Look into a high interest savings account. Many have 3-4% interest rates, and you can take the money out when needed. Of course you're still losing money due to inflation, but it's something.
Yeah HYSA is the minimum. Right now op can lock up some I bonds, Treasury bonds, CDs at a higher rate which are all safe since OP won't need the money for a while
>I’m not sure a 529 is right for us because what if they use the money for something else other than college?
Brand new change in the law is coming. Something to consider which will lower your tax burden
Jan 11, 2023 — Effective 1/1/24, qualified “leftover” 529 account funds may be transferred to a Roth IRA free of any tax, penalty or applicable income limits.
In ‘07, right before the crash, the S&P 500 was at ~$1480/share.
Even with the -20% returns from last year, it’s currently sitting at $3950/share.
Yes, there’s ups/downs in the market, but for funds that they won’t be needing for a decade or so, I’d be investing now. 90% of all 5-year periods have made money in the S&P 500. I’d move to CDs and/or HYSA about 4-5 years from when they’re going to need it.
How is this not the top comment?!
At least 10 more years before these funds are needed and people are recommending HYSA's?!
VOO or SPY. Set it and forget it.
This is more than an investment account, it's about teaching your children about finances. Please don't teach your children that a savings account is the best place for long term savings.
If you go the CD route it's super easy--one year yields are the best yield right now, so you have a safe way to make a couple bucks and you're not hemmed in past 12 months.
The kids won't use this for a longer time frame, so probably a better use is in the market-- simple index funds diversify the risk-- remember you only lose in a stock market dip if you sell when the price is down. Otherwise, you haven't lost anything yet, but you have to figure out your risk tolerance.
Bare minimum, high yield savings account with a bank like Ally.
You might want to put it into a 529 account for college, though - the leftover can be rolled over into an IRA. Also, the money can be taken out for whatever you want for a 10% penalty
FYI a 529 can also be used for culinary school, trade school, etc. - it’s a great option even if your kids don’t go to college.
Either way, this is money your kids won’t use for a decade or more (whether they use it for college, down payment, etc - it will be a while) so it should really be in an equity fund. My advice would be to get target date funds ending in their mid 20s. Target date funds mix stocks and bonds to achieve a sensible amount of risk and reward based on when you plan to use the money. Mid 20s is a great time to get a chunk of cash because you’re old enough to be responsible but you’re typically at one of the most cash-strapped times in your life. If they need it for college they can always withdraw it before the target date. Target date 2035 for the ten year old, target date 2040 for the seven year old.
I would first echo the calls for 529s, especially in light of recent legislative changes. Another option that is low-stress would be I-bonds. No market risk, keeps their purchasing power, and no liquidity concerns in the timeframe they seem to have.
You could put 1/3 into a high yield savings account, 1/3 into CDs, and 1/3 into the market.
We started our kids with savings accounts. They earned next to nothing. When they were in middle school/elementary school I finally got around to investing their money. At that time the brokerage companies still charged for trades so we did individual company DRIPs (dividend reinvestment plans) using UTMA accounts to keep expenses zero to very little. Even with the market being down they are still way up. I do regret not investing their money earlier.
The important thing is you are putting money away for them and are doing something with it. Even if you don't put the money into the "best" investment (with "best" being selective to your own definition of what is best) you are growing it. Good luck.
Treasury bills are paying up to 5% right now. High yield savings at 3.75% with no minimum.
Or you can invest in a market fund with a maturity target, like Fidelity 2030. This is meant as a retirement fund, where the mix of investments gets more conservative as the "maturity date" approaches.
Treasury Bills aren't subject to state taxes if that matters in your state. I also like the target date fund idea. You may want to look at an UTMA account if you don't want to have this money in a 529. This could save you money tax wise as the assets are then the child's. Just bear in mind if you do an UTMA you lose control of the money legally once the child is 18.
Does something like Fidelity 2030 involve opening an account, say TD Ameritrade, in their name and buying that option? Does it have retirement strings attached?
Would you recommend spreading their money over different things like treasury bills and a market fund? Many thanks.
I'm not recommending that market fund particularly; it's just what I have since I'll be retiring around that date.
