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My DD7 has had an account since she was just a few weeks old. I took a few checks that were given to me at my baby shower (designated to a college fund) and deposited them into her account. It wasn't much, but now she has quite a bit in her account. When she got cash for her birthday this year she asked if hse could put all of it in the account. She also loves getting her bank statements in the mail and seeing how much more she has saved than the month before.
I haven't read all six pages because I came across this^.
You could teach your daughter about finances now by opening an account and watch her eyes light up every month when she gets a piece of mail from the bank telling her how much money she has.
Or, you could do the thing that sounds utterly ridiculous and tell people to send you money. I don't write checks but if I did and was asked not to; to send money instead, I'd seriously start thinking the parents had a drug problem or something else they needed cash for.
I bet if grandma sent her a $20 bill and it got stolen from the mail, you'd want people to start sending checks again, huh? It's common sense, if the card doesn't get to you, the check can be cancelled and resent, no harm done. Sending cash and it gets stolen? SOL.
You could teach your daughter about finances now by opening an account and watch her eyes light up every month when she gets a piece of mail from the bank telling her how much money she has.
Or, you could do the thing that sounds utterly ridiculous and tell people to send you money. I don't write checks but if I did and was asked not to; to send money instead, I'd seriously start thinking the parents had a drug problem or something else they needed cash for.
I bet if grandma sent her a $20 bill and it got stolen from the mail, you'd want people to start sending checks again, huh? It's common sense, if the card doesn't get to you, the check can be cancelled and resent, no harm done. Sending cash and it gets stolen? SOL.
The OP hasn't asked people to send cash instead of checks. She just wants them to write the checks to her instead of to her child, because the bank gives her grief about it.
The child's having his or her own account is irrelevant. Yes, it can be a good experience for the kid, but that's a parental decision. The money isn't any safer: a minor child will have to have a parent on the account anyway. If you're going to suspect someone of stealing a kid's money to buy drugs, the name on the check won't make a bit of difference.
The OP hasn't asked people to send cash instead of checks. She just wants them to write the checks to her instead of to her child, because the bank gives her grief about it.
The child's having his or her own account is irrelevant. Yes, it can be a good experience for the kid, but that's a parental decision. The money isn't any safer: a minor child will have to have a parent on the account anyway. If you're going to suspect someone of stealing a kid's money to buy drugs, the name on the check won't make a bit of difference.
I'm sorry, I think what the OP said gave me the impression he/she wanted cash with a heavy emphasis on gift cards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fallingwater
The first time they gave my son a check is when he was 3 yrs old. My SIL didnt have time to get cash out of the bank. Even the clerk at my credit union just rolled her eyes. Nothing like trying to cash a check for a toddler. My husband has asked his mother and sisters to either send gift cards or make the check out to us. They act like we are going to steal our son's money. So they give gift cards and then start the whole check crap the following year.
The OP hasn't asked people to send cash instead of checks. She just wants them to write the checks to her instead of to her child, because the bank gives her grief about it.
The child's having his or her own account is irrelevant. Yes, it can be a good experience for the kid, but that's a parental decision. The money isn't any safer: a minor child will have to have a parent on the account anyway. If you're going to suspect someone of stealing a kid's money to buy drugs, the name on the check won't make a bit of difference.
Sure it is a parental decision whether or not to open an account...just as it is the decision of the checkwriter to make out the check in the child's name.
Sure it is a parental decision whether or not to open an account...just as it is the decision of the checkwriter to make out the check in the child's name.
Right, but what would be the reason not to? Writing a different name on a check takes zero effort.
I had a savings account since I was a baby. All through my childhood I got checks as presents from relatives, and they would get deposited into that account. When I was older, maybe 11 or so, I was also allowed to take cash out of the account for certain things.
I learned to use a bank account at an early age, and a lot of the money from those checks came in quite handy when I reached adulthood. By the time I got to college I had several thousand saved up.
I am not a parent, but I really think you're doing your child a disservice if you don't let them have a bank account. I met way too many people in college who had only just gotten their first bank account, and they couldn't handle money at all. At the same time, I had had a bank account for 18 years, and had been writing in the entries for deposits and withdrawals since I was around 10.
I havent responded to this thread for a while because quite honestly, I think its quite ridiculous that no one wants to actually read this thread. It has been stated over and over again my reasons for not opening an account for my son at this time. <----notice the bolded part? This is important.
Oh and no I am not on drugs looking to steal my kid's 20 bucks.
I did read the "reason" you posted. It sounds like it's just inconvenient to set him up with your current credit unuion. Well, now you have some inconvenient checks that your kid can't cash. Sounds like you're just choosing one inconvenience over another.
It doesn't explain why you didn't set up a bank account for him back when he was born. You could have avoided all this trouble if you had done that years ago. And if you don't want to do it at this time with your current credit union, you can go to any number of banks that have branches all over the place (TD, BoA, WF, etc), and even online banks. There's no reason why you would be limited to choosing the credit union or nothing.
I did read the "reason" you posted. It sounds like it's just inconvenient to set him up with your current credit unuion. Well, now you have some inconvenient checks that your kid can't cash. Sounds like you're just choosing one inconvenience over another.
It doesn't explain why you didn't set up a bank account for him back when he was born. You could have avoided all this trouble if you had done that years ago. And if you don't want to do it at this time with your current credit union, you can go to any number of banks that have branches all over the place (TD, BoA, WF, etc), and even online banks. There's no reason why you would be limited to choosing the credit union or nothing.
We moved out of state. So if you did read the thread you would have caught that. I also did not imply the credit union or nothing. I stated that I wasn't in a hurry to make a choice right now.
Thanks everyone for the responses. I am done with this thread.
The "reasons" given by the OP were that she had recently relocated and didn't yet have the lay of the land, so she could not set her child up with a bank account yet. This means she just hasn't gotten around to it.
Then she said in multiple posts that she did not wish to set him up with an account at her credit union (I'm not inventing this), since she would probably be leaving it soon, and she'd have to close the account soon after having opened it. This means it would be inconvenient for her.
Then later she said she's "not fond of" banks. This means she made a choice that later resulted in an inconvenience to her and her kid.
She never addressed why she never set him up with an account when he was a baby.
She never addressed why she just didn't set him up with an account at any well-known bank right after moving (it's pretty easy to look up the reputation and policies of any bank, without knowing "the lay of the land" yet.) Knowing these relatives were likely going to write him checks for Christmas, it would have made sense to just set up an account for him before the holidays.
So now the only choice is to complain about being inconvenienced by generous people who didn't have to give her child a gift in the first place.
Did I miss anything?
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My SIL didnt have time to get cash out of the bank. Even the clerk at my credit union just rolled her eyes. Nothing like trying to cash a check for a toddler. 
My husband has asked his mother and sisters to either send gift cards or make the check out to us. They act like we are going to steal our son's money. 
So they give gift cards and then start the whole check crap the following year.
