Your savings plan? - Have you been saving for their future?

jigsaw71 wrote: Hello All,

I am wondering what many of you are doing in regards to saving or teaching the kids to SAVE for their future?

I notice everyone around hasn't even thought about that. I have 2 yr. old and 4 month old. But this is on my mind already!!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: our kids each have an RESP account... and they each have a small bank account, in trust to me.

lisar replied: I have a 2 yr old and a 7 yr old. They both have savings accounts that we put money into. For us we have 401k for us going.

coasterqueen replied: I have a 5.5 year old and one who will be 3 on Sunday. They both have savings accounts, college savings plans, and their own piggy banks in their room Kylie also gets an allowance of $10 a week where $3 of it has to go in her piggy bank, she has to use some of that each week for church, and then the rest is hers.

amynicole21 replied: We were going to do a 529, but we don't think we'll be in FL that long and don't want to limit them to staying in FL state universities. I think they have nation-wide 529s, but we never looked into them that much. I don't think you can use these for private universities anyway. We contribute to a Sharebuilder account for both of the girls (5 & 2) monthly - it's like a 401k.

Kaitlin'smom replied: Kaitlin has a college fund account, a savings account and a money jar at home.

for us we have savings, annuity and I am not sure what the other ones called, it with DH's work but its ours.

msoulz replied:
We are socking as much as we comfortably can away into 401(k) accounts and have 10 years left on a 15 year mortgage in the hopes that we can help them out of our current incomes at college time (or tap into the retirement if necessary). Both kids have savings accounts for the little stuff that comes from relatives at holiday and birthday time, and I direct deposit $5 each week into each of their accounts. Jake already calls that his college savings account. Plus he has a small CD that we bought when his savings got bigger. So its a little here and there.

moped replied: Oh yes we have been saving since I was pg with them..........resp, gic etc

lovemy2 replied: 529s, savings accounts and money put away from their Grandpa who unfortunately they never met

Twelve Volt Man replied: We opened a savings account when my wife was pregnant. We put extra money in there for his college, as well as all money given to him. We dump as much as possible into our 401k's so, that we'll be in a better position to help him when we're retired. By the time he goes to college, our house will be paid for, freeing us to afford to help even more. I feel like we've got college under control... it's graduate school that scares me!

kimberley replied: all 4 of my kids have RESPs and my eldest just opened his own bank account last week. we agreed to put at least half of all he gets in there and continue once he is working. to me, teaching my kids to be responsible with money is as important as giving them money.

redchief replied: By all means, if you have the means, save for your kids' college! Unfortunately we spent most our child rearing years living paycheck to paycheck, so there was little left over to sock away for a rainy day. I'm paying for it in loans now!

DVFlyer replied: We were going to use the 529 plans but I didn't want to limit their spending on just education, so every year, we put the money we get back in taxes for having kids into a Roth for Michelle with the idea that it will be the kids' money.

GorillaLove replied: I'm setting up an education IRA. I just started a new career so the money I put in will increase over time. I'm planning on $50 bucks a month with $500 at tax time to start things of.

Hopwood04 replied: I put $50 per month in for both of my kids into a life insurance plan. Specifically an indexed UL. The cash value of the contract increases each year with the stock market. When the stock market loses, I don't. Then if the market re-earns those losses, I get to participate in those gains too. The contract has a reset feature that resets your basis on annually on your anniversary. So if the market earned 10%, I get 100% of that. If the market earns 20%, I get to keep 13.5% because that is the annual cap. Here is the neat part, if the market loses 10%, I get credited with 0%. When my kids get ready to retire, they should have a nice little nest egg there and the best part is, they will be able to take a TAX-FREE Income off of it!

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Please do not judge this post as spam because it is not. I am sorry that the thread was right up my alley. I truly joined this group to ad value and be an active participant.

Cody Taylor replied: Well i too believe that making the kids responsible towards handling few things right from the beginning can be a good habit. That is why opening a saving bank account or giving them piggy bank account can be a good idea. But do ensure that saving habits is promoted by you