Want to start a savings for my daughter
 

I am ready and in a position to start putting away a certain amount on money on a montly basis for my 5 month old (I know I'm starting early), but I think that it is something important.

What is the best method for a good return 18 years from now? My plan now is to put $100-200 a month in this account and when feasible 5 years down the line bump that up to $400 or so a month.

Thanks.

You got crazy money to be able to do that....

I dont' know much about this area...

but I think there are tax-free or tax-deferred ways to either do a trust fund or a college fund.

Since my son will be going to BYU, I have the luxury of not having to save any money. (TIC)

I have thought that same thing without being TIC. I wonder if many other LDS parents do think along those lines. Maybe that's why my parents sent me to the Y.

thanks...I try sometimes. Not all of us are as extremely well to do like you.

my parents' way of helping me out was telling me from a young age that they would not help me out.

There are pluses and minuses to that approach.

Mike, are you my brother?

I am as poor as poor gets....And even after getting married to a girl who makes good money and who has little debt, we won't be able to stash away $100-200 a month for a newborn child, like I said, you must have crazy money to be able to do that, especially so soon...

As for saving money for the future there are educational Roths, etc, where you can store money for education....

I would go with this (below) if I were you. Its rated as one of the best plans around. Additionally that is a lot of money for a kid if you aren't saving for retirement. Save for retirement first then the kid.

http://www.savingforcollege.com/529_...ils&plan_id=52

here you go Cougz...

Yeah, the state (Utah) has 529 college savings plans. They’re really cool because usually you put the money in an account which is invested and you get to deduct it off your taxes. You can specify which grandkid(s)/kid(s) you want the funds to go to and they can’t touch the money until they go to college. Once they go to college they can’t just blow the funds, the money must be used for a qualified education expense. In the meantime, you have control of the money in that you can choose from quite a few different options as to how risky you want your money invested. Also, the earnings will accrue tax free from federal taxes and are exempt from Utah state income taxes as well as long as the funds are used for qualified higher education expenses.

As long as you don’t exceed $60,000 in 5 years of contributions, then you won’t have to pay a gift tax on the money, or $120,000 if it were us because we would file our tax return jointly. If you don’t have $60,000 to contribute (people rarely do) then you can deposit $1,560 per year or $3,120 per beneficiary with a lifetime maximum of $319,000 per beneficiary (in Utah). The part that I really like is that if the student decides to stop going to school the beneficiary can be changed to someone else in the immediate family of the beneficiary to use the funds for qualified educational expenses. Also, the funds can be used for graduate school. The funds must start to be dispersed by the age of 27.

www.uesp.com