@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The scope of your project grows with every post.
You'd think, but as I just said, parents don't trust non-parents with financial advice, even if that non-parents has a 10 year track record of doling out exceptional financial advice for parents.
One big thing to keep in mind if you aren't a parent is that marketing absolutely hammers parents constantly using fear methods to get them to spend or buy or malinvest because if they don't, their neighbors will frown on them. Non-parents don't even look at these insidious methods of marketing (or you may not even know they exist) but I am very active in monitoring consumer culture and reporting to folks about it.
The current ploys used to extract future wealth from parents today cost the average family over $140,000 per kid by the time that kid is 18 (accumulating at $0.50 per hour for every hour until they're 18). That's more than enough money to pay for a kid's entire college or give them a rental apartment to make a future on. And that average is probably low because the past 3-4 years has been a tripling in "you're a bad parent unless you do this" marketing hype.
I absolutely lostly my s__t a few years ago when the Bumbo Seat was the big thing. I usually don't rant and throw things and threaten hellfire, but when I met up with a parenting group and they were all crowing about them, oh man did I lose it.
YES AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE FIRST TIME PARENTS!!
But back to the tax subject: I'm leaning towards the CD ladder. Or building up more savings.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Adkins wrote:But back to the tax subject: I'm leaning towards the CD ladder. Or building up more savings.
I hate to say it, but you also want to start your kid's future fund as well. $350/month put into a stock investment making an assumed 7% return (which is less than the long term average over any 18 year period) is $150,000 when that kid turns 18. $10/day is a LOT, but it's important to budget for it when possible.
I'd suggest you want to consider a portfolio of savings funds -- emergency savings (at least 1 month of all expenses included debt minimums), then a CD Ladder that eventually should also cover 1 month of all expenses including debt minimums. Set up a plan on paper for your long term goals and then figure out what it takes to get there.
If it means one fewer pairs of Disney Princess Crocs each month, so be it. Compound interest creates magic, Jedi Glow-in-the-dark pajamas creates landfills, lol.
The kid already has $20K in a fund due to the MIL. The kid will be able to access the fund when they're 21. (It's tied up in a trust, and we can't mess with it). The kid already has a savings account at RBFCU that we dump all the money received from relatives, plus money from us. I like idea of investing in stocks for the kid but the DH is seriously risk adverse, so it's doubtful I can go there. (Yes, I know long term stocks do decent but he's worried.) Best bet will be some CDs that earn more than the savings account. Or I free up my own money (we keep separate accounts but pool household bills) to invest myself.
I'm going to do the emergency savings first. I'd like to have a year saved up but I'll start a month at a time. (I've got 85% of a month saved now, not counting pooled emergency cash.). Since the kid has been born, I've been cutting more and more unneeded expenses. And encouraging the DH to follow my lead.
@Anonymous wrote:That is beautiful to read, thanks for sharing!
And, yes, cutting unnecessary excitements is important. Those little cuts every week will turn out to SHOCK you in 2 years, stun you in 5 years and absolutely make you kick yourself in the forehead after a decade. I hear it all the time from people. $10 today is worth $1000 in the future -- and your kid will be thankful (without knowing it) that mom and dad didn't have the financial anxiety about the far future that 90% of parents today have.
Mostly because Netflix every month ended up costing them about $5000 over 18 years in possible gains! That's a nice used car for a graduate.
Keep on your path. 85% emergency savings is amazing compared to 80% of Americans who may even make more than you do. Once you get to 1 month, you'll feel a sigh of relief because 1 month of savings actually covers about 60% of financial emergencies for most households. And once you get to 1 month and watch it start growing, you'll be at 3 months and 6 months before you know it. The 6 month mark is when almost everyone reports back to me that their constant financial anxiety and stress has completely alleviated, even if they made zero dent on long term debt to get there.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! 2018 is going to be awesome!
Thank you so much for that advice!!!! Sounds like a plan
He is 100% serious about the 2028 thing too. He has sent me enough of those post cards to wall paper my house. 
Just wait until 2018 when Credit One's mailers end up being "larger than life"...
