Kind of a spin-off from the post about depositing a check that has their LO's name on it.
My parents opened up accounts when both my brother and I were born. Any money we received for birthdays, etc they deposited right into our account. Most new parents I know have done this as well. I know we'll do the same with future LOs.
Have you done this? Why or why not?
37 votes
pomegranate / 3401 posts
Yup! LO got a really nice check from my grandparents and we marched it down to the bank and opened a custodial account for her! 
It's never to early to start saving!
eggplant / 11824 posts
She doesn't have her own regular savings account yet, but she has two 529 college savings funds, where any money she receives is deposited.
bananas / 9973 posts
Yes! I gave my ILs all the checks and cash she ever received up to 3 months old and they opened a 529 college savings account for her. Saved me the time and trouble, and they were kind enough to "round up" the amount. 
pomelo / 5621 posts
We will be opening an RESP (education savings plan). Just haven't got to the bank to do it yet. We already have a few hundred dollars for it.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
My toddler has one but we haven't opened one for the baby yet.
persimmon / 1171 posts
These types of threads always remind me of how unprepared I am (: She's only 7 months old but I figured I would use a good old fashioned piggy bank for her money and when she's older she can spend it if she chooses (: My parents didn't have a college fund for me and I hope it won't be horrible if she has to pay for school like I did. I plan to help out some (:
pineapple / 12234 posts
Nope. Just a savings for both kids...they never have gotten cash gifts so we just contribute each month and they will spilt it when they're older.
grapefruit / 4085 posts
Yes we set up a regular savings account as well as a 529, which we set up to automatically withdraw a set amount from our checking each month.
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
Yes, they both have accounts and we put any cash gifts into it.
pomegranate / 3452 posts
Yep we just opened one for A last week. He's 4 months today. For us it was the easiest way to save any $ gifts he gets over the years.
bananas / 9227 posts
She has one off of my account. I don't think she can actually open her own until she's old enough to do it herself. Also, no one writes checks here so it's really uncommon and most ppl have never even seen a check. It took the teller forever to figure out how to cash a check when I first arrived and he'd been working at the bank for 25 yrs! Plus they charge a ridiculous amount to cash them.
On the down side, another reason why no one deals with checks for babies is because no one really gives monetary gifts to babies. Thankfully, that hasn't stopped my family back home
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
She has a savings account within our savings account for the time being. We will eventually open up a custodial account for her. We decided against a 529 because my parents' financial advisor informed us that it will count against her financial aid.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
We have a savings account for her, and we make a small contribution to it monthly. We also agreed that any monetary gifts until age 1 will go straight in there. DH also decided that any loose change we have goes into her piggy bank; when it's full she gets a present!
We will eventually set up a college fund, but that won't be til she's out of daycare and frees up some money.
honeydew / 7917 posts
LO doesn't have an account in his name, but we opened a savings account specifically for him. We deposit all of his gift money in there.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
This is on the "to do" list for sure. Although is it really common for people to give babies money? Nobody has done that yet for ours and every party I've ever been to, babies are given tangible gifts
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
We've wanted to do this since he was born, but he doesn't have a legal name yet or a social security number, so we will wait for that.
pear / 1769 posts
We set up a savings account shortly after she was born. My mom is also an authorized person on the account and they regularly put a small amount of money in as well.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
We setup an account way before we even started thinking about TTC. We knew babies were expensive (e.g. diapers and gear to school stuff to first car to college, etc.). Before we bought our house, I was able to deposit one of my bi-monthly paychecks into that account and that account ballooned like crazy. It had more money than we did in our savings account. We were damn proud of it!
clementine / 899 posts
@blackbird: I guess around here it is. We just recently gave money for one of our friends 1st birthday. The kid got SO many toys that the parents were glad to get something else. Funny thing is, he was playing with the boxes more than the toys... typical kid. I think the older generation (great-grandparents/uncles/aunts mostly) are more inclined to give money as well.
clementine / 899 posts
@ALV91711: My parents and grandparents contributed to an RESP for both me and brother because the gov't added on whatever you put in (I think, or half of it). The only problem was that it was a real bitch to get any money out of it when we did need it. And though YOU'RE not taxed for it, your kids will be when they take it out. I had to pay BIG time taxes when I was in school because of the RESPs. I think I'd rather set up a Tax-Free savings account for uni/college funds for my offspring.
pomelo / 5621 posts
@DiamondEyes: I never thought about the taxes. I will have to talk to DH about this before we do it.
clementine / 899 posts
@ALV91711: It's a good idea in theory. I mean, we both still have money in our accounts, but they have to be automatically taken out once the kid reaches a certain age (turns out it's 21, since thats what my brother will be. I guess they opened them together?) so this fall they'll be emptied. I'm hoping if I put that money back into a TFSA, I won't be taxed...
clementine / 943 posts
We have had a savings account for LO since birth. We got a lot of checks for him for Christmas, and it's money that should be reserved for him. I don't think it's appropriate to pretend that I'm "saving" it for him when it's in my bank account- I would never remember what's his and what's mine!
We also have a GET account that we contribute to every month; the savings account is just for one-off checks/cash gifts he gets.
pear / 1895 posts
So, maybe this makes me a bad parent? I don't know. But we got a lot of money as baby shower gifts, and we spent that on stuff we needed for the baby! I'll probably continue to do that, if he gets money in the future. I try to make sure we spend the full gifted amount specifically on him, but I don't think we'll deposit every gift in an account. He doesn't have one, at this point.
nectarine / 2217 posts
we put his money in his RESP account. or use it for things for him, if that is what we need at the time!
pomelo / 5621 posts
@allison: I've gotten money for gifts and if there is something that we need to buy for him then we use it for that, otherwise it will go in the bank. Some people don't know what to buy and so I think it is fine to spend it on things he needs.
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