529 Roadmap For Their Future - Infants and Toddlers

We aren’t school counselors or pediatricians or deans of Ivy League institutions. We don’t have degrees in early childhood development or child psychology.

 

But we’ve changed diapers at three in the morning and inspected closets for monsters. We have planned holidays around naptime. We have shuttled children to soccer practice and ballet. We’ve imposed curfews, given driving lessons in an empty parking lot, and shared how to balance a checkbook. We’re parents from every walk of life, with children ranging from newborn to full-grown adult. We also happen to be 529 college savings professionals from all across the country.

 

This guide is a list of ideas from us. It’s not a list of musts. It’s what we did, what we plan to do, or what we’d do differently to prepare a child for the future. Our focuses are career guidance, college preparation, basic financial literacy, and how you can lead your child in each of these areas at every age – whether they are 18 months or 18 years old.

 

Each section includes tips on how to work with children to instill a basic understanding of money. In an age when many young adults are struggling to pay back student loans, these lessons are more vital than ever. Student debt can eat away at paychecks, limit opportunities and lead young people to put off starting their lives.

 

It’s possible to put the next generation on a better path. Here’s how we think you do that.