Most of raising a financially capable kid is unglamorous repetition. But a handful of moments genuinely change what's possible, and they're much easier to handle if you see them coming.
A newborn has the one asset nobody can buy later: time. A first paycheck unlocks a custodial Roth IRA that couldn't be opened the week before. Turning eighteen transfers legal control of a UTMA to a person who may never have been told it exists. Each has a short window where a small decision compounds for decades.
These guides are organized around those moments rather than products: what to do, when, and what happens if you do nothing. If your kid is about to hit one, start there — otherwise the newborn checklist shows the whole arc.
If Something Happens to You: Who Takes Over Your Kid’s Accounts
The UTMA, the 529 and the Roth each have a different answer. Three forms at the institution decide it, and most families haven’t filled them in.
Graduation Money Gift Ideas
Giving money for graduation? How cash, existing accounts and a Roth IRA may fit into the picture.
Investment Gifts for a Newborn
Want a newborn gift that lasts? How 529, custodial and other financial gifts can work.
Kid Entrepreneur Spotlight: Zane Campbell, and the Move Most Teens Miss
Zane Campbell built a real lawn-care business as a teen. The move most young entrepreneurs miss: business income unlocks a Roth IRA — and decades of tax-free growth.
How to Help Your Teen Build Credit Before They Turn 18
The 18-and-up skill that shapes apartments, car loans, and phone plans — and the safe, early ways to give your teen a head start.
Your Kid Got Into College: How to Actually Use the 529
The payoff moment, done right: qualified expenses, the timing trap, scholarships, and what to do with what's left.
Your Teen's First Job: Earned Income and the Custodial Roth IRA
A first paycheck unlocks a custodial Roth — what counts as earned income, who can fund it, and why starting now matters so much.
What Happens When Your Child Turns 18: The Custodial Account Handoff
What transfers when — UTMA, Trump Account, Roth IRA, 529 — and how to make the handoff a milestone, not a surprise.
The Newborn Money Checklist: 7 Money Moves in Your Baby's First Year
A practical first-year checklist — the SSN, the right accounts, the Trump Account claim, and the habit that compounds.
Other topics
The rest of the library, grouped the same way.
Accounts
20The account types that hold your kid's money — and how each one works.
Strategy
29How to choose between accounts and make the most of what you open.
Taxes
7The tax rules that quietly shape every custodial dollar.
Basics
16Investing fundamentals in plain English — simple enough to learn and teach at the same time.
Parenting
14Turning the numbers into lessons your kids actually absorb.