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“ I am very pleased to hear that he would blow £ 10k right away – not because it ’ s a good investment , but because it shows he ’ s normal and not a liar ”
The elephant in the room Yet while every parent wants to give their child the best start in life , there is something of an elephant in the room : is giving someone what must seem like an enormous sum of money on their 18th birthday really a good idea ? The first CTFs only matured last September , so there is little quantitative analysis on what the first generation of recipients are doing with their windfall . However , when we asked a group of teenage children what they would do with a hypothetical windfall of £ 20k to £ 50k , their responses suggested they may be more responsible with their money than the media would have you believe .
Wise beyond their years
Grace , who is 18 , says most of her friends would invest the money in stocks , which are currently popular among her peers , “ particularly the boys ”. “ Others said they would use it to fund their living at university and maybe even the tuition so they could get a smaller loan ,” she says . “ Someone else said they would like to start a small business in the fashion sector and another said they would like to buy a flat , which they would rent out and maybe renovate if they had enough money . “ There were obviously some people that said they would immediately book a holiday and update their wardrobe , but most know that would not benefit them in the long term .”
Young love This was a significant theme among our young respondents – they had a good idea of what they should do with any windfall , but found they had more pressing concerns . Ellie , 16 , says that while she would ideally like to invest any money given to her , or even use it to start her own business , her priority was flying the nest . “ What I want to do most is move in with my boyfriend ,” she says . “ We
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