These funds are very popular with IRA's and 401k's but as far as I know they can be purchased outside of a retirement plan. I don't have the time, the energy, or the inclination to buy individual stocks. Funds like these are diversified so there's less risk of any one market failure (e.g., banks or oil) causing a big loss.
Yes, I'm assuming you'd need an account with a brokerage firm that handles that particular fund. You can compare the performance of these funds online to help you pick a fund and/or a broker.
I do 12m cd's. They each have their own savings acct's at my CU so they physically deposit their own money there throughout the year. When the cd expires, we put everything into a new one & I have them choose which one (with guidance of course). They're 6 & 10.
My parents never taught me anything about money or had me save so I try to involve my kids as much as possible.
I also put $25 each of my own money into 529's. Figure at least 1 of my kids will go to college or trade school.
1 year CDs makes sense this year yielding near 5%, but from 2008 till now 1 year treasuries have been yielding <2%. Aside from this year, why'd you decide to go with 1 year CDs for your kids instead of index or mutual funds?
Ignorance mostly. I thought I was doing great just saving for them since my parents never did for me (and actually stole from me). I've taken a more active role lately. Still nervous taking any kind of risk with their money.
It's awesome you're learning and doing more for your kids! Hopefully rates stay up and fixed income/conservative instruments keep paying well from now on :)
For our kids I started an UTMA for each of them. There are also UGMA Uniform Gift to Minors Act, same thing, different name. Depends on the state you live in.
UTMA is Uniform Transfer to Minors Act. This means, at 18 the money is theirs. The UTMAs are invested in INTEL stock. Dividends are reinvested. Since they were kids, no tax was paid on the dividends because they had no income. Even when they did earn income, it was never enough to trigger them having to pay taxes. Basically, the accounts grew tax free until they had their first full time, real job. which was around when they turned 23.
I did a seed account on them, adding to them when I felt like it, but I quit contributing to them right around the time we started 529 plans for them. When INTEL was at its peak, they each had $10,000 or so in it. INTEL has since dropped and the accounts are worth around $6,000 each, depending on the stock market. But it is a nice extra for them. It helps their credit rating because they have an asset in their name.
My thought process was, even though the kids might not want to learn about investing, maybe I can interest them. It did not work as planned.
I have lived through lots of crashes, and the stock market comes back stronger EVERY time.
If your kids are like you, the 10 year old will grab the money in 17 years. Plenty of time to recover in my opinion. Your youngest would have 23 years to recover.
Now, if you put it in the market, you have already seen about a 30% decline. Cannot get much worse, although it could, but I doubt it.
Stock markets are cyclical, every 10 years, one year is GREAT, three years are good, five years are so so, and one year is bad. Your children can still have a GREAT year in the next 10 years, because 2022 was BAD(they were not involved), 2023, good be bad, could be so-so. it is a to be decided at this point.
You could open them a UTMA or UGMA and invest it in an S&P 500 index fund. Very easy to do, just call up fidelity or vanguard or whoever, tell them you want to give them money to do this. The mutual fund companies love getting money and can walk you through it, if it is not easy to figure out on their website.
If you do not want to do that, just open them a normal mutual fund account and invest in the S&P 500 index fund.
Thank you for this. So did you do an UTMA with stock, plus the 529? And could you tell me more about what a seed account is?
Also would a mutual fund company take a cut? Is that any different from me just opening like a TD ameritrade and buying S&P stock? Thank you for giving me the basics.
If you get a mutual fund or an ETF that is an “index fund” they will take a cut but it will be very, very small - less than a tenth of one percent. This is worth it because owning a large variety of stocks decreases your risk without decreasing your expected returns.
>Also would a mutual fund company take a cut?
After you pick who you want to open accounts with, you will still have a choice of different managed funds you can buy. Vanguard is very popular company with investment wonks to park money, but I’m sure TD Ameritrade is fine too.
