thoughts for thursday.

i am always thinking about saving money for tucker's future.  always.

tucker has two savings accounts, a cd, savings bonds up the ying yang, and a piggy bank.  while most of this falls upon us to take care of right now, i want to teach him the value of money and how important it is to save now for his future (a car, college, etc.). 

i know that he is a little young to really teach him the true value of a buck, but everyday, matt and i give him change to put in his piggy bank (actually his pooh bank).  we count it (1, 2, 3) as we're putting it in, then kiss pooh goodbye and put him back on the shelf.  he sure knows that it is 'my money' as he puts it into that little bank.  he has also hit up his grandparents and uncle's to put money in his bank.  he is learning well.  :)  i'm happy that he gets excited about this because that can only mean good things in the future - right?  let's hope so.

now, here's my thought.  how many of you are saving for your kids futures?  i believe it is one of the most important things i can do for tucker right now.  just a little bit everyday will help him in the long run.  college will probably cost an arm and a leg by the time tucker enrolls so if i don't help him save now, it will only cost me later. 

there are so many ways to save for your kids futures.  i figured i would highlight a few and share a few things i would like to do or that i am doing.

• piggy banks.  they are the most basic form of saving money.  once the piggy bank is full, you can deposit it into the...
• savings account.  tucker has two (each @ different banks), but they do not earn much interest.  i do have money automatically transferred into his savings account each week so i don't even have to think about doing it.  it just gets done.  i highly recommend doing that.  i took some of the money out of one of his accounts and rolled it into a...
• cd.  this allows his money to earn a little more interest for a few years.  i didn't go through wells fargo on this one, we went to our local credit union as they had a great rate.  when the term is up, i plan to throw it into a...
• 529 college plan or into some type of mutual fund that has aggressive growth.  i have talked to some people about this, but haven't started an account for tucker yet.  there are other options out there, and i'm still looking into the best option for us.  i'm thinking this is something i will be doing within the next six months. 
• savings bonds.  a lot of people in our family have given tucker savings bonds (or cold hard cash) as gifts.  i LOVE this.  not only do i save the space from what could have been a toy that was played with and soon forgotten, but some day he will be thanking them all for doing this too.  money in the bank baby.  money in the bank.

i could have gotten way more in depth on this, but i'll save that for another day.  maybe take a closer look at each option or something.  for now, i am curious what you are doing to help your child save.  do they have a piggy bank they use?  do they have savings accounts?  do family members give gifts that will help the savings grow?  let me know what you do and maybe by sharing we will all help each other get ideas for saving a little more towards our kids futures.

other thoughts for thursday bloggers include: jessica, cass, kristi, kasey, anne, denise, michelle, and kim.

Comments

[michelle]

We have 529 plans right now for the kids, and savings accounts. That's about it at this point, but we will be teaching our children about the value of the dollar and how to save, and spend wisely. Hopefully they will learn from their daddy, and not me. I'm a spender, love to spend, spend spend. I agree though it is an important lesson to teach and hopefully we can afford college for 3 kids...

[Mrs Pop]

For Boy Pop, we have piggy banks, a savings account and a 529. We've been talking about dumping the piggy banks into a new savings account, but haven't gotten around to it.

[Robyn]

We have a piggy bank and at least one savings bond. My dad asked if he could just start a savings account for her b-day and such, and I said yes, yes, yes.

[Kasey]

Great post! When we do have kids we will definitely be saving for them for college, weddings, etc. Our parents have helped us out tons and I even went to college for free with my soccer scholarship. It doesn't hurt to start early and teach early too! Great post!

[Jessica]

We have a 529 for both of the girls, and they each have a savings account as well. My parents had NOTHING saved for my brother and I which played a large part in my decision to not continue on to college...I want my kids to have that option, and for it to be more a given that they'll be going.

[jessica]

ok two comments from me. seems to be a theme with me. scatterbrain. we bought james a little working ATM and he treats it as a real bank. he knows that there has to be money in there to be able to withdraw money and we've been trying to instill him good "credit" values as he sees us using plastic more than cash. we tell him that you always need to have money into an account so you can pay the credit card people back... stuff like that. hopefully he will be fiscally responsible! :)

[jessica]

james has a 529 with us plus his dad has another investment type account we started when he was about 4 months old. he's always known he's "going to college" - in fact he doesn't want to spend his money, he wants to put it away for college :) the 529 is a good deal if you maximize it.
monkey girl has a couple of savings bonds as gifts but those really aren't money makers.

