We’re naturalized Americans with no family in the US, so we don’t have anyone to ask what they’re doing. Also, advice about it online is remarkably inconsistent, ranging from like $20 a month to $2000 a month. I understand that it’s because it is strongly dependent on personal finance and priorities, and nobody’s going to have a straight answer for me, but still, I am interested, what is everyone else doing, and what is the thinking that landed you on that number?
Obviously, I have no idea what my kids will want to be, so I can’t use that as signal. Doctor? Painting artist? Woodworker? Nobel-prize-winning physicist? Beats me!
Some details about my personal situation: I don’t really have any major financial goals except for this and my retirement (I own my house and it’s paid for). So, I can put some decent money in there, but this is competing with my retirement funds, and it’s important to me that I don’t depend on my own kids during my old age, so I don’t want to overdo it.
A thought I had, but I don’t know if it’s relevant: with the recent ability for kids to convert to a Roth IRA up to $35k with no penalties if they don’t use the funds, has that become the new golden number?
My state gives a small tax incentive up to $3000 in contributions per child per year, so we put in $250/month for each of our kids to maximize that. If you live in a state that gives any sort of tax incentive as well, take a look at that as a starting point.
Oh, yeah, I’m glad you’re bringing that up, thanks; my state (Illinois) allows to deduct from state taxes up to $17k per year per account in donations, which ain’t bad, and is in fact more than I’d be willing to put in, I think. Which is useful, because it goes to show that even though I’m confused and feel like I have no idea what a good amount is, I do actually have some idea of an upper bound I probably wouldn’t go over.