Considering ING sharebuilder for child

[neonlinux]

Hi.

 

Ok So I now have my ING account and was looking through their services. I have been thinking for some months now on where and what to invest / save money for our baby. He is 9 months old now and well, we wish for him to have something when he is an adult. I am in the military and have great benefits available to us via that. This question is more in direct question to the Sharebuilder investment offered by ING Direct.

 

Here is a link for the exact product I am considering. I am unsure exactly how this works and would like to know more from you guys here. I am searching google for reviews & so forth. I have around $200 disposable income per month to save for my baby.

 

http://content.sharebuilder.com/mgdcon/jum...intcmp=10000066

 

Would this be an advised product?. I feel a tad apprehensive due to the " Not secured " aspect. I know nothing is 100% safe, but this seems perhaps slightly more risky than my bank savings.

 

My wife and I are 25 years old, so we are still learning about investments and trying to plan for our future and certainly for our childs future.

 

Thanks

[hegemony]

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=306137

 

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235784

 

I am not a fan of it but some people are.

[Kevin20]

Hi.

 

Ok So I now have my ING account and was looking through their services. I have been thinking for some months now on where and what to invest / save money for our baby. He is 9 months old now and well, we wish for him to have something when he is an adult. I am in the military and have great benefits available to us via that. This question is more in direct question to the Sharebuilder investment offered by ING Direct.

 

Here is a link for the exact product I am considering. I am unsure exactly how this works and would like to know more from you guys here. I am searching google for reviews & so forth. I have around $200 disposable income per month to save for my baby.

 

http://content.sharebuilder.com/mgdcon/jum...intcmp=10000066

 

Would this be an advised product?. I feel a tad apprehensive due to the " Not secured " aspect. I know nothing is 100% safe, but this seems perhaps slightly more risky than my bank savings.

 

My wife and I are 25 years old, so we are still learning about investments and trying to plan for our future and certainly for our childs future.

 

Thanks

 

 

What you're looking at is NOT an investment to be evaluated -- it is a type of account, a modified brokerage account. You then have to choose investments to buy in that sharebuilder account, at a commission of $4 per transaction. The potential risk and return is entirely separate from Sharebuilder itself, and that marketing illustration about a possible 8% return is meaningless.

 

You can set up a Sharebuilder account, but then you have to determine how to invest the funds you put into it. You can choose from individual stocks or mutual funds or ETFs, as with any brokerage account.

 

The point of sharebuilder is that unlike a typical brokerage account, it allows you to buy fractional shares. So if you are investing only (say) $100 a month and you wanted to invest in Apple, which costs $205 a share right now, you can buy 0.47 shares of apple each month.

 

It can be a convenience but the things to look out for:

- That $4 a transaction is a pretty high cost unless you're buying say $200 or more worth of a security at a time.

 

- Do not plan to buy a whole portfolio of multiple stocks. You may decide to spread that $200 a month among 5 different stocks, for diversification. Problem is, you'd be charged $4 on each of the 5 purchases -- $20. And that makes the cost of investing far too high.

[radi8]

Pardon my interruption... I have a Q:

 

Is everyone's Share Builder account basically the same? Is what ING offers the same as Wells Fargo, for example?

[bullthistle]

I started Sharebuilder for myself to learn about stocks, however anytime a bank offers a service beware of their high costs. You might be better off looking for your present state's college funds which I beleive can be transferred to other states if you move, but ask first and get it in writing and see what they have to offer, I beleive most are mutual funds. Most discount broker fees run about $10 each time you buy or sell shares whether 1000 or 50 so Sharebuilder is on the high side. Some have mutual funds at no cost. Banks I beleive are at least double that or more. Do your research and keep the money aside and since you are still young look at opening a Roth for you and your spouse because you'll need it in 40 years.

[KYBOSH]

They say you should first squirreling away for your retirement first then focus on the kids tuition and trust fund.