How To Talk To Your Children About Their College Fund
A client came in this summer and told me her son was entering college. Because her son was 18, he could access the money in his custodial account, and she wanted to know how to discuss it with him. Keep in mind each state has different age limits on custodial accounts that range from 18 to 21. There are essentially three scenarios that can play out.
A popular but unfortunate option is not telling your children about the money. This is denial. If you set a precedent of not talking about financial matters now, your children will have little hope for financial literacy in the future. A less common approach is to turn over the accounts wholesale. This is setting your children up for failure. Instead we need a reasonable plan.