The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Mini Money Mustaches => Topic started by: $andra on June 15, 2018, 08:43:47 AM
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Any recommendations for the best bank accounts for young kids? I'm talking about an initial deposit of $200 (emptying a piggy bank), and small contributions thereafter. I want to be able to move the $ somewhere else easily in a few years. Decent online services are a plus.
A friend said her kids have been highly motivated by the TD Bank summer reading program. For the past several summers they've offered $10 for reading 10 books, which beats the APY I'm seeing anywhere else on such a small balance. Fees are waived for kids under 18, but otherwise the TD Bank seems like a low-service, high-fee savings account option.
https://www.tdbank.com/summerreading/
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I believe Tangerine offers a decent bonus for opening a kids bank account. However, since it's an online bank, they may also need to have an account at a brick and mortar bank too. You could stack the TD reading bonus on top of the Tangerine bonus. If you're interested I can send you my referral code. That way we both earn $50.
The best deal I'm aware of for getting kids money is the current RESP grant, https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/support/bc-training-and-education-savings-grant. Looks like it's only for BC residents though.
Thanks! I'm not in Canada, though, so think I'm ineligible.
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Is Hills Bank national or just Iowa?
Their penny saver accounts are kind of cool.
https://www.hillsbank.com/kidsaccounts
No minimum to open, no minimum balance, no fees- and when you deposit $5 you get to grab a handful of pennies (up to age 11). Decent "interest" if as your kid gets bigger hands.
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I really wish I could grab bank bonuses under my daughter's name. My wife and I are going to hit $7,000 worth this year, so adding Player 3 to the mix would probably let us max out the state deduction limit for her 529 (~$3,000).
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Keep an Excel spreadsheet at the Bank of Mommy, and make it enticing by offering a high yield.
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My kids earn 5% interest per week on their savings. We also have savings accounts with USAA that I setup when they're born that are mostly for gifts of money from their grandparents on birthdays. My oldest has about $1,000 but if he's got $10 in his piggy bank he'll earn $2.00 in a month while his regular savings account might earn $0.20. It's a bit sad but luckily none of them have saved more than about $40-50 at a time before buying something. 1,264% APR means that if they never spent a penny and started with just $10 they would have over $100 in a year.
My two oldest are already reading 10 books to earn a free book at Barnes and Noble, at their current rate they'll go from start to finish in a few weeks.
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Best bank for kids is PNC. They wave monthly fee for students and kids. They have many offers for kids.