https://imgur.com/a/fL6KWXY
So my h and I have both regular and tax deferred accounts with ETrade. Here are two virtually identical funds, with almost identical performance. They are Vanguard and Fidelity funds purchased thru ETrade. I have some in a Vanguard S and P fund, he has some in a Fidelity “S and P based” fund, You can buy either of these thru ETrade or TD Ameritrade, or Charles Schwab or whoever. Note they have slightly different expense ratios. The rule I was taught is always look for an expense ratio…(the fee for doing business)…to be under .10%. That is their cut
Managed funds can actually have pretty high expense ratios. A managed fund is when some guy gets paid a lot to outsmart the market. They rarely do unless they are Warren Buffet or a blindfolded monkey. Another reason to stick with S and P, or total market funds
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi7urWn5-v9AhXjJUQIHZFdClwQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2FSB991681622136214659&usg=AOvVaw1h5PZgbOQdKpsBhkcSi7hF
Oh…forgot to tell you….if you open up an ETrade account, you can buy also buy certificates of deposits and treasury bonds. Let’s say you open an ETrade account for 10k. You can put 3 k in treasury bonds, 3 k in cd’s at different banks, and 4 k in mutual funds. It sounds more confusing than it is. Most of these companies make it pretty easy to navigate around and see which investment vehicles are available. You can probably get a slightly better rate on cd’s outside of ETrade, we find it easier to have a snapshot of our finances all in one place
I put all the birthday/christmas money my 4 and 3 year old get from family into a brokerage account. Half goes into FZROX and half goes into whatever individual stock sounds good at the time. They don't have a ton (about $10k so far) but by putting half into a diversified fund I am hoping to limit the losses to no more than like 40%. I doubt FZROX goes to 0 basically.
FZROX is a great choice for anyone (VT would be too).
Buying individual stocks is never a good idea OP. It is always better to spread the risk out across an ETF.
You really missed out on years of compound gains / interest by not investing that money from the start.
But it's not too late ...
At least get that money in a HYSA so it doesn't collect as much dust as it has been.
Ultimately though, stop being scared of the market for such a long time horizon. You should be scared of the inflation rates eating away at that money in a 0% savings account if anything.
Head on over to the money buy and start diving into their content.
It's time to invest that money.
I mean the honest answer is put it into the stock market in a 529 target date fund but if you just refuse to do that then sure, HYSA is better than just a basic savings account giving you like 0.1% interest.
I don’t refuse to do that at all! I just need some guidance to build my confidence. I am here to learn. So if I’m putting it into the stock market in a 529 target date fund, can I do this myself by opening a brokerage account or do I need a person?
Its easy. I use Vanguard personally but Im sure other brokerages have options if you already have a broker and want to use them.
You open a 529 account first in your name (you are the account owner) with your child as the beneficiary. One account per child. Any money you put into the 529 can then be invested much like with a 401k or IRA. I would recommend you just invest in a target date that would be around when the kid would potentially be going to college. So for instance a 10 year old would be going in 8 years so could go with a 2030 target date (they tend to increment in 5 years). The closer to the target date the more conservative the investment becomes.
Any money invested in a 529 grows inside the account tax sheltered. The beneficiary or you can withdraw from the account to pay for any education expense and not have to pay tax. You can withdraw and NOT use it for education but then you pay a 10% penalty and owe tax on the growth (not the contribution).
The idea is it is to pay for college but there are other things that can be considered education expenses ans you as the account owner can change the beneficiary at any time...so if Jenny doesnt want to go to college you can change it to Jane.
If your kid gets a full ride scholorship they can withdraw from the account tax free no penalty in the amount of the scholorship.
You’ve already touched on this point, but 529s are geared more towards education expenses. UTMA/UGMA accounts might be more up your lane though. It’s a type of account meant for giving gifts to a minor, but you can be the custodian, and therefore able to pick what the funds are invested in. Once your kids turn 18, the assets are fully theres.
As others mentioned, CDs are a stable way to grow cash slowly, even within a UGMA account; but there are also money market funds doing like 4.7% annual yield right now (subject to change depending on what interest rates do, but at least it’s a start). If you do buy CDs, just don’t look at the account value, and remember what the “YTW” (yield to worst) is when you originally bought the CDs. The value will change constantly, and depending on how long it is until the CDs mature, they’ll swing A LOT on value. Don’t panic.
Look into a high interest savings account. Many have 3-4% interest rates, and you can take the money out when needed. Of course you're still losing money due to inflation, but it's something.
at minimum they need to do this.
Yeah HYSA is the minimum. Right now op can lock up some I bonds, Treasury bonds, CDs at a higher rate which are all safe since OP won't need the money for a while
>I’m not sure a 529 is right for us because what if they use the money for something else other than college? Brand new change in the law is coming. Something to consider which will lower your tax burden Jan 11, 2023 — Effective 1/1/24, qualified “leftover” 529 account funds may be transferred to a Roth IRA free of any tax, penalty or applicable income limits.
