Savings bonds vs whatever else

[PAChicky]

Here's something that I'm trying to get some input on. My kids have a significant amount of money in paper savings bonds and in the bank. I usually take the money out of savings after a while when I have a decent amount and buy "I" bonds but now that the savings bonds have gone "electronic" I am hesitant to do that. I like having that paper bond in my hand to prove they own that bond not just an online account saying I have "this much" in Bonds. I guess electronic bonds would be the same as money being in savings except seeing as how it's not connected to a bank in any way it makes me leery. They also own stocks which I don't mess with- those accounts just sit there and accrue interest. So would it be worth it to put their extra money into CD's? Any help?

 

[DuckDogs]

It really depends on what the money's intended use is - if it's for college - I would look into a 529 plan.

 

[Dead Money]

Precious metals?

Precious metals?

A little diversity would not hurt, take physical possession. (American Eagles)
Gold and silver are down quite a bit from their recent highs (gold 1280ish vs 1900ish, silver 22.00 vs 48.00)
Looks like a good entrance point, world demand has gone crazy as Gubberments print more and more money and show no signs of letting up.

 

[IE]

put it all on the Pittsburgh Pirates w/ Gerritt Cole tonight...:shrug:

 

[PAChicky]

I'm hoping that once they graduate from High school or college (if they go)- that they can use this to either make a down payment on a house or a reliable car or something to that effect. It will be money put to good use not just cashed out and a here ya go spend it however you want it kind of thing. Being 9 and 12 they already have a pretty good handle on how money works and things like that. In fact people say I'm a cruel mother. When we go to the mall or shopping if they want something like a Wii game etc. I make them pay for it themselves. They get birthday and Christmas money- so they get part of that money to keep and the rest goes in their savings. I work hard for what I have and the only debt I have is my mortgage and normal monthly bills like Dish, Phone, utilities, etc. But I don't believe in buying my kids anything they want so if it's something they would like to have then they need to make sure they can "afford" it. Plus their dad (my ex) would give me grief for "spoiling" them. When I graduated from college my mom gave me the balance in my savings and I paid for most of my wedding with that money. When we built our house we had stock and we cashed that all out to make our down payment and then add a garage to the house. When we got divorced we sold the house and split the equity. Now I bought this house on my own 2.5 years ago already- time flies.

Aren't 529 plans strictly used for schooling expenses?

I don't know anything about gold etc so I don't know that I would be able to invest well with that.

 

[PAChicky]

put it all on the Pittsburgh Pirates w/ Gerritt Cole tonight...:shrug:

I have no clue how to bet. PaSprint has tried to teach me and I just don't get it. :mj07:

 

[gardenweasel]

you aren`t going to get a damned thing in return by opening a cd(unless somone has a special plan regarding savings for college)....the rates are almost non-existent.....

i have some savings bonds for lil weasel that have matured....i`ve been told i have to declare the interest each year now even if they aren`t cashed....and i`ve been told that i can let them sit and just declare when he decides to use them....so i`m going to have to call my lawyer.....

i hate leaving money just sit there like that....but i`m afraid of the market(i don`t care how well it`s doing)......

 

[gardenweasel]

A little diversity would not hurt, take physical possession. (American Eagles)
Gold and silver are down quite a bit from their recent highs (gold 1280ish vs 1900ish, silver 22.00 vs 48.00)
Looks like a good entrance point, world demand has gone crazy as Gubberments print more and more money and show no signs of letting up.

very scary stuff...

 

[Morris]

Tobacco stocks...just look at the return and dividends.

 

[IE]

I have no clue how to bet. PaSprint has tried to teach me and I just don't get it. :mj07:

its easy, you send the sportsbook money, enjoy the entertainment of rooting for your team for couple of hours - have a few beers and kiss your money goodbye.:00hour

if you can post on this forum you can place a bet...its very simple.

 

[IE]

see, easy..


Cole strikes out the first big-league hitter he faces with three pitches: 96 mph, 96 mph, 99 mph.

 

[PAChicky]

its easy, you send the sportsbook money, enjoy the entertainment of rooting for your team for couple of hours - have a few beers and kiss your money goodbye.:00hour

if you can post on this forum you can place a bet...its very simple.

:mj07: :mj07: :mj07:

 

[Old School]

:0054 :0054 :0054 :0054 :0054:0054 :0054 :0054 :0054

I'm hoping that once they graduate from High school or college (if they go)- that they can use this to either make a down payment on a house or a reliable car or something to that effect. It will be money put to good use not just cashed out and a here ya go spend it however you want it kind of thing. Being 9 and 12 they already have a pretty good handle on how money works and things like that. In fact people say I'm a cruel mother. When we go to the mall or shopping if they want something like a Wii game etc. I make them pay for it themselves. They get birthday and Christmas money- so they get part of that money to keep and the rest goes in their savings. I work hard for what I have and the only debt I have is my mortgage and normal monthly bills like Dish, Phone, utilities, etc. But I don't believe in buying my kids anything they want so if it's something they would like to have then they need to make sure they can "afford" it. Plus their dad (my ex) would give me grief for "spoiling" them. When I graduated from college my mom gave me the balance in my savings and I paid for most of my wedding with that money. When we built our house we had stock and we cashed that all out to make our down payment and then add a garage to the house. When we got divorced we sold the house and split the equity. Now I bought this house on my own 2.5 years ago already- time flies.

