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We just have a basic account for LO at the moment that we put money in that she gets as gifts. We may add to it someday but right now we are getting our own finances on track as well as saving for retirement. We plan on helping her as much as we can though.

We have an investment account for LO as well as a 529 college savings plan. We contribute a set amount every month to her 529... And then the investment account receives all cash gifts she gets and sporadic additional contributions we make.

@London Mama: We aren't saving yet with investment in mind. Once we actually save a large enough sum we will look into that.

Right now she has a 529 plan that my parents set up. We also cleared out one of our joint savings accounts and put gifts, etc in there for her. We make a small monthly contribution to that just to avoid the fees on the account.

She has a basic savings account that we put all her gift money into as well as little bits here and there from us. Once I go back to work I will put a set amount from every check aside as well.

We have 2 529 college savings plans opened for LO. We each make a per-paycheck contribution to the accounts, and when LO receives cash gifts we plan to put ½ into her college fund and ½ into her savings account. Right now she also just has a basic savings account, although I’m looking at various investment options for that since she won’t need to touch that $$ for years. I’m not as concerned about that account though; since that’s basically just her “fun money”. The college accounts I am worried about. I think it’s important to start saving as soon as you can; even if it is just a little bit. Little bits add up over the course of 18 years.

We started a regular savings account years before we even started TTC. When we lived in an apartment, I was able to put one whole paycheck into their account per month (I get paid bi-monthly). This built up their savings quite quickly. Then we bought a house and other properties and haven't been able to contribute nearly as much. It makes me really sad, and I'm trying to find ways to up our contribution, but so far no dice. College seems to only increase by 5% each so I'm worried no matter how much we save, it'll never be enough. Plus, I think it's only for 1 LO so if we have 2 LOs, oh my...

we have RESP accounts for each of our girls that we contribute to monthly. and because the gov't will match 20% up to a certain point, we focus on that specifically for the kids. otherwise, we just focus on our other investments and savings plans. and mortgage, oooooh the mortgage...

@London Mama: my LOs account averages a better rate than the interest on our mortgage so for us paying down the mortgage faster would not be a better option.

We talked about opening a 529 college savings acct for our soon-to-be LO, but now we're not sure if we will, since *if* your child doesn't go to college, you can only use that money for someone else going to college, or you have to close the account, paying both federal and state taxes, as well as the 10% federal penalty tax on earnings not used for qualified higher-education expenses.

We'll have to discuss all of our options and see if there are better alternatives out there.

@Mrs. Pen: This is our same thought process. We had to pay our way through everything.

We just keep family savings and transfer our extra funds after each paycheck.

We are planning on opening a savings account for LO once born. We want a place to put any money given to them for birthdays, Christmas, etc. We also plan on contributing from our paychecks. I want to look into a 529 plan as well.

So far we have set up the college savings 529. Other than that, we are planning on paying off this house as soon as possible and renting it out... and saving as much as possible.