EG-prince

What do you think? I don't really have much faith in just throwing money into a mutual fund and hoping it works, but the savings accounts I've seen right now have ---- for interest rates. I'd like to put the kid through college ya know?

MikeJ-2009

If I had money to think about investing, I would only trust Euro Pacific Capitol, or I would blow it all on tangible goods in hopes of hyperinflation.

nikolass

maybe cd's? when the maturity date comes around just buy more and more and more

EG-prince

i still have to look into cd's more, don't know much about them or how the interest rates are. As far as extra money for investing goes, I certainly don't have much at all, but even a little helps, and from what everyone says, its more about starting early.

MikeJ-2009

Invest in Lehman brothers. They're hot right now.

EG-prince

Just like that damn Handsel. So hot right now.

BigBird

Not sure about the US but here we have RESP's (registered education savings plan) the gov't pays interest that is guaranteed and it's tax free but it must be used for school or it is taxed. There are also GIC's which is usually locked in at a set guaranteed interest rate but is taxed upon redemption. They are low risk and low growth but you have lots of time and you know that money will be there when the kid needs it.

TorinRage

CDs are your best bet at a good rate. The rate depends on how long you want to keep the money in there i think the lowest my credit union has is 6 months and min balance is 1,500 but those have crappy rates the 2 or 3year rang starts at around 2.25% interest and the 5 year ones start at around 3.15%. I would start in a savings account until you get 1,500 then start a 6 month cd. and during that 6months dump what funds you want into the savings account and when that cd comes up take the money in there and in the savings account and start a new cd. and do it all over again with longer times on the cd. Granted i wouldn't go any higher than a 2 year cd. This way you you are earning interest on both it may be slow and small interest at first but at least it is earning something. and depending on the kids age you have 1-18 years worth of investment time.

AgentMurdoc

ingdirect pays out a 2.4% interest on their savings account...


it's hard to say the best way to say for a kids college fund... although it's good to start early, treat it like a retirement fund... for a given period of time put in at least a set amount of dollars.

i.e. before this economic bullshit... I started a mutual fund... 100 bucks a month, and you'll theoretically be a millionaire by retirement... well180 I wanted to be a multimillionaire, so I was putting in about 300 a month... well that went to ----... but that's besides the point... open said savings account... deposit say 200 a month... that's 2400 a year... say the kid is 3 now? so 2400 for the next 15 years is 36,000... healthy amount and that's not including the interest... don't feel like busting out the formula to figure it out, you can do that.

That's the route I would take... much easier than dealing with CD's every few months.

fork

Cds often pay less interest than inflation therefore if you put 10000 in now in 15 years it can buy you 8000 worth of stuff in todays money. Go with mutual funds. I don't know the exact stat but if you look at any 5 (or whatever) year period the stock market has always risen at at least 5% per year and usuallly more like 8% and if you're good you can get more like 12 or 15. The market is down now but that is all the more reason to start buying. Obviously the best time is when the market is as low as its gonna get and starts going back up, and I'm not saying thats now, but I think it will be within 2 years. Look for a mutual fund with very low fees and management costs, and of course look at the past performance, and don't be discouraged that it lost money last year that was almost inevitable.