Do You Have a Savings Account for Your Child?
I know my parents always had savings accounts for me and my sister. So, when my daughter was born I started an account for her. I had a goal of putting a minimum of $100 for each month of her life in there. And, for the first two years of her life, I did great.
I used the cash and checks that people sent for her birth, her birthdays, Christmas, and her dedication. I did a lot of mystery shopping and when I would get reimbursed for the meals and such, I would put that money in her savings account.
The thing is, when we moved back down to the Tampa area, I had both my daughter’s savings account and my small incidentals account closed and was carrying the cash in my purse so I could open local accounts down here. I had been using a small credit union in Gainesville. My husband at the time took the envelope with the cash for my daughter’s account and I never saw it again. About two months later, he had left us.
He claims he used it to open another savings account for our daughter, in his name. I have no access to it. So, all of that saving I did for her is now out of my hands. I had to start over from zero and so far, it has been a lot harder to put money in there. For the last two years, I have used what I get back in taxes to pay some ahead for the next year, but I put the rest in my daughter’s account.
I suppose it’s splitting hairs, but when my daughter is older and she looks at the account her dad has for her and there is more available, I will feel a little like I failed her. Unfortunately, her father makes money a pretty big deal and despite what I try and teach my daughter about money not equaling love or devotion, she has not yet fully learned that lesson in life.
Holy Cow, I hate money!
I’m just wondering how many of you have savings accounts for your kids? What sort of goals do you set for yourself when it comes to contributing to the account? Where do you get the money you put in the accounts? Does it come out of your regular income, or from other sources?
Posted on May 31st, 2008 by onecleardot
Filed under: Finance
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