[Leslie Collins]

My MIL started a savings account for Reyna after she was born. Jade & I contribute to it each week. Sometimes we might forget a week, but Jade is good about remember to double up the following.

We also have been given savings bonds for her which we will give to her for college.

I wish we were able to save a lot more than we do for her, but I feel like we're doing the best we can for now.

Great topic...btw.

[Nicole]

Right now we don't put money away for Porter's college (or Hudson's either...). I can't believe I even read your post b/c $$ is stressing me out too much right now LOL! Anyhow... Usually for Christmas and Birthdays our family gets Porter savings bonds and a small toy/gift etc. It adds up quickly and he has probalby close to $700 already in just savings bonds alone. Whenever he gets monetary gifts we do put that into a savings account for him (which doesn't have all that much in there..) and he had a piggy bank that we toss change into occasionally... Porter loves to play with the money and take it out and put it back in. So, when that gets full we take that to the bank. I think my mom also started that Gerber savings plan for him as well, and I think by the time he's 18 it should have about $20,000 or so? I'm not sure.

Anyhow... eventually I'd love to be able to contribute more into savings for him as I know how much it SUCKS to have student loans. However, we're so swamped paying for my student loans that there's not much else left to save even for ourselves (although Ryan does have a 401k and once I work full time I'll contribute to my 401k... that is a definite priority).

HOpefully in the next few years we'll be in a better situation and can put money aside for the boys. Until then, we appreciate the savings bonds/monetary gifts that the will get from family and we're glad they see the importance of giving them that for their future rather than buying expensive toys that they'll outgrow. I buy a lot of resale/garage sale toys so they definitely don't hurt in that department!!@

[Kim]

Max has two piggy banks on his shelf but hasn't learned to put money in yet... knowing my luck he'd probably swallow a penny or something...

We have a 529 for him and any money he gets as a gift goes in there. I also take some out of my paycheck.

Tom and I came out of 4 years of private college each with not a single penny of student loans. I did get over 60k in academic scholarships, but still, all the credit goes towards our parents. And they aren't rich, either. My parents started saving when I was a baby. I firmly believe that the single reason Tom and I have as much as we have right now is because we came out of school in the black. And trust me, I appreciate it.

So, my plan is to save as much as we can for Max*, encourage him to do well enough in high school that he'll have some of his college paid for, and anything beyond that, he'll have in loans... but hopefully, it won't be much if anything.

* Obviously, saving for our retirement comes first... I wouldn't save for college if we weren't putting enough into our 401k/funds... you can borrow for college but not retirement. :)

[Anne]

Good post! We have a savings account for Ryan, and anytime we get a monetary gift, it goes right in there. We are also meaning to start one of those 529 plans soon. I was just about to say that Ryan doesn't have a piggy bank yet, but then I remembered that he does indeed have one, in the shape of a train! I should start showing him how to put quarters in:)

[gina]

We started a 529 when she was born but so far we're the ONLY people that have put anything in it (automatic withdrawl every month otherwise we'll never do it). I have been pushing my family and Michael's family to start buying her 1/2 as much for gifts and putting the rest in her college fund but no one is biting yet. Hopefully they will for her birthday coming up. She has savings bonds through my father-in-laws banks too but that's it. She has a piggy bank but isn't quite there yet! :) I didn't get any help at all with college and while I have NO intention of paying for all of it for her I want her to have something to start with. It is more fun to buy new girlie clothes and cute new toys but really she has PLENTY. I know she'll appreciate it someday...and we don't have the room for all of the clutter either! Good post.

[Kelly]

Being that Bill and I are ALMOST done paying for college, I am always thinking about how we are going to afford college for 3 kids. They all have their own savings accounts at the bank and each time they get birthday money or something, it goes in there. That doesn't mean that our house lacks the toys and fun stuff kids like by any means.