[Michael]

My daughter (10 yo) would like to begin investing in stocks and mutual funds/etfs – small amounts, less than $100.

From my quick research, it seems like I have two options:
1) Brokerage account in my name (most flexible, but will pay taxes on all earnings)

2) UGMA/UTMA in her name (no taxes on earnings up to $1,350).

It seems like Fidelity has a good brokerage account, and maybe also a UTMA/UGMA option.

I was wondering if anyone has had a positive experience with any platform and/or account type.

[Mona]

Curious, how did you get her interested/knowledgeable about investing?

[Jestine]

We have utma for our children with fidelity. It is an easy platform to use. We start letting them make decisions on their investments once they are interested, which for our oldest two it was at 3.

Our current 3 year old lives to hear how he is doing in the market, but hasn’t had an interest in selecting stocks.

[Frank]

Fidelity is good for that and you can buy any ETF or stock with as little as one dollar and no fees.

[Patrick]

Does she have any earned income from babysitting, dog walking, etc?

If so, she could open a Roth.

[Dara]

UGTA UTMAs to me are a tax paperwork hassle to transfer to her when she is 18. You’re better to open her a Roth IRA now. You (or anyone) can pay her up to $400 per year and no tax filing or tax payments are required, put a penny in over $400 though and she’d need to file a tax return, but $400 and under requires no filing or claiming it.

When she is 13 you can open her a Fidelity Youth Account.

This is her own MM and brokerage account you can oversee. She will get a debit card and can invest on the app on her own.

The Youth Account automatically transfers to her at age 18 without paperwork hassle like the archaic UTMA/UGMAs.

[Steve]

I used Fidelity UTMA before they became teens. It was great. We would look at it and they would decide how much, if any, they wanted to invest.

It was hard to get them excited in 2022.

Fidelity also has a teen account that gives them more control and includes their own debit card.

You’re still a few years out, but it’s something to look forward to.

[Kyle]

I’m an adult but my parents got me a UTMA account and 10 shares of stock as a child.

It’s always been interesting to see it grow and the stock split.

[Mindy]

For a 10yo I would recommend Greenlight. They have control of it but you monitor and approve everything.

They can get excited and learn about stocks and then move up to other types of accounts.

[Author]

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