From Child Account to Own Portfolio: Handing Over to Your Adult Child
February 11, 2026
11 min read
From Child Account to Own Portfolio: Handing Over to Your Adult Child
At arvy, the child account is in your name as parent — not your child's. At your child's 18th birthday, nothing happens automatically. The handover is your conscious decision. Three paths, tax optimisation, and the honest math.
The Short Version in Three Lines
- At arvy, the child account is legally in your name as parent, not your child's. At your child's 18th birthday, nothing happens automatically — neither legally nor fiscally. The account continues running on you unchanged.
- The handover to your adult child is a conscious parental decision: complete gift with a separate child portfolio, gradual annual gifts, or keep the wealth compounding under your management.
- Whichever path you choose, the financially most important question remains: spend now vs keep compounding. CHF 50,000 kept invested @ 7% becomes CHF 1.2 million by age 65.
Featured Snippet — The Answer
At arvy, the account is in your name. At 18, nothing happens automatically.
Unlike locked child assets (True Wealth, UBS key4), the arvy child account is in the parent's name — not the child's. That means at your child's 18th birthday, nothing changes legally or fiscally. The handover is your conscious decision. Three paths are open: complete gift, gradual transfer, or keep the wealth under your own management. CHF 50,000 kept in the savings plan = CHF 1.2 million at 65 @ 7%.
When Swiss parents think about "child account at 18", they usually imagine a dramatic event: the bank sends a letter, ownership automatically transfers, the now-adult child can freely access. With some providers that's actually true — but not at arvy.
At arvy, the child account is legally in your name as parent. You're the holder, you have disposition rights, you decide. The account carries the conceptual purpose "saving for my child" — but legally it's your wealth, your tax liability, your banking relationship. At your child's 18th birthday, none of this changes. The account simply continues running as before.
That's simultaneously an advantage and a responsibility. Advantage: you retain control, flexibility, and strategic authority. Responsibility: you must actively decide when and how to hand the wealth over to your child — nobody does this for you. This article shows three clear handover paths, the tax optimisation behind them, and the mathematical logic that should guide your decision.
The Two Models — Who Legally Owns the Account?
In Switzerland, there are essentially two legal constructions for child investment products. Most parents don't know this — until it becomes relevant.
Model A — arvy & most savings plan providers
Account in the parent's name
You are the legal holder. The money belongs to you, is in your tax return, you have disposition rights. At 18 nothing changes legally. Handover to child = conscious act (gift).
Model B — True Wealth, UBS key4, locked child assets
Account in the child's name
Child is legal holder from the start. Parents have representation rights until 18. At adulthood representation ends — automatic transfer without action.
Both models have their merits. Model B (account in child's name) is often recommended as the "cleanest" solution, but has a significant drawback: you completely lose control on your child's 18th birthday. What your child does with a five- or six-figure sum is no longer in your hands. Statistically, a non-trivial portion of that money is consumed within 24 months.
Model A (account in parent's name, as with arvy) allows you to plan the handover strategically and in stages. You decide when your child is mature enough. You decide how much to transfer at once. You decide whether to keep the wealth compounding and transfer it as a larger block later (wedding, home purchase, studies). More on this in the Swiss child account hub article.
Important to Understand
If your child account is at arvy, it's legally in your name. That's a deliberate product decision by arvy — it gives you maximum flexibility for the handover strategy. If you want your child to automatically and fully access at 18, you'd need locked child assets at a different provider (True Wealth, UBS key4). Both paths are legitimate — they simply have different consequences.
What Happens at arvy at 18 — and What Doesn't
Concretely, at your child's 18th birthday at the arvy child account:
- Nothing changes legally. The account stays with you, you remain holder, your disposition rights are unchanged.
- Nothing changes fiscally. The wealth stays in your tax return. Returns count as your income. Wealth tax on you.
- Nothing changes with the savings plan. If you contribute CHF 100, 200, or 500 monthly, it continues without interruption. The savings plan is not linked to your child's age.
- The bank sends no letter to your child. The child is not a bank counterparty. You continue receiving quarterly statements, tax certificates, and correspondence as before.
- Your child cannot access the account. Not even "morally entitled". Legally it is your money until your explicit transfer.
This may sound bureaucratic, but it is liberating: you don't have to do anything "in a hurry" at 18. You have time to plan the handover carefully — over months, years, or life phases.
Three Handover Strategies for arvy Parents
If the account is with you, one question remains: when and how do you hand it over to your child? Three strategies have proven themselves in practice. Each has its own logic.
1
Complete gift with separate child portfolio
You open with your now-adult child a separate portfolio in their name (at arvy or another bank). Via gift agreement, you transfer the wealth from the arvy account to the new child portfolio. Advantage: clean cut, child has full responsibility. Disadvantage: all at once — if the child isn't ready, this can be a risk.
2
Gradual annual gifts
Instead of handing over everything at once, you gift a partial amount annually — e.g., CHF 5,000–10,000 — from the arvy account directly to your child's own account/portfolio. Advantage: the child gradually learns to handle wealth. Tax-wise in most Swiss cantons unproblematic up to high allowances (see tax section). The remainder of the wealth continues compounding under your management.
