re: Little one on the way

I have an 18 month old and I tried with my parents to get them to contribute to his 529 instead of buying junk, but that didn’t workout. They want the satisfaction of seeing him playing with a toy for 5 seconds over actually benefiting him in the long run

As for the OP, I’d say open a 529 plan and contribute what you can. The state tax break is a nice benefit for setting aside money. I’ve also opened a separate trading account in my name that I hope to one day use to help him put a down payment on a home or something of that nature but I didn’t want to do a custodial type account where ownership would transfer at a certain age because no matter how good of a parent I think my wife and I are/will be, nothing says our toddler will turn out great and be able to responsibly handle a decent sum of money at 18 or 22.