The gift that keeps on giving
We get the lowdown on how family and friends can help you save for your children’s future using the award winning Beanstalk app. Say goodbye to cash in a card and say hello to Beanstalk’s gifting tool which makes giving easier than eating a slice of cake.
I was shocked the first time my daughter had a class party.
We had a great time planning it, the event itself went really well with heaps of fun, games and laughter and everyone left with a slice of homemade cake, a small going home gift and a smile. Success, or so I thought.
So. Many. Presents.
What shocked me were the presents. There were just so many of them. Two bin bags worth, for one child. How on earth were we going to get through them all? And where was I going to find the time to find every parent’s number to message them a thank you on my daughter’s behalf? It felt excessive, indulgent and if I’m honest, made me a bit uncomfortable.
From that moment on, each birthday I tried to find a better way to organise gifting to avoid the inevitable excess of plastic and to take the pressure off fellow parents to be original. But I struggled. I couldn’t find a way to do it that was simple and effective. So I gave up.
The Gift Links tool
That is until I came across Beanstalk’s innovative Gift links tool which enables you to share a gifting link to any guests attending the party (or their parents!) who can then put money into your child’s Beanstalk account. And givers can send messages with their gifts which you can reply to. Much less stressful than writing a list of who gave what.
For any of this to work, you first need to have the Beanstalk app loaded onto your device. I did this, and set up accounts for each of my kids in minutes. The great thing about doing it through Beanstalk is that I didn’t need to go to a bank or provide any documents. I’m quite impatient when it comes to apps but this one was great - super slick and easy.
Then, to share a gift link, all you need to do is:
From the Beanstalk app copy your child’s unique gift link and share it with friends and/or family.
They can then make one-off top-ups to your child’s account with a few simple clicks – no card details or setting up new payee on their banking app required.
Parents receive a notification and personal message from the giver which they can reply to.
Invite Grandparents
Another simple way to help build up your children’s savings is to invite grandparents (and other close friends and family) to contribute using the app. Beanstalk has a clever ‘Invite’ tool which allows you to link friends and family to your children’s Beanstalk accounts. This means that instead of using a gift link for a particular occasion, they can gift money whenever they choose to.
The Invite tool enables grandparents (and others) to have their own version of the app and can use all the tools that parents can access to save for the child. Very simple indeed.
No banknotes or loose change. Just click and go.
If you’re thinking ‘but it sounds complicated’, we’ve tried it and it isn’t. In fact it is far easier than doing a bank transfer, visiting a cash machine or finding a cheque book and a working pen! It is designed to make gifting super easy, especially for grandparents who may not be fans of technology and want to contribute to their grandchildren’s savings regularly and directly.
The gift that keeps on giving
There is no doubt that being a parent is expensive. The cash you once had before kids to spend on a fancy breakfast or a weekend away is now absorbed by school shoes, days out and toys that get played with for all of ten minutes.
Using Beanstalk’s Gift Links and Invite tools will help you to save for your children’s future in a Junior ISA without directly taking away from your own income or savings. It is also a clever way to help you to collaborate with those around you who want to help. And over time, their money can grow*, so it really will be the gift that keeps on giving.
Stocks and Shares can be a great way to grow your money*
Many people choose stocks & shares when saving over longer periods as growth can compensate for the ups and downs. For example, over 50 years UK Shares returned over four times more than cash.
Source: Barclays Equity Gilt Study 2016
* As with any investment the value can go down as well as up. Past performance is no indicator of future performance.
Please note:
This is a collaborative post with Beanstalk. As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice. Beanstalk is a trading name of KidStart Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
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