<p>I have a relative who recently adopted a young child. They are having a birthday party for him soon and I bought him a microscope but also want to give him money toward his college fund. It looks complicated to buy savings bond these days–you need an electronic account for the recipient AND the giver. I was wondering what suggestions folks might have about giving a gift toward a college fund. I don’t know whether a college fund has yet been started for this child. Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>You’re thoughtful to be thinking about this kind of gift. You can open a 529 account in your name with the child as beneficiary. Look for accounts with relatively low fees (I think there are comparison tools online that show fees for the different companies who offer 529s). Invest in an age-based fund and contribute to it over time as you’re able.</p>
<p>Just spoke with the mom. They have opened some sort of educational account for him through their financial planner, so we can just give them a check and they can have it applied toward the account if we’d like. That sounds good to us. US Savings Bonds have gone electronic, so they’re considerably tougher to give these days than when they had paper bonds through 12/31/11.</p>
<p>We’ll be doing that. It seems like it will be a good match with the microscope we got him. (Fortunately, it’s from Costco, so they can return it for a refund if they decide it’s not quite appropriate.)</p>
<p>Am still curious about SMALL (under $100) college funding gifts, as I have many young relatives & young ones and am getting tired of buying little gifts when I don’t know the young people all that well.</p>
<p>HIMom, we got many savings bonds as gifts when each of the kids were born and for some of their birthdays. Has turned into a nice little sum over the years, and we have not cashed them in, so the guys will have them as start-up $$ when they graduate. </p>
<p>If the recipient’s parents have a 529 account, go for it. Vanguard has a minimum add’l deposit of $50; Fidelity does not seem to have a minimum gift; USAA also has a $50 minimum. Their websites also say how to make the checks payable (and some allow for online contributions).</p>
<p>The 529 owned by the parents must be reported on financial aid forms; 529s opened by other relatives don’t have to be reported.</p>
<p>I think I’ll just give the parents the money & have them & their financial planner help figure out where it goes. At least they have 10-11 years before he’s of college age. :)</p>