Accounts for children

Many parents are interested in teaching their children about personal finance. While it is possible for parents to use accounts at financial institutions as instruments in the service of personal finance education, some account types accelerate a journey towards retirement savings.

There are two distinct choices of account type that a parent needs to consider: savings accounts and Roth IRA accounts. Savings accounts themselves breakdown into Joint accounts and Custodial accounts. The choice of the account type depends on what the parent is trying to teach the child, the age at which the parent wants the child to have access to the funds, the amount of savings and the amount of documentation that the parent is willing to maintain and process.

Children's savings account types
The key differences between the Joint Savings Account and Custodial Savings account are summarized in the table below:

Other features of the account such as electronics fund transfer (EFT) access, minimum balance and monthly fees depends on the financial institution providing the account.

Custodial savings account vs custodial Roth IRA account
Custodial Savings accounts and Custodial Roth IRA accounts differ in many of the same ways as non-custodial savings accounts differ from Roth accounts. However, there are some additional differences that a parent needs to be cognizant of prior to choosing one account over the other.

Steps for custodial Roth IRA

 * 1) The parent opens a Custodial Roth IRA account with the parent as the custodian. Several financial institutions including Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard offer Custodial Roth IRA accounts.
 * 2) The parent (or child if able) records the source, date and amount of income. If the income is recorded on a W-2 or 1099, this step may not be necessary. On the other hand if income is not recorded formally on a W-2 or similar document, detailed records are necessary in case of a future audit or notice from the IRS.
 * 3) The parent periodically transfers funds to the Custodial Roth IRA account, upto the Roth IRA limit or the child's earned income, whichever is lower. The parent can transfer the money via check or EFT from their bank account to the Custodial Roth IRA if the financial institution allows it. Alternatively, the parent can open a Children's Savings Account and link that account to the Roth IRA account for periodic transfers. Several banks including Capital One, Ally and Bank of America allow parents to open a Children's Savings Account.
 * 4) The parent files a tax return on behalf of the child.   A few sample tax returns can be found at irakids.com. A tax return documents the child's earned income in case the IRS has questions about the Roth IRA.

Cautions
Children's Savings accounts should not require a credit report pull from Chexystems, since the account is a Savings account rather than a Checking account (or an account with a credit facility). Thus an active security freeze at Chexsystems should not affect the account's opening. As always, it is best to check with the financial institution prior to opening an account.

Financial institutions providing Custodial Roth IRA accounts do not police the documentation for a child's income. As such it is upto the child or the parent to maintain adequate documentation. Where the documentation is in the form of a W-2 or 1099, documentation is simpler. However, if the child's income is from self-employment (jobs such as lawn mowing, baby sitting and ice cream stands), the parent and child need to create the appropriate documentation for the income. Several people have reported successfully funding Custodial Roth IRAs and creating their own documentation. However, there is at least one documented opinion that indicates that income earned for household chores is not earned income and therefore not eligible for Custodial Roth IRAs.

To check for availability of Custodial Roth IRAs at a specific financial institution, account minimums and other administrative details, it is best to call the financial institution. Online articles written months or years ago may no longer be accurate. As an example, Custodial Roth IRAs at Vanguard had a minimum of $1000 in 2012. As of 2019, there were no minimums for Custodial Roth IRAs at Vanguard as these accounts are now brokerage accounts with $0 minimum rather than mutual fund accounts that have a higher minimum.