents, grandparents and other family and friends, to contribute up to £9,000 per year for a child’s future.
The Junior ISA is a tax-free savings or investment account in the child’s name, and they can only withdraw money once they are an adult, so the parents cannot access any contributions given to the child!
Unfortunately, HMRC rules mean that, unless the grandparent is the child’s legal guardian, a grandparent cannot themselves open a Junior ISA for the child. Uniquely however Beanstalk has made it really easy for grandparents to start the account opening process for a grandchild as well as contribute to a child’s Junior ISA using all of Beanstalk’s savings tools.
Setting up a Junior ISA as a grandparent
If you would like to open a Junior ISA for a grandchild, then all you need do is download and register on Beanstalk adding the child or children you wish to save for. If you are not the legal guardian, the children will be pre-registered on Beanstalk and an email will be sent to the parent asking them to complete the process.
When the parent receives the email, they are prompted to confirm the child’s details and open the Junior ISA. You will be notified automatically when everything is done so you can go ahead and start making contributions. You will see your grandchildren in your Beanstalk app along with details of what you have given to them and, if Full View is enabled by the parent, how the account is doing.
Linking to an existing Junior ISA
If your grandchild or grandchildren already have a Beanstalk Junior ISA, then the process is similarly simple. Just ask the parent to send you an invite from their Beanstalk app. When you accept it, you will see your grandchild listed in your app and can start making contributions.
Enabling Full View
Parents can decide whether to allow linked donors, such as grandparents, “Full View” or not. With Full View enabled, the donor can see all the same information the parent sees such as the value of the account, the holdings and how much has been contributed by each donor. If Full View is not enabled, the donor only sees the gifts they have made.
Using Beanstalk’s savings tools to contribute to your grandchild
Beanstalk gives you lots of ways to contribute to your grandchild’s Junior ISA. Through the app, you can set up a regular monthly contribution or make one off top ups using Direct Debit, online bank transfer or open banking enabled instant transfers. You can also enable Round Ups which allows you to round up purchases you make on your debit and/or credit cards and contribute the change across the grandchildren you are saving for. We also offer cashback at over 2,000 retailers and any cashback you earn is also automatically saved into your grandchildren’s accounts – a great way to “save for free” for the children you love!
For further questions and answer on saving as grandparent, please see our article All you need know about Grandparents and Junior ISAs.