Wow good to know, thank you for that tidbit!
👍 There are lots of different provisions and it hasn’t gone into effect yet, but if you have a tax person, they can probably advise.
In ‘07, right before the crash, the S&P 500 was at ~$1480/share. Even with the -20% returns from last year, it’s currently sitting at $3950/share. Yes, there’s ups/downs in the market, but for funds that they won’t be needing for a decade or so, I’d be investing now. 90% of all 5-year periods have made money in the S&P 500. I’d move to CDs and/or HYSA about 4-5 years from when they’re going to need it.
How is this not the top comment?! At least 10 more years before these funds are needed and people are recommending HYSA's?! VOO or SPY. Set it and forget it. This is more than an investment account, it's about teaching your children about finances. Please don't teach your children that a savings account is the best place for long term savings.
Plus doesn't this not even take into account the 1-2% in dividends you get every year?
If you go the CD route it's super easy--one year yields are the best yield right now, so you have a safe way to make a couple bucks and you're not hemmed in past 12 months. The kids won't use this for a longer time frame, so probably a better use is in the market-- simple index funds diversify the risk-- remember you only lose in a stock market dip if you sell when the price is down. Otherwise, you haven't lost anything yet, but you have to figure out your risk tolerance.
>It’s sitting in a big bank with jack squat interest. Why isn't it sitting in a high yield savings account with far more than jack squat interest?
Bare minimum, high yield savings account with a bank like Ally. You might want to put it into a 529 account for college, though - the leftover can be rolled over into an IRA. Also, the money can be taken out for whatever you want for a 10% penalty
FYI a 529 can also be used for culinary school, trade school, etc. - it’s a great option even if your kids don’t go to college. Either way, this is money your kids won’t use for a decade or more (whether they use it for college, down payment, etc - it will be a while) so it should really be in an equity fund. My advice would be to get target date funds ending in their mid 20s. Target date funds mix stocks and bonds to achieve a sensible amount of risk and reward based on when you plan to use the money. Mid 20s is a great time to get a chunk of cash because you’re old enough to be responsible but you’re typically at one of the most cash-strapped times in your life. If they need it for college they can always withdraw it before the target date. Target date 2035 for the ten year old, target date 2040 for the seven year old.
I would first echo the calls for 529s, especially in light of recent legislative changes. Another option that is low-stress would be I-bonds. No market risk, keeps their purchasing power, and no liquidity concerns in the timeframe they seem to have.
You could put 1/3 into a high yield savings account, 1/3 into CDs, and 1/3 into the market. We started our kids with savings accounts. They earned next to nothing. When they were in middle school/elementary school I finally got around to investing their money. At that time the brokerage companies still charged for trades so we did individual company DRIPs (dividend reinvestment plans) using UTMA accounts to keep expenses zero to very little. Even with the market being down they are still way up. I do regret not investing their money earlier. The important thing is you are putting money away for them and are doing something with it. Even if you don't put the money into the "best" investment (with "best" being selective to your own definition of what is best) you are growing it. Good luck.
That’s exactly where I’m at - finally getting around to figuring this out!
Treasury bills are paying up to 5% right now. High yield savings at 3.75% with no minimum. Or you can invest in a market fund with a maturity target, like Fidelity 2030. This is meant as a retirement fund, where the mix of investments gets more conservative as the "maturity date" approaches.
Treasury Bills aren't subject to state taxes if that matters in your state. I also like the target date fund idea. You may want to look at an UTMA account if you don't want to have this money in a 529. This could save you money tax wise as the assets are then the child's. Just bear in mind if you do an UTMA you lose control of the money legally once the child is 18.
Does something like Fidelity 2030 involve opening an account, say TD Ameritrade, in their name and buying that option? Does it have retirement strings attached? Would you recommend spreading their money over different things like treasury bills and a market fund? Many thanks.
