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Can you please advice on the best option to invest my daughter's child trust fund voucher. I'm aware that going down the investment route may be more viable, but with the current finance situation, it might not yield as much

Thank you for your question and what to do with the Child Trust voucher which is a common question.

Before deciding it is worth noting that another CTF voucher is given when your child is aged 7 - so another £250. A lot of people do not realise that you can also contribute up to £1200 (including the voucher in year 1) per annum and this is the most tax efficient investment vehicle for children.

So where to put it - well this depends on your atitude to risk and costs. Remember that the money cannot be accessed until your child is 18, so it has a fair while to be invested.

Cost wise there are stakeholder and non-stakeholder accounts. A stakeholder account has a maximum charge of 1.5% per annum; non-stakeholder charges can be more than this. Bear in mind, however, that non-stakeholder plans have more active management and that is why the charges are higher.

Risk wise - you can choose between a savings account (like a building society where interest is added and the value you see cannot go down). Alternatively you can invest in a stakeholder plan that's return is linked to the performance of shares (through collective investments - simply a baskets of shares).

Share investments can rise as well as fall but in making your decision you need to consider the long-term (remember this money has 18 years to grow) performance of cash against shares. What a lot of people do not realise is that if you invest in a share CTF that you can lessen the risk the closer the child gets to age 18.

I hope this helps and if you want a specific brochure or personal advice, please contact us.

I am woking full time and my husband is looking after our daughter at home is there any money we can get for him to look after our daughter.

Thanks for your question. Your actual entitlement to benefits depends on a number of factors like your family income. You may well qualify for tax credits so the best thing to do is go the the Inland Revenue site and complete the questionnaire. In addition, depending on the income and your daughter's age, you may qualify for other financial assistance like healthy start vouchers.

I am in the process of claiming the Sure Start maternity grant as I was just aware of it. My baby was born on the 12th of January this year. Would I still be able to claim?

You have three months to claim so up to 12th April. Not everyone qualifies so check this link to check.

I have a personal pension but am currently at home caring for my two daughters. I was advised that I had to stop paying in to it as I was not working. Is this right?

Unfortunately this is not entirely accurate. You can contribute up to £300 per month (including tax relief) without needing to be working. You have not indicated how much you contributed before but either way you could contribute up to this limit. I hope that helps.

With life cover what is the difference between guaranteed rates and ones that are reviewable?

This is to do with the premiums you pay for the cover. Plans can have guaranteed rates that will remain fixed for the whole term of the plan; alternatively there are reviewable rate plans where the insurance company reserves the right to increase (or decrease) the premium on certain anniversaries (e.g every five years). Generally reviewable rates are cheaper than guaranteed rates. I hope that clears that up.

I am looking for cover on my mortgage if I am off work and ill. What is the difference between Accident & Sickness cover and Income Protection?

Accident, Sickness and Unemployment plans tend to only pay out the benefit for a fixed term (say 1 or 2 years). Income Protection will pay out until you return to work or the end date for the cover. For more details please contact us.