College Savings - buy/sell comics or tax free savings plan?? 0

[Artboy99]

I would invest it into some kind of education savings plan if available. Here in Canada the Government has a plan that adds 20% for each $2500 contributed. You could put the money into something like that ( whatever the USA / state has ).

 

My reason is that putting the money into a savings plan is liquid and can be sold/redeemed when needed. Putting the money into comics requires you to have a buyer later and that is not a given.

 

Consider that this is not your money and do what is best/ right for your daughter.

[aerischan]

You should also consider an UGMA or UTMA as an alternative to a 529 account. There are pros and cons depending on your situation. http://ctainvest.org/home/saving-and-spending/saving-for-college/Are-There-Better-Options-Than-a-529-Plan.aspx

 

Personally, I would view any "investment" in comics as high risk, and many would call it gambling. Therefore I would only put a small percentage of your daughter's college money into such a vehicle. Also, 5 years is a relatively short time frame for college savings, so you probably want to limit your exposure to high risk assets.

 

And, most importantly, you should be talking to a financial adviser. I'm sure you can get free consultation with many banks and brokers.

This although the problem with banks and brokers are they have vested interests, too. Maybe get a Certified Financial Planner who follows fiduciary standards.

 

Here's some pretty interesting reading.

https://www.amazon.com/Where-Are-Customers-Yachts-Street/dp/0471770892

[adampasz]

Agreed. Banks and brokers have a vested interest in getting you to invest with their bank. So you should take what they say with a grain of salt. But a decent adviser should be able to provide some basic info about standard investment options, along the lines of what 1Cool is asking.

 

Grebal's idea of using comics as a way to teach your daughter about business is noble, but only makes sense if it's something she's interested in doing. I'm sure, as a teenager, she'll have plenty of other activities to keep her busy. In any case, why don't you ask her what she thinks you should do with the money instead of us!

[drbanner]

Grebal's idea of using comics as a way to teach your daughter about business is noble, but only makes sense if it's something she's interested in doing. I'm sure, as a teenager, she'll have plenty of other activities to keep her busy.

I have two girls, one a SO in college and one a JR in HS, and totally agree with this. They have no interest in comics and I can't imagine asking them to "work" flipping comics as a means to "invest" for college. It sounds a lot more like what I would have wanted to do with the $$ than what was best for them (both financially and for their own personal growth).

 

So my vote goes for "tax free savings plan" for your daughter, and you just continue to flip books for your own hobby.

[W16227]

529 plan ---

 

 

then --- take a % from your flipping operation - put that into the account

 

 

also = GRADES GRADES GRADES -

 

you get a kid with a 3.8 and good SAT --- you get $$$$$$$

 

 

 

[mattn792]

Here's one other consideration -- does your daughter actually want to go to college?

 

I throw that out there because my parents left me feeling like I had no other choice after high school, and I spent as much of my three years (early grad) studying various hops and grains as I did my actual course work. Hindsight being what it is, I look back on college as largely a waste of time and wish I had enlisted right after HS instead of 4 years later.

[MetalPSI]

I'm amazed these topics still come up after being here 3 years and seeing the fiasco. Seriously.

[1Cool]

I'm amazed these topics still come up after being here 3 years and seeing the fiasco. Seriously.

 

Fiasco

[drbanner]

...after being here 3 years...

You grizzled old-timer!

[FormerReader]

I can't believe this is an actual question.

[Mr.Mcknowitall]

Here's one other consideration -- does your daughter actually want to go to college?

 

I throw that out there because my parents left me feeling like I had no other choice after high school, and I spent as much of my three years (early grad) studying various hops and grains as I did my actual course work. Hindsight being what it is, I look back on college as largely a waste of time and wish I had enlisted right after HS instead of 4 years later.

 

Did you enlist 4 years later as an Officer?

[the blob]

I can't believe this is an actual question.

 

The stock market is pretty high right now. Maybe we are about to hit 4 years of stocks hitting tremendous peaks due to the new administration, but that seems unlikely without a crash, that might happen in the middle or whatever and then you spend years trying to catch up, so sticking it in equities isn't necessarily "safer" unless you can time these things...something plenty of folks with MBAs working on wall street can't do.

 

I'm in my mid-40s and have seen my 401K blasted twice in my lifetime. I may never catch up. I wasn't actively investing in tech stocks, I was conservative, S&P 500, Russell 2000, etc., it didn't matter. One day I will try to figure out what my annualized returns have been (because the fund people don't really go back 15-18 years with that data, and I did most of my contributing from 1998-2004). I seriously doubt they have been 8%.