3
Keep and selectively support
You don't actively hand over, but keep the account under your management — until a specific occasion: studies, first apartment, wedding, home purchase, self-employment start. Then you finance specifically what makes sense. Advantage: maximum control, the money compounds as long as possible. Disadvantage: you must actively communicate that the wealth is "for later" — otherwise no relationship to it develops in the child.
Pragmatic Recommendation
For most arvy parents, a combination of Variant 2 and 3 is optimal: the account fundamentally stays with you, but you hand over gradually (e.g., CHF 5,000–10,000 annually from age 20 or 22) and finance large life events (studies start, first apartment) specifically from the remaining wealth. This combines the compound advantage with gradual learning effect for the child.
The Tax Reality — and an Important Advantage
As long as the account stays with you, nothing new tax-wise: you pay wealth tax on the invested capital (which you do anyway) and income tax on dividend distributions (usually small with accumulating equity savings plans).
For gifts to your child, in Switzerland: in nearly all cantons, gifts from parents to their own children are tax-free — even at six-figure amounts. That's a distinct cantonal feature of Switzerland and a significant advantage compared to gifts to non-relatives. Three cantons (Schwyz, Lucerne, Obwalden) levy no gift tax at all; all others have exempted parent-child gifts or have very high allowances.
A few points on parent-child gifts in Switzerland:
- Gift agreement isn't strictly formally required (oral is legally sufficient), but for bank transfers and tax filing strongly recommended.
- Gifts must be declared in the tax return, but are fiscally neutral there.
- Mind compulsory inheritance rights: larger gifts may theoretically be counted against the compulsory share in later inheritance (relevant in multi-child families).
- For the recipient (your child), the gifted wealth becomes part of their own tax return from receipt.
And an important point on double burden: the now-adult child becomes fully taxable from the 18th birthday independently of the account handover — own tax return, own health insurance (CHF 250–400/month), AHV/IV obligation. This has nothing to do with the child account. It happens anyway once adulthood is reached. Parents should discuss this with the child before the 18th birthday.
The Strategic Question — Hand Over or Keep?
When you as parent decide, an emotionally complex but mathematically clear question arises: is the wealth better immediately with the child, or better a few more years (or decades) in compound mode?
Look at what various consumption decisions actually cost with CHF 50,000, calculated to retirement at 65 (47 years investment horizon, 6% nominal):
| Use | Spent immediately | Invested to 65 | Value at 65 @ 6% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child buys car at 19 | CHF 30,000 | CHF 20,000 | CHF 309,318 |
| Child takes world trip at 20 | CHF 10,000 | CHF 40,000 | CHF 618,637 |
| Study boost (sensible) | CHF 20,000 | CHF 30,000 | CHF 463,978 |
| Everything keeps compounding (you keep management) | CHF 0 | CHF 50,000 | CHF 773,296 |
Calculation: end value at 6% nominal return over 47 years. Returns gross of inflation, taxes. Real values (after 2% inflation) about 30% lower.
Financing a car at 19 costs CHF 464,000 over the career (difference between "keep all invested" and "use CHF 30,000 for car"). That is not the price of the car — that is the opportunity-cost price the exponential compounding property generates.
The Hardest Trade
At arvy, you have the advantage of making this decision yourself — not the 18-year-old in the euphoric coming-of-age moment. You can say: "Car only when you finance it from your own income. The account wealth stays in compound mode, and I'll help specifically with the studies start." This parental authority is exactly why arvy deliberately puts the account in the parent's name.
The Math — What CHF 50,000 Can Become Through Continued Compounding
To make the compound effect concrete: the calculated end values for various child account end balances and investment horizons, with the wealth continuing under your management:
| Child account at 18 | By 25 (7y) @ 7% | By 30 (12y) @ 7% | By 65 (47y) @ 7% |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHF 20,000 | CHF 32,116 | CHF 45,044 | CHF 480,914 |
| CHF 50,000 | CHF 80,289 | CHF 112,610 | CHF 1,202,285 |
| CHF 100,000 | CHF 160,578 | CHF 225,219 | CHF 2,404,571 |
CHF 50,000 at 18, continued compounding at 7%, becomes CHF 1.2 million by your child's retirement. With CHF 100,000 at adulthood, your child is at retirement practically independent of state and pension fund — solely from early compounding.
Important: these numbers don't emerge if you "hand over and forget" at 18. They emerge when someone manages the wealth strategically and with discipline — which is statistically unlikely for an 18-year-old. Much more likely for a 45-year-old parent with investment experience. That is the mathematical logic behind the arvy model.
How to Explain the Account to Your 18-Year-Old
A common mistake among arvy parents: because the account legally stays with you, many think they don't need to explain anything to the child. That is a mistake. The child's psychological engagement is just as important as your financial discipline. Three concrete steps:
1
Create transparency — what exists, who owns it
Show the child the account, the current balance, the compound math. Explain openly: "This account is legally in my name. That's deliberate — so we can plan the handover together, not in a rush at 18. But morally it's for you."
