I know everyone has different opinions about how to support their children financially, but I personally want to do my best in setting up my child for success in every way. Saving money for yourself or your children doesn’t have to be hard, in fact, it is very easy these days. All major banking institutions have online banking that allows you to invest money all by yourself without any fees (my personal favorite is Charles Schwab).
The thing about investing is that the longer the funds stay invested, the more they grow, so by investing just a small amount today, it will reap big gains in twenty years. Say you forego three cups of coffee a month and invest $20 a month for your child every month until they are 18 years old. That is $8500 total.
It is very easy to set up a custodial brokerage account for your child. It can be done online in about 10 minutes and then you can do online transfers to deposit money into it or deposit checks from your mobile device. There are several types of accounts but the most popular are UGMA and 529 accounts. If you’re new to investing, an easy, safe route would be to invest in a mutual fund or ETF that tracks the overall market. And be sure to reinvest those dividends!
A very close friend recently told me she was pregnant and asked me for advice on this new adventure. I told her to enjoy time with her partner, go out, watch movies and do everything they enjoy doing together because they won’t have as much time (or energy) to do this once the baby comes.