.

:0054 :0054 :0054 :0054 :0054 :0054 :0054 :0054 :0054

 

[hedgehog]

I'm hoping that once they graduate from High school or college (if they go)- that they can use this to either make a down payment on a house or a reliable car or something to that effect. It will be money put to good use not just cashed out and a here ya go spend it however you want it kind of thing. Being 9 and 12 they already have a pretty good handle on how money works and things like that. In fact people say I'm a cruel mother. When we go to the mall or shopping if they want something like a Wii game etc. I make them pay for it themselves. They get birthday and Christmas money- so they get part of that money to keep and the rest goes in their savings. I work hard for what I have and the only debt I have is my mortgage and normal monthly bills like Dish, Phone, utilities, etc. But I don't believe in buying my kids anything they want so if it's something they would like to have then they need to make sure they can "afford" it. Plus their dad (my ex) would give me grief for "spoiling" them. When I graduated from college my mom gave me the balance in my savings and I paid for most of my wedding with that money. When we built our house we had stock and we cashed that all out to make our down payment and then add a garage to the house. When we got divorced we sold the house and split the equity. Now I bought this house on my own 2.5 years ago already- time flies.

Aren't 529 plans strictly used for schooling expenses?

I don't know anything about gold etc so I don't know that I would be able to invest well with that.

I like this idea of making kids pay for things out of their money, when mine get older it sounds like a good plan. What percentage of birthday money do you make them save? :shrug:

 

[Betone]

I like this idea of making kids pay for things out of their money, when mine get older it sounds like a good plan. What percentage of birthday money do you make them save? :shrug:

$350.00 :shrug:

 

[hedgehog]

The next big thing will be marijuana, IMO...Check out American funds chicky, i have most of my money in them and they have done well the last ten years

https://www.americanfunds.com/

 

[BGFalcon]

When my son entered HS, we gave him $100 per month for expenses. That included lunch money, going out for pizza, video games, etc. If he needed more he had to get a job or save for a couple of months. When he got his license, we bumped it up to $150 per month to cover gas. It worked out great since we never to deal with him asking for a few bucks here and there to go out with his friends, etc. Of course, if he had a good grade card or did some things around the house we would reward him with a couple of dollars but we tried not to make that an expectation. This arrangement has worked through his college years as well (although we bumped him up again to cover room and board). He knew he needed to get and hold a job to cover expenses and he had handled that well. Not saying this is the best way but it worked well for us. He now is very aware of his spending/saving patterns and we hope that will continue as he moves into the real world.

 

[Morris]

$350.00 :shrug:

:mj07:

 

[PAChicky]

I like this idea of making kids pay for things out of their money, when mine get older it sounds like a good plan. What percentage of birthday money do you make them save? :shrug:

It's not really a percentage. My grandfather is very generous to them because they are his only great grandkids and I am the only grandchild. So over the course of the year the three major holidays he sends them a good amount of money. If the kids get little amounts on Easter, birthdays, and Christmas I usually let them keep that. He usually sends them approx. $1000 each over those three holidays so all of that goes into savings. They usually each have about $100-$150 in their pocket for the year in spending money. They spend wisely.

For example last week we went to Target. Kolby had about $90 and Breanna had about the same. I usually monitor what they buy too. She was looking at Barbies and I said No because she has a bunch and doesn't play with them. So she bought a Nintendo 3DS game she wanted. She figured out how much she had, how much it was going to cost and how soon she would be getting her birthday money. Kolby does the same thing but he chooses more wisely. He goes straight to the Nintendo 3DS games and skips the toys for the most part. So it really makes them think if they really have to have something or do they just have money in their pocket to spend. Sometimes I even make them "hand in" a toy they haven't played with in a while when they get something new. It either gets donated or put in the box for yard sale. Then when it's yard sale time if they sell it- they get the money. That also shows them that you may pay $15 for a toy but you will only get $2 for it at a yard sale so is it worth buying it? Are you going to play with it a lot? Is it something you have that is somewhat like something else you have that you don't play with very much? I just want to see them get ahead in life and never have to deal with financial woes and to make good decisions.

 

[PAChicky]

When my son entered HS, we gave him $100 per month for expenses. That included lunch money, going out for pizza, video games, etc. If he needed more he had to get a job or save for a couple of months. When he got his license, we bumped it up to $150 per month to cover gas. It worked out great since we never to deal with him asking for a few bucks here and there to go out with his friends, etc. Of course, if he had a good grade card or did some things around the house we would reward him with a couple of dollars but we tried not to make that an expectation. This arrangement has worked through his college years as well (although we bumped him up again to cover room and board). He knew he needed to get and hold a job to cover expenses and he had handled that well. Not saying this is the best way but it worked well for us. He now is very aware of his spending/saving patterns and we hope that will continue as he moves into the real world.

That sounds like a good system you have there. :0074 I worked in high school but my dad always gave me money for gas and he paid my insurance. He bought my first car and I had to make a "car payment" to him every week. When I started college I still worked almost every night at the high school job (local grocery store). Once I graduated college I had a full time job at a bank, still kept the part time grocery job but cut my hours back, and worked a weekend job at the job I did my internship at for a few weeks after my internship was over.