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Welcome to this session of grand rounds, a collection of posts I have discovered in the blogosphere and have found of interest and hope you do too.
This offering of Grand Rounds looks at articles from around the web that deal with children and financial issues.
A major regret I have is that I never took advantage of funding a ROTH IRA as a young adult, especially when my income allowed me to directly fund it without doing a backdoor maneuver.
Money in a ROTH IRA is truly golden as that money has already been taxed and all gains will not be taxed when you finally start withdrawing from it.
With the benefit of time a ROTH IRA can grow to quite a substantial sum and set an individual up for a truly golden retirement.
Although it is too late for me to take advantage of this time benefit, my daughter is just now entering the ideal time to start one.
Financial Success MD lays out a blueprint for all of us to follow in helping give our kids a head start in, “How To Fund A Million Dollar Roth IRA for Your Child With Government Money.”
With college tuition costs outpacing almost everything else, a college education can become a gigantic financial burden.
There are certainly certain investment vehicles that can reduce some of the burden when it comes time for your little one to spread his or her wings and leave the nest.
The Physician Philosopher addresses the dilemma parents face regarding college savings in, “How Should I Save For My Kid’s College? Plus a 529 Plan Hack.”
A 529 is indeed a great vehicle for you to place funds in for future college expenses.
As with anything created by the government there is a lot of legalese regarding 529s which can certainly cause you to have a lot of questions.
Don’t fret.
Financial Ducks In A Row has you covered in, “20 Questions About 529 Plans.”
As my daughter is quickly finishing 10th grade, there is just 2 more years before she is college bound.
I have tried to fund her 529 plan as best I could (the years where I lost full custody of her (age 4-10) and she was in England I abstained from 529 contributions as I could not predict the future back then).
I have since maxed out annual 529 contributions after she came back into my life but I’m afraid the time damage was already done.
I am therefore still hopeful that she will be able to graduate college debt free via combination of 529 money, cash flow, and hopefully scholarships.
Physician On FIRE helps with the latter in the post, “How To Find College Scholarships to Help Your Child Graduate Debt-Free.”
When I first started my financial journey, I had hoped that I could create a financial legacy to leave to my daughter.
I envisioned that my wealth would then be passed on from generation to generation helping heirs I may never have a chance to meet.
The downside of this would be that I would have to work far longer and accumulate much more than what I could reasonably use for my retirement.
Is it worth the effort?
White Coat Investor says that it is in, “You Can’t Make Your Great Grandchildren Rich.”
It is no wonder why there are many billionaires that have publicly stated that the majority of their wealth will be given away rather than be passed down to their children.
Hope you enjoyed the reading material.
Have a great rest of the week.
Note:
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Thanks for including me.
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett
Financial Success MD
Great roundup, Xray. As an aside, my wife and I used to call my son FOML before he was born, for Fruit Of My Loins. I occasionally threaten to revert to using that term among his friends of endearment when he acts out.
Best,
CD
Lol. That’s a great threat to keep him in check CD. FOML much better than FOMO