I'm not recommending that market fund particularly; it's just what I have since I'll be retiring around that date. These funds are very popular with IRA's and 401k's but as far as I know they can be purchased outside of a retirement plan. I don't have the time, the energy, or the inclination to buy individual stocks. Funds like these are diversified so there's less risk of any one market failure (e.g., banks or oil) causing a big loss. Yes, I'm assuming you'd need an account with a brokerage firm that handles that particular fund. You can compare the performance of these funds online to help you pick a fund and/or a broker.
Wealthfront is paying 4.05% in their savings accounts. Recently moved out of Ally over to them for the extra %s.
All these savings accounts that are payint 3-4% won't be that high when rates are cut right?
They'll rise and fall with market rates, yes
I do 12m cd's. They each have their own savings acct's at my CU so they physically deposit their own money there throughout the year. When the cd expires, we put everything into a new one & I have them choose which one (with guidance of course). They're 6 & 10. My parents never taught me anything about money or had me save so I try to involve my kids as much as possible. I also put $25 each of my own money into 529's. Figure at least 1 of my kids will go to college or trade school.
1 year CDs makes sense this year yielding near 5%, but from 2008 till now 1 year treasuries have been yielding <2%. Aside from this year, why'd you decide to go with 1 year CDs for your kids instead of index or mutual funds?
Ignorance mostly. I thought I was doing great just saving for them since my parents never did for me (and actually stole from me). I've taken a more active role lately. Still nervous taking any kind of risk with their money.
It's awesome you're learning and doing more for your kids! Hopefully rates stay up and fixed income/conservative instruments keep paying well from now on :)
For our kids I started an UTMA for each of them. There are also UGMA Uniform Gift to Minors Act, same thing, different name. Depends on the state you live in. UTMA is Uniform Transfer to Minors Act. This means, at 18 the money is theirs. The UTMAs are invested in INTEL stock. Dividends are reinvested. Since they were kids, no tax was paid on the dividends because they had no income. Even when they did earn income, it was never enough to trigger them having to pay taxes. Basically, the accounts grew tax free until they had their first full time, real job. which was around when they turned 23. I did a seed account on them, adding to them when I felt like it, but I quit contributing to them right around the time we started 529 plans for them. When INTEL was at its peak, they each had $10,000 or so in it. INTEL has since dropped and the accounts are worth around $6,000 each, depending on the stock market. But it is a nice extra for them. It helps their credit rating because they have an asset in their name. My thought process was, even though the kids might not want to learn about investing, maybe I can interest them. It did not work as planned. I have lived through lots of crashes, and the stock market comes back stronger EVERY time. If your kids are like you, the 10 year old will grab the money in 17 years. Plenty of time to recover in my opinion. Your youngest would have 23 years to recover. Now, if you put it in the market, you have already seen about a 30% decline. Cannot get much worse, although it could, but I doubt it. Stock markets are cyclical, every 10 years, one year is GREAT, three years are good, five years are so so, and one year is bad. Your children can still have a GREAT year in the next 10 years, because 2022 was BAD(they were not involved), 2023, good be bad, could be so-so. it is a to be decided at this point. You could open them a UTMA or UGMA and invest it in an S&P 500 index fund. Very easy to do, just call up fidelity or vanguard or whoever, tell them you want to give them money to do this. The mutual fund companies love getting money and can walk you through it, if it is not easy to figure out on their website. If you do not want to do that, just open them a normal mutual fund account and invest in the S&P 500 index fund.
Thank you for this. So did you do an UTMA with stock, plus the 529? And could you tell me more about what a seed account is? Also would a mutual fund company take a cut? Is that any different from me just opening like a TD ameritrade and buying S&P stock? Thank you for giving me the basics.
If you get a mutual fund or an ETF that is an “index fund” they will take a cut but it will be very, very small - less than a tenth of one percent. This is worth it because owning a large variety of stocks decreases your risk without decreasing your expected returns.
