Whose money is it at eighteen?

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) was written and directed by John Hughes, and Matthew Broderick plays a teenager who talks his way out of a school day. Early on, Ferris sums up his whole outlook, and he repeats it almost word for word near the end: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Parents rarely need a film to tell them that. One moment it is the first day of school, the next someone is asking about driving lessons. When it comes to money set aside for a child, a short pause is worth taking, because there is a rule many families only notice late. According to Germany's consumer advice centres (Verbraucherzentrale) and the consumer testing foundation Stiftung Warentest, money held in a child's name belongs to the child. Parents manage it, but they may not use it for themselves, and once the child turns 18 they decide on their own what happens to it. The parents no longer have access.

Neither option is right or wrong in itself, but it is worth choosing deliberately. Saving for a child always means saving in someone's name and for some purpose. If the account or policy is in a parent's name, the question simply turns around: should the child take it over one day, and when? My approach puts understanding before deciding, and here that is very practical: who gets the final say, and from when? You will find more on the options on the page about saving for children.

Lina is turning six. Half the family is squeezed into the small flat in Kassel, and a chocolate cake that came out slightly lopsided sits in the middle of the table. While Lina argues with her cousin about whose turn it is on the new bike, Grandma Renate presses an envelope into her son Tobias's hand. “It's not for now,” she says quietly. “I've been paying into a savings account in Lina's name since she was born. The papers are in there, so you both know about it.”

Tobias thanks her and is quite moved. It is only that evening, while Sevgi clears the plates and he leafs through the papers, that he notices how different the two pots are. Grandma's account belongs to Lina. The savings plan he and Sevgi started three years ago is in his own name, even though they always call it “Lina's money”. “Do we actually know what it's for?” he asks. Sevgi thinks about it. “For Lina. For later.” Neither of them can say more than that, and right then it strikes them both as a bit funny.

As he files the papers away, the card from the maternity ward slips out of the same folder, where it has been since that first week. On the back, in biro, is a note he wrote on the first night: “Before she's grown up, work out what it's for and who decides.” He reads it twice, then reads it out to Sevgi. She laughs. “Well, that gives us twelve years.” This time Tobias puts the card at the front of the folder.