 

Taking that 10K and putting it into a money market at today's rates will give you what, $10,750 after 5 years?

 

Frankly, my guess is 1Cool will do better with comics if he focused hard on them, but then again, he already has a side business doing just that, does he have time to deal with $10K of more inventory to process (and if he does, isn't that just cannibalizing from his side business -- any buying opportunity he uses the $10K on is one he'd be pursuing with his side business anyway)

 

Of course, if a $10K collection were presented to him right now...one he sees having a FMV of $20k+ if he busts it up, that's something else. Sure, that sounds like a 100% return, but his time is worth something.

 

Don't think of it as investing in silly books, it's investing in his business.

 

Of course, keeping the funds separate is going to be tricky. if he has 500 books in his ebay store and 250 of them were bought with these funds, there is some effort necessary to parse out your revenues. every time he sells a book he is going to need to send that money to a separate bank account or otherwise keep track.

 

easier to make sure your daughter is a national merit scholar! my brother went to college for free, full ride, tuition+ room, board, etc., but then again he got around a 1500 on his SATs and close to that on his PSATs. he's good at those tests (he was a B+ student at an elite magnet school here in NYC, so he didn't get the scholarship based on grades)

 

 

Edited January 20, 2017 by the blob

[the blob]

of course, you're in ohio, couldn't you use that $10K as the down payment on 5 houses and rent them out? on TV they make it sound so easy.

 

in NY the governor has proposed free tuition for families making $110K and under. of course, state school tuition is about $7K, but room/board/books, etc. are about $13K.

Edited January 20, 2017 by the blob

[1Cool]

of course, you're in ohio, couldn't you use that $10K as the down payment on 5 houses and rent them out? on TV they make it sound so easy.

 

A landlord is something I am not. I'd much rather deal with picky comic book fans then dealing with tenants who are being evicted.

 

[the blob]

of course, you're in ohio, couldn't you use that $10K as the down payment on 5 houses and rent them out? on TV they make it sound so easy.

 

A landlord is something I am not. I'd much rather deal with picky comic book fans then dealing with tenants who are being evicted.

 

i know, that's why i never pursue it every time the market is down here and there are opportunities. my folks had two rental properties (single family homes) in nice suburban areas and still half the tenants wound up being problems. i know maintenance would be a problem...every time there is a plumbing problem I'd be out $300.

[HarveySwick]

Whatever you choose to do, make sure to sign up for UPromise, and register your credit cards, etc. with the account. Have any grandparents sign up to with your child as beneficiary.

 

https://www.upromise.com/

 

It's passive savings, a percentage of items you buy, gifts, flowers, meals, hundreds of sites and retailers and thousands of restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies, etc. are part of it.

 

It's money you're already spending but you get a % rebate back into an account (can be linked to a 529) for your kids.

 

I signed up my 15 year old at birth and we have over $5,000 gained without any costs to us.

 

 

[Sqeggs]

I'm in my mid-40s and have seen my 401K blasted twice in my lifetime. I may never catch up. I wasn't actively investing in tech stocks, I was conservative, S&P 500, Russell 2000, etc., it didn't matter.

 

If you remained invested in the market, then you've easily caught up by now.

 

The people who really screwed themselves were the ones who sold out in early 2009 at the bottom of the market. A lot of people have trouble resisting the urge to pile into the market on the way up and bail out on the way down. Buying high and selling low is a key reason why the average investor earns significantly less than the market averages.

[HarveySwick]

Oh, and screw college. That's what crippling student loan debt is for.

 

Put the money towards real estate. Then when she's old enough, buy a nice multi-family with the savings as a downpayment then transfer the Deed to her. She can work doing whatever job pays money and pay down the mortgage with the help of rental income. Then when the mortgage is paid off, it's like a yearly salary for doing nothing.

 

My daughter is going to be the biggest slumlord real estate mogul.

[the blob]

Whatever you choose to do, make sure to sign up for UPromise, and register your credit cards, etc. with the account. Have any grandparents sign up to with your child as beneficiary.

 

https://www.upromise.com/

 

It's passive savings, a percentage of items you buy, gifts, flowers, meals, hundreds of sites and retailers and thousands of restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies, etc. are part of it.

 

It's money you're already spending but you get a % rebate back into an account (can be linked to a 529) for your kids.

 

I signed up my 15 year old at birth and we have over $5,000 gained without any costs to us.

 

 

 

I am a little shocked we are not signed up for this. This is the type of thing my wife goes for. She's always doing restaurant reservations through open table to get the cash bonus.

[solm4st3r]

Take the cash to Vegas and double your money (or lose it).