I had to visit the bank today. Since I was on my way to the park (with Maxim), I decided to take him in. While we were standing in the queue, one of the clerks stopped by to say hi. She played a bit with Maxim and suggested that we open an account for him. I thought she was kidding, so I replied in a Fargo-ish way “Oh, yeah. Right”. Surprisingly, she looked at me very seriously and said that she wasn’t joking one bit.
Needless to say I got interested. She said that all I had to do was to bring Maxim’s birth certificate, and based on this document she can open a bank account on his name. Maxim will only be able to use this account when he is 18. But until than, both I and Olga can transfer small amounts of money to that account – 10 or 20 pounds a month.
As a result, if we’d do that, Maxim will have a good sum of money to start the adult life. (Calculations for the lazy ones: 10 pounds per month x 12 month per year = 120 pounds per year. Maxim is now 1 year old. That means that he has another 17 years to go before he can use the account. 120 pounds per year x 17 years = 2040 pounds + bank percentage. 4080 + percentage you’re willing to make it 20 pounds per month).
I understand that for many parents saying this outloud is like repeating that the planet Earth is round, but for me it was a completely new unconsidered idea. I’ll be rushing back to the bank with Maxim’s birth certificates one of these days.