Investing for teenagers

[mustachian]

My 14, soon to be 15 y/o nephew is interested in stocks, investments & savings. He’s played with some demo Forex accounts and wants to give it a try with real money.

1. Is it legal for someone his age to be trading stocks & ETFs in CH?
2. Are there any brokers that allow underage teenagers to signup? He’s into eToro since they offer demo accounts.
3. Could you recommend a bank account with a free bank account & a free debit card? He obviously doesn’t have income (other than pocket money, gifts & occasional eBay sales) and doesn’t want to spend tens of CHF for bank accounts & brokers. From my understanding this is not something that Neon & Cler Zak offer so he needs to look into mainstream banks.
4. Are there any implications I’m missing? (taxes, etc?)

Thank you!

[REandSTOCK]

@mustachian

Is it legal for someone his age to be trading stocks & ETFs in CH?

No. Art. 17 and 19 CC/ZGB.

@mustachian

Could you recommend a bank account with a free bank account & a free debit card?

Where does he live ? Lots of banks are not everywhere.

@mustachian

Are there any implications I’m missing? (taxes, etc?)

All his assets and transactions are to be added to his parents tax declaration. If he was working, I think he could/should have his own tax declaration.

[Tea]

@mustachian

Are there any implications I’m missing? (taxes, etc?)

I wouldnt do it for tax reasons, especially if you are still included in your parents taxes…

One thing a lot of traders dont get is that afaik you have to list every movement in your Wertschriftenverzeichnis if you want to fill out your taxes correctly

Excuse my missing `if i use it with an s it changes the layout. (Teach me! have a qwertz)

[MrCheese]

Afaik Revolut has a product for teenagers “Revolut Junior” besides the one time cost for the debit card there are no additional costs. Neon & Zak are for free too and should be able to open an account with his parents approval.

[mustachian]

@REandSTOCK

No. Art. 17 and 19 CC/ZGB.

That seems unfortunate. Thanks for the reference!

@Tea

One thing a lot of traders dont get is that afaik you have to list every movement in your Wertschriftenverzeichnis if you want to fill out your taxes correctly

@MrCheese

Afaik Revolut has a product for teenagers “Revolut Junior” besides the one time cost for the debit card there are no additional costs.

Great, thanks for the reminder. His parents don’t have it but I guess it’s up to him to work on that.

@MrCheese

Neon & Zak are for free too and should be able to open an account with his parents approval.

Neon allows accounts from 16, Cler ZAK from 15.

[MrCheese]

@mustachian

Neon allows accounts from 16 , Cler ZAK from 15 .

Interesting. Revolut Junior seems to be from 7 to 17, so that one would work.

[JMH]

@REandSTOCK

All his assets and transactions are to be added to his parents tax declaration. If he was working, I think he could/should have his own tax declaration

Quick question to clarify on my side please: i opened accounts in my kids names (which has risk if they become unhinged before 18 ) but i’ve been able to invest for them in the meantime. Only crappy swisscanto funds linked to the bank with our mortgage with crazy high commissions but has been better than cash so far.

I also just did my taxes and our accountant didn’t include anything explicitly in their name on my return. 3rd year i’ve done this without issue so far…was gonna try PF this year since they have 15k each now, which is getting into a decent range (both less then 10 ).

Looking at the tax instructions for 2020, if see nothing about declaring minor’s assets on my return. Where is it formalised?

[Guillaume_GVA]

@JMH

Looking at the tax instructions for 2020, if see nothing about declaring minor’s assets on my return. Where is it formalised?

LHID/StGH art 3 al 3

Le revenu et la fortune des époux qui vivent en ménage commun s’additionnent, quel que soit le régime matrimonial. Le revenu et la fortune des enfants sous autorité parentale sont ajoutés à ceux du détenteur de cette autorité. Le produit de l’activité lucrative des enfants ainsi que les gains immobiliers sont imposés séparément.

Einkommen und Vermögen der Ehegatten, die in rechtlich und tatsächlich unge­trennter Ehe leben, werden ohne Rücksicht auf den Güterstand zusammengerechnet. Einkommen und Vermögen von Kindern unter elterlicher werden dem Inha­ber der elterlichen Sorge zugerechnet. Erwerbseinkommen der Kinder sowie Grundstück­gewinne werden selbständig besteuert.

[JMH]

Good enough for me. Thanks @Guillaume_GVA…Still haven’t seen anything in my cantonale tax instructions but I’ll look better and I’ll ask specifically, no sense having to catch up on taxes later.

[Guillaume_GVA]

@JMH

in my cantonale tax instructions

I’ve just looked at the 2020 tax guide for Vaud, Fribourg and Genève. All of them indicate how to report income/assets for children.

Depending of your canton, it’s probably burried somewhere in the instructions.

Edit: i’ve just seen in your profile that you live in Neuchatel. https://www.ne.ch/autorites/DFS/SCCO/Documents/PP/INSTRUCTIONS_GENERALES.pdf

page 9 of your cantonal instructions

[JMH]

Wow, super nice of you to go the extra mile for me - appreciated! I also found it on their website but only with an effort that I hadn’t apparently made before (my bad ). Indeed confirmed that I must not have been explicit enough with my accountant. Will send a note tonight with your reference!