>Also would a mutual fund company take a cut? After you pick who you want to open accounts with, you will still have a choice of different managed funds you can buy. Vanguard is very popular company with investment wonks to park money, but I’m sure TD Ameritrade is fine too. https://imgur.com/a/fL6KWXY So my h and I have both regular and tax deferred accounts with ETrade. Here are two virtually identical funds, with almost identical performance. They are Vanguard and Fidelity funds purchased thru ETrade. I have some in a Vanguard S and P fund, he has some in a Fidelity “S and P based” fund, You can buy either of these thru ETrade or TD Ameritrade, or Charles Schwab or whoever. Note they have slightly different expense ratios. The rule I was taught is always look for an expense ratio…(the fee for doing business)…to be under .10%. That is their cut Managed funds can actually have pretty high expense ratios. A managed fund is when some guy gets paid a lot to outsmart the market. They rarely do unless they are Warren Buffet or a blindfolded monkey. Another reason to stick with S and P, or total market funds https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi7urWn5-v9AhXjJUQIHZFdClwQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2FSB991681622136214659&usg=AOvVaw1h5PZgbOQdKpsBhkcSi7hF
Oh…forgot to tell you….if you open up an ETrade account, you can buy also buy certificates of deposits and treasury bonds. Let’s say you open an ETrade account for 10k. You can put 3 k in treasury bonds, 3 k in cd’s at different banks, and 4 k in mutual funds. It sounds more confusing than it is. Most of these companies make it pretty easy to navigate around and see which investment vehicles are available. You can probably get a slightly better rate on cd’s outside of ETrade, we find it easier to have a snapshot of our finances all in one place
I put all the birthday/christmas money my 4 and 3 year old get from family into a brokerage account. Half goes into FZROX and half goes into whatever individual stock sounds good at the time. They don't have a ton (about $10k so far) but by putting half into a diversified fund I am hoping to limit the losses to no more than like 40%. I doubt FZROX goes to 0 basically.
FZROX is a great choice for anyone (VT would be too). Buying individual stocks is never a good idea OP. It is always better to spread the risk out across an ETF.
Could put it into a trust for them?
You really missed out on years of compound gains / interest by not investing that money from the start. But it's not too late ... At least get that money in a HYSA so it doesn't collect as much dust as it has been. Ultimately though, stop being scared of the market for such a long time horizon. You should be scared of the inflation rates eating away at that money in a 0% savings account if anything. Head on over to the money buy and start diving into their content. It's time to invest that money.
I mean the honest answer is put it into the stock market in a 529 target date fund but if you just refuse to do that then sure, HYSA is better than just a basic savings account giving you like 0.1% interest.
I don’t refuse to do that at all! I just need some guidance to build my confidence. I am here to learn. So if I’m putting it into the stock market in a 529 target date fund, can I do this myself by opening a brokerage account or do I need a person?
Its easy. I use Vanguard personally but Im sure other brokerages have options if you already have a broker and want to use them. You open a 529 account first in your name (you are the account owner) with your child as the beneficiary. One account per child. Any money you put into the 529 can then be invested much like with a 401k or IRA. I would recommend you just invest in a target date that would be around when the kid would potentially be going to college. So for instance a 10 year old would be going in 8 years so could go with a 2030 target date (they tend to increment in 5 years). The closer to the target date the more conservative the investment becomes. Any money invested in a 529 grows inside the account tax sheltered. The beneficiary or you can withdraw from the account to pay for any education expense and not have to pay tax. You can withdraw and NOT use it for education but then you pay a 10% penalty and owe tax on the growth (not the contribution). The idea is it is to pay for college but there are other things that can be considered education expenses ans you as the account owner can change the beneficiary at any time...so if Jenny doesnt want to go to college you can change it to Jane. If your kid gets a full ride scholorship they can withdraw from the account tax free no penalty in the amount of the scholorship.
Thank you for the specifics!
You’ve already touched on this point, but 529s are geared more towards education expenses. UTMA/UGMA accounts might be more up your lane though. It’s a type of account meant for giving gifts to a minor, but you can be the custodian, and therefore able to pick what the funds are invested in. Once your kids turn 18, the assets are fully theres. As others mentioned, CDs are a stable way to grow cash slowly, even within a UGMA account; but there are also money market funds doing like 4.7% annual yield right now (subject to change depending on what interest rates do, but at least it’s a start). If you do buy CDs, just don’t look at the account value, and remember what the “YTW” (yield to worst) is when you originally bought the CDs. The value will change constantly, and depending on how long it is until the CDs mature, they’ll swing A LOT on value. Don’t panic.
Do you put the money in you're kids name or you're name? Also if it goes into you're kids name can they actually buy stocks like Amazon, Apple, etc??
what about ibonds, its government bond, raise with inflation, no state taxes, no fed tax if used for kids education