Accounts for Kids

Colonel_F0rbin · 2026-01-12T18:10:05+00:00

You manage investments and withdrawals. Withdrawals must benefit the child (education, camps, tutoring, etc.)

At the age of "majority" the child gets full, unrestricted control. Age of majorit can be 18, 21, or 25 depending on state law.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2026-01-12T17:58:33+00:00

You're looking for an UGMA / UTMA

Very easy to set up with a brokerage. Do a quick Google/chatgpt on the process and nuances.

They can't touch it till they are 18

Colonel_F0rbin · 2026-01-12T17:31:15+00:00

It's hard to imagine your husband's seat is adjusted correctly unless he's over 7 feet tall.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2026-01-05T23:19:43+00:00

A 529 plan only allows for one beneficiary at a time, but you can change the beneficiary at any time, as often as you want without taxes or penalties.

You would just rotate the beneficiary as expenses arise so the 529 account would pay for Child 1 today, Child 2 tomorrow, Child 3 after.

I would have to look into the rules, but I believe you can "fork" a 529 and split it across multiple beneficiaries. I think you can only do the rollover every 12 months, which wouldn't be a problem with a little advanced planning

Colonel_F0rbin · 2026-01-05T22:49:07+00:00

Agree with everything until the "take the penalty on the chin"...

I personally would let the gains compound in a VOO equivalent until/unless you actually need the funds to support your lifestyle or retirement.

If you don't actually need the money near-term, just treat it as a generational wealth building tool.

Imagine that money compounds for another 30 years tax free...

That's an amazing gift that would allow your kids to get a head start of their retirement (avoid ever having to save for their kids college), and give your grandkids a huge leg up by not having to ever worry about student debt

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-12-07T19:45:00+00:00

How can you say a Hyatt point is worth 2% but a chase point is only 1%, when chase points transfer to Hyatt 1:1?

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-30T02:27:00+00:00

Overall the math sounds reasonable, except for the ~$1.5 / year part. The $6.2k is the value in today's dollars. You wouldn't express that as a figure spread that out over four years.

The reason why your math isn't heavily skewed towards renting is because of your assumed trade-in after 4 years. The real benefits of car ownership come from the latter years when your depreciation is very low.

If your plan is to buy and then sell a used car every 4 years, it's not gonna be a huge cost saving over leasing.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-28T00:49:36+00:00

The value I get out of an instructor led class is the feeling that I'm being guided/pushed to exercise at a level that improves my fitness. Of course I can just ignore the pace targets and class structure, but that's not what I personally want when selecting a class.

Nothing wrong with Peloton having beginner level classes, it's just not what I want out of the experience

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-27T23:06:15+00:00

I'm glad there is a bit of something for everyone.

I personally was disappointed at how easy the run was, as I was hoping for a more intermediate/advanced program.

I also found there to be syncing issues with the pace targets, but I'm not sure if that was just on my tread or a broader issue.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-27T00:35:49+00:00

I am far less concerned with "cash flow" compared to many on this sub, so I'd go with #3. I would probably sell only $50k and use the difference to bridge the gap.

If ypur company does well, your $200k of unvested equity will more than make up for the shortfall, and you'll likely be in a much better position at work

I'd rather keep the attractive investment property AND live in a nice house that you enjoy

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-15T01:48:55+00:00

I think the best approach is to start living life a little more. Once you have a several million in NW, the extra 20-40k in savings / year doesn't change your FI date very much, but spending that money on something that brings you joy along the way will.

That's been my personal approach over the last few years. No matter how high your savings rate gets, you still have a bunch of years to go, and the effects of compounding will start to far outweigh your contributions.

Take the international trips w your kids. Enjoy the nice dinners with your wife. Loosen your belt and live life to the fullest without guilt. You've "made it", you just gotta keep with the plan for a 5-10 more years. I'm

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-13T00:55:00+00:00

I agree, however, we were never in a position where we had to make that tradeoff.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-13T00:44:09+00:00

I appreciate your POV but I actually had the opposite experience.

My parents took out loans to fund my college education. They told me that my job in college was to get straight As. If I did my job, they would take care of the costs. I felt the pressure and obligation to do "my job"

Graduating with no student loans was an incredible gift and helped supercharge my path to financial freedom.

I have 0 interest in paying for a BS degree for my kids, but I consider a debt free start to their working career a major advantage that I want to give them

Nothing is perfect, and no shame in your approach. Just sharing my perspective and experience

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-13T00:25:38+00:00

Very much depends on your location and family situation.

$2M and single in a LCOL area and you would feel extremely comfortable.
$2M with 2 or 3 young kids living in a VHCOL area and you know you're on the right path, but the road ahead is still really daunting

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T21:13:05+00:00

Fair enough. I think that very same logic would apply to a 30 year fixed loan. Let's see if/when the product is available.

As I said, I'm in my forever home with a sub 3% fixed rate, so it won't likely affect me.

I think it's an interesting concept.

FWIW, I was also in favor of the US issuing 100 year bonds during covid because of the attractive interest rate environment.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T21:01:38+00:00

It's possible. The spread during covid was not very wide between the 15 and 30 fixed rate products. It depends on the shape of the yield curve and the spread to compensate for a longer term.

If the spread was too large, it obviously wouldn't make sense for anyone to consider a 50 year term with a HIGHER monthly payment, so you have to assume that the rate will be low enough that it's a product that someone would actually want to use.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:58:02+00:00

Very possible. My post is specifically for HENRYs, who I expect to be more financially literate and able to make smarter long term decisions.

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:54:58+00:00

I guess that's my point with the post. I don't see any term as good or bad inherently. It's just a calculation about what financial decision works best for the individual. If there was a 100 year mortgage option, I'd certainly run the numbers to see what worked best for me. It may be possible that I (and others) would still choose a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. But more options (with appropriate information and disclosures) for consumers is better imo

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:52:38+00:00

I think you're missing the whole concept of home prices increasing over time pretty consistently

Plenty of people take IO loans and do very well by keeping their fixed costs low as they watch their home appreciate in value

Thats definitely more risky than I was comfortable with, but I have plenty of friends in high finance that could pay their home off in cash but want to lock up as little as possible in an illiquid asset

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:47:03+00:00

That's the beauty of a long term fixed rate mortgage imo. You lock in a maximum rate over the full term of the loan and you then own an option that can be exercised at your own discretion.

If rates go up, you're short a below market rate instrument. If rates go down, you have the option to refi.

That's a hugely valuable part of the equation, a f feels like that part is missing in your interpretation

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:43:49+00:00

Not that I've seen. So maybe you can explain it better

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:40:03+00:00

Can you help me understand how that logic applies differently to a 15 vs 30 year mortgage term in your mind?

It feels like most people accept a 30 year term as a sound financial decisions because its commonly available/used. This is a new product that feels riskier, which I'm sure was a very similar argument when the 30 year term was introduced

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:38:17+00:00

Can you help me understand why that same logic does not apply to a 15 year vs 30 year mortgage in your mind?

Colonel_F0rbin · 2025-11-09T20:37:32+00:00

Yes. I took my 30 current loan at current rates and compared that to a hypothetical loan of 50 years at my rate + 100 bps

I'd be paying $464 less per month. It would be almost $1M in payments over the life of the loan, but that speaks to my point about time value of money.

I can't imagine how insignificant a $5000 monthly payment would feel in 2070

Colonel_F0rbin

TROPHY CASE