Early money matters
Make every fil count with Abu Dhabi Week’s guide to children’s savings accounts
We all know the importance of saving, but it’s never quite as easy as it seems on paper with food to buy and school fees to find. Kick start your child’s saving habits with our pick of some of the best bank schemes on offer for little savers and look forward to early retirement from the bank of Mum and Dad ...
HSBC
HSBC Bank offers two great solutions to encouraging children to save with their Premier Kids Accounts and a Head Start Account. The Premier Children’s Online Savings Account is a great way of giving your children the freedom to manage their own money – but with your guidance. You can set limits so that they can only withdraw a certain amount per day and with joint access, you can monitor just how much they’re saving and spending. A Head Start Account is perfect for starting up a savings scheme for your child from a young age. With no minimum amount required to set up the account, the emphasis on this savings account is to make putting money away fun to do. Each year HSBC branches across the UAE take part in a day of activities – from clown shows, face painting and a chance for children to deposit their coins across the Head Start Savings Counter. More information: 800 2722
Commercial Bank International
With an achievable minimum opening balance of AED100, it’s easy to get your children saving up with the Mabrook Savings Scheme. Get them excited about saving with the added incentive of winning AED10,000 with every deposit of AED100 into the account. Designed at encouraging regular saving, a parent or guardian can open a Mabrook Savings Scheme for their child – and even for themselves, with extra free benefits including an international debit card, a competitive fixed deposit rate of 7.5 percent per annum and free life insurance. More information: 800 224
Al Hilal Bank
With a minimum opening balance of AED500, opening a Kids Account with Al Halil Bank is a great way of ensuring a regular deposit to help you save for your child’s future – and as they get older they can take control of their finances with the help of an ATM card. Registered in the guardian’s name, the parent can work towards helping with college fees for the future, by making a minimum AED2,500 monthly credit into the account – and keep a close eye on withdrawals to make sure they stay on track with saving. More information: 800 66 66 66
Top tips
Teach them some valuable saving tips and watch their piggy bank grow!
Set a target
Help them learn the value of money with helpful targets. If they’re saving up for a brand new bike or the latest computer game, help them earn their treat with some household chores, like feeding the pets or washing the pots. This way they’ll want to help out more, and can gradually save their earnings and reach their goal and reward.
Building budgets
Help them realise that your pockets aren’t bottomless and that money doesn’t grow on trees with some helpful budgeting schemes. Draw out a chart of all the things they like to spend their pocket money on in a month – from cinema tickets, food and clothes. Then ask them how much they think they spend on each and how much they normally have left over. Get them working to a budget and they’ll learn to appreciate the value of money and soon want to save a bit when they realise just what it keeps being spent on!
Savings power
Top up their coin collection with an interest rate incentive for their good saving skills. Every time they save AED25, top them up with a ten percent extra. They’ll soon learn the value of looking after their money and resist the urge to spend all their pocket money on sweets.
[writer]Charlie Kennedy
[Originally published in Abu Dhabi Week vol 2 issue 18]
