We're all feeling the pinch at the moment with the cost of living crisis still impacting our wallets, but some teens could be sitting on up to £2,000 of cash without realising, according to one expert.
Money saving guru Martin Lewis shared that people between the ages of 12 and 20 might have thousands of pounds tucked away without their parents saving a penny.
Taking to TikTok, Lewis explained that people in this age group could be "one of up to a million who has a hidden £2,000 in savings that you know nothing about."
He goes on to explain that this money is thanks to a Child Trust Fund, which is a tax-free savings account available for anyone born between two dates - those dates are September 1, 2002, and January 2, 2011.
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"These Child Trust Funds were savings which locked money away until you were 18, and some of you will be 18 now," Martin added. "Now, you might be thinking ‘but my parents didn't have any money to put in.' It doesn't matter because the state started everybody off with at least £250 and for some from lower income backgrounds, £500."
There were over 6.3 million of these trust funds set up but it is thought that around one million have been lost over the years, "meaning people have lost track of them, or are unaware that they have them, and that could be you."
While gov.uk estimates each trust fund could have around £2,100 locked away, Martin thinks this might be optimistic for anyone who has lost track of the fund.
Instead he said: "I think if it was inactive and nobody put money in, you've probably got less than that, but it's still likely to be £300, £400, £500, £1,000 or possibly more."
He is urging anyone who's birthday falls between the two dates to check their Child Trust Fund, assuming they've not already accessed it. This can be done through the gov.uk website using their search tool.
"You just need to search 'Child Trust Fund' to get to the tool. From there, parents or guardians of someone aged under 18 can do it for them… you have to be 16 or above to do the search yourself," he explained.
Parents will need their NI number and government gateway if doing it online but there is also an option to do it by post - even just checking to see if the trust fund exists is worthwhile even if it cannot be accessed yet.
HMRC should get back to you within three weeks with information on which bank or building society has your money and let you know the process for retrieving the cash.
Even if you or your child is not able to unlock the money yet, Martin still advises checking if there is an account and possibly transferring the money to a Junior ISA for better interest rates. As this is a dead account type, Martin said: "there isn't much competition for the interest that can be earned in the savings versions."
He added: "Check what interest rate your Child Trust Fund is paying and then compare it to the top Junior ISAs, which is the successor product…
"Then you can apply to open a Junior ISA and within that there will be a transfer form… so you now have all the money in the Junior ISA at a higher interest rate."
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