2
Expectation management — what can the child expect?
Be concrete: "We plan to gift X CHF annually from age Y, plus Z for specific occasions (studies start, first apartment). The rest keeps compounding — long-term that becomes your own retirement." Avoid false expectations ("at 18 everything is yours!").
3
Give voice — even without disposition rights
Invite the child to co-discuss what should be in the portfolio. Explain why the ~30 arvy quality stocks (Visa, LVMH, Microsoft, Nestlé) are selected. This creates an emotional relationship with the account, not just an abstract wealth balance. More on this in Teaching Kids About Money.
The Multi-Generational Advantage at arvy
Because the account stays with you, you have something parents with locked child assets don't have: you can simply continue. No handover trauma at 18, no abrupt switch, no worry that your child will impulsively consume the wealth.
What this mathematically means: if you continue the existing savings plan after your child's 18th birthday (e.g., CHF 200/month, which was in your budget anyway), you create substantial additional effect:
| Scenario | Value at 30 |
|---|---|
| CHF 50,000 at 18, all left to compound @ 7% (12y) | CHF 112,610 |
| + Savings plan continues CHF 200/month from 18–30 @ 7% | CHF 157,549 |
| Additional effect from savings plan continuation | +CHF 44,939 |
The CHF 200 monthly from 18 to 30 isn't a new burden — it was already in your budget. You simply continue. With the advantage: the account knows no break, no occasion for "this is now mine, I'll spend it". It is and stays a continuous compound machine that you strategically steer.
The Strategic Power
Here lies the biggest advantage of the arvy model: parental disposition rights preserve compound discipline. Instead of hoping your 18-year-old child avoids the temptation to immediately materialise the wealth, you keep the steering — until your child is mature (or a real occasion like a first apartment arrives, where the wealth is meaningfully deployed).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the arvy child account in the child's name or the parents'?
In the parents' name. That's a deliberate product decision by arvy — it gives parents full strategic authority over timing and form of handover. If you want your child to automatically and fully access at 18, you need locked child assets at a different provider (True Wealth, UBS key4).
What happens to the arvy child account when my child turns 18?
Legally and fiscally: nothing. The account stays with you, your savings plan continues, you keep receiving tax certificates. The bank sends no letter to your child, and the child has no access. You decide when and how you hand over.
Do I have to transfer the account to my child after 18?
No. You can — but you don't have to. Three paths are open: complete gift, gradual annual transfer, or keep and selectively support at occasions.
How do I transfer the wealth from the arvy account to my adult child?
Via gift agreement (informal or written) and bank transfer. Practically: your child opens their own portfolio (at arvy or elsewhere), you transfer the desired amount there. For amounts over CHF 5,000–10,000, written gift agreement recommended for tax filing.
Do I have to pay gift tax when I hand over the money to my child?
In nearly all Swiss cantons, parent-child gifts are tax-free — even at six-figure amounts. Three cantons (Schwyz, Lucerne, Obwalden) have no gift tax at all. For very large amounts or complex situations, coordinate with a tax advisor.
What if I don't want to transfer?
No problem — the account stays running in your name. You can hold it indefinitely, keep investing, use it specifically for your child's life events (studies, apartment, wedding), or integrate it as part of your own wealth strategy.
Can my child access the account without my permission?
No. The account is legally in your name. Your child is not a bank counterparty and has no access rights — not even morally entitled, not even "because the money was meant for them". It is legally your wealth until your explicit gift.
What new monthly costs does an 18-year-old face?
Health insurance CHF 250–400/month (previously family policy), own tax liability (if earned income). This happens independently of the child account status. Total roughly CHF 350–500/month in additional fixed costs from the 18th birthday.
Is it bad that the account is legally in my name — what if I go bankrupt?
Theoretical risk. In personal bankruptcy or legal claims against you, the account wealth could theoretically be affected. In practice this is irrelevant for most families — but if you work in a risk industry (e.g., self-employment), locked child assets at a different provider might be a consideration.
arvy Child Account
Parental control is built in, not turned off.
At arvy, the child account is in your name as parent. You retain disposition rights and strategic authority — also after your child's 18th birthday. Swiss quality stocks, FINMA-regulated, minimum contribution CHF 50/month.
More on the arvy Child Account →
Written by Thierry Borgeat, Co-Founder of arvy. Reviewed by Patrick Rissi, CFA and Florian Jauch, CFA. Legal information refers to Swiss Civil Code (Art. 14 majority) and cantonal gift tax law (as of 2026). For individual advice, consult a qualified tax or legal advisor.
Disclaimer: This article serves general educational purposes and does not constitute personal investment, legal, or tax advice. Returns are not guaranteed; past performance is not an indicator of future results. arvy AG is authorised by FINMA as a manager of collective assets under CISA Art. 24. Imprint & Legal Information.
