I812B4U

I812B4U t1_jea2hm9 wrote

If you are not the type to research and invest on your own you may want to leave your money in the TSP account. If your investment mix is doing well there is really no need to change it. The fees are low. Make sure you know all your options in regards to the TSP and withdrawal options, at what age, etc.

If you are the type to research and invest on your own then you may want to consider rolling it over into a Rollover IRA. If you invest/manage it yourself you can save on fees and you will have many more investment options.

My husband is a gray area retiree and we chose to do a rollover of his TSP when he retired from the military back in 2017. We have no regrets and are quite happy with how things have turned out in our investment accounts because I researched before investing and I actively monitor/manage our accounts to keep them on track. He personally has no interest or desire to learn about investing.

People get into trouble when they do a rollover and they really are not the type to do the research in order to self manage their accounts. Do your due diligence.

Good luck with whichever path your choose.

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I812B4U t1_iyf7284 wrote

I kept my kids' money in a savings account until they were in middle school which was a mistake from my perspective. I always meant to invest it for them and I only wish I had invested their money sooner so it could have grown more than it has. I used UTMA accounts. I have never had any issues with buying or selling in any of their accounts. I used company sponsored DRIPs (dividend reinvestment plans) and stuck with plans that didn't charge investment fees on new investments or reinvestment of dividends. They did charge fees to sell and some for the initial setup. My kids had two stocks that would allow them to invest as little as $10 at a time. There was some trial and error on my part with some of my initial stock picks. I picked companies that had a history of paying an increasing dividend. Even with one of their stocks tanking and two only doing so so the others more than made up for it.

If I had to do it all over again I would probably use a regular brokerage UTMA account since most no longer charge buying and selling fees and I then wouldn't be limited to only certain stocks. I personally prefer individual stocks but you could make it simple and go with an ETF or an ETF that pays a dividend like SCHD.

You might check out Stockpile. They have a mixture of stocks and funds to choose from.

My oldest is in college and sells his stock to cover college expenses not covered by is scholarships.

You have lots of options: savings account, stocks, bonds, CDs, EFTs, mutal funds, CEFs. Just be sure to do your research for whatever investing path you decide works for you. The most important thing is that you save for your kid and invest in something. A lot of people mean to save/invest and life happens and they never get around to it. Good luck!

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