photo credit: killrbeez

You just found out you’re pregnant and you can’t wait to start building a family and loving new room for your baby. You might be thinking about putting together a baby registry at Babies R Us, Target, Walmart or another department store so friends and family can help celebrate your new baby. Thoughts of the many outfits you need for a newborn, crib, and changing table might give you images of excitement as you imaging caring for little junior. Maybe you’ve helped a friend shop before and the thought of picking out everything from newborn bottles to a new car seat make you lie awake at night with excitement. Have you thought to add a savings account or stock investment to your baby registry?

Picking out newborn outfits and infant bottles can be exciting for new parents, but so is the prospect of starting your child off with a solid financial footing. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could simply sign-up for an investment account the same way you purchase baby clothes or baby toys? Well, it basically is that simple. Many companies like Sharebuilder offer the ability to start an investment account for your child. You can open up a custodial account for your child in a few minutes and get them started investing earlier than you did.

The baby registry is a way for friends and family to celebrate the birth of your new baby. Parents, grandparents, and friends review your baby registry and buy items that will help you build a secure and safe environment for your little one. It’s been a few years, but here’s some of the items I remember from our baby registry:

1. Car Seat
2. Changing table
3. Crib
4. Baby bottles
5. Newborn clothes
6. Diaper champ
7. Diapers
8. Baby monitor
9. Blankets
10. Baby toys

I’ve probably missed at least 20 items, but thought I would highlight some of the most important above. All of these items are so important for a baby to prosper and thrive, so shouldn’t we also consider adding a savings account to the gift list? Imagine what this passive income opportunity could do for your new child.

With the help of my parents, I opened a 529 college saving account within a few months of my first child’s birth. Number two took a few years later, although I have since made up for delay and added additional funds. Any future cash gifts can be added directly to the 529 accounts. Having your bank account information added to your 529 account can also make the process so much easier. Automate your investments and you’ll find one less excuse to start investing as it will allow you to focus your efforts on building wealth and playing with your family.

If you don’t have the funds available to invest in stocks, consider opening up a savings account for your child so friends and family can help them save money. You might be surprised to find out that grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even friends would be interested in helping your baby start a savings account. Even an ING savings account will allow compound interest to grow over time. Imagine how much money your child could earn if you opened a new savings account within the first few months of birth. The point is to get started early and help them save money on a regular basis. Once your child’s savings account is established you can deposit any future birthday checks into the account and watch them get excited with they see the earnings grow.

What was your favorite gift from your baby registry?

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photo credit: velorowdy

I’ve been using my wife’s Samsung Blackjack for several months now and think it’s the best phone we’ve owned for a long time. We actually had better cell phone reception with an older Motorola flip phone, but that was back in the analog days. I have the Samsung Blackjack through At&t and have had several issues with the Edge and 3G network where we live, including dropped calls. My bill last month was $39 for voice and $30 for unlimited data plan.

Recently, I have read that people are frustrated with the connection speed of the new 3G iphones. Some people are peeved that they 3G network suddenly moves over to the Edge network. Well, this was experienced on my Samsung Blackjack, so I don’t know why the iphone would be immune to these issues. In fact, I’m surprised that we even expect the 3G network to be 100% consistent when we still experience dropped calls in our house. I still laugh when I recall my conversations with At&t about my poor reception in my house. I was told to talk near a large window or talk outside. To make sure a phone call is not dropped, I must stand in the middle of our house. Very practical! I would actually like an iphone someday, and if I was given one as a gift with a free wireless plan, I’d use it. For now, I’ll wait until At&t adds more cell towers and beefs up the 3G network in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Should I keep my current data plan at $30 a month? Nope. I thought I could justify the $30 data plan through email communications and even checking The Passive Dad occasionally. Well, not a good use of our money as I never used the data plan that much. It kind of became the equivalent of a gym membership, good idea, but rarely used. I plan on moving the $30 over to our emergency savings account at ING or split the difference and apply $15 each to our children’s 529 account.

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