my kid wants to turn out better than me!

January 18, 2010 4:56 PM

I'm on ChexSystems, and I can't get another bank account for a long time. My kid wants to start a savings account to start saving for college. I want to help her open one in her name. Can we do this?

Are there any particular hoops we have to jump through, or are they going to let us do it at all? I want to encourage her in forming good habits, and I don't want my mistakes to affect her. Thanks!

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Can you do a 529 savings plan? It's tax advantaged (if funds are used for college), and is more like an investment fund than a bank account. It can also be opened by a grandparent, or other relative or friend naming the child as the beneficiary, but I think anyone can contribute money to it. Something to look into.
posted by melissasaurus at 5:02 PM on January 18, 2010

melissasaurus has it. 529 is exactly what you want. You can even do it all on line, though for maximum tax advantage you want to figure out which firm operates your particular state's plan and open one there.
posted by shothotbot at 6:09 PM on January 18, 2010

If you go in with her to open an account, and she is under 18, they're going to need an adult on the account too. If you're in Chex Systems, and they subscribe to that service, they won't let it be you, thus she won't get an account. Your choices are to find a bank that doesn't deal with Chex Systems, or to get some other Adult on her account (father, grandparent, etc).

Or just pay whoever thinks you owe them money and get off Chex Systems.
posted by jeffamaphone at 6:16 PM on January 18, 2010

If you pay the money you owe and get a letter from the bank stating that you satisfied the debt; most banks will let you open the account.
posted by spaltavian at 6:33 PM on January 18, 2010

USAA doesn't use ChexSystems, and is also the best bank I've ever used. Simply great. They also have linked savings accounts for kids. I'd go there, they have great online systems, and totally free debit cards nationwide.
posted by Invoke at 12:13 PM on January 19, 2010