Do keep in mind that kids assume ownership of UGMAs when they turn 18 though.

This varies by state. In my state, my oldest gained access to their UTMA when they turned 18, but I am told I will still have my access until they turn 25, unless one of us explicitly revokes my access.

A UGMA/UTMA is basically a vehicle to gift money to a child, and then optionally invest it on their behalf, while having any gains on that money accrue to the child for tax purposes. Since most children don’t have much earned income, this will often result in them owing zero taxes on any unearned income on the account (unless there is more than $1350 of unearned income – read up on the “kiddie tax” if the income exceeds that).

OTOH a 529 is not a gift at all, until it is paid out. The money is technically still “owned” by the giver, they just have to name a beneficiary when they make an account. So any gains in a 529 don’t count towards the kid’s income at all, and if they are spent on educational expenses for the beneficiary they are not taxed on the other end either.

And once a year you can change the 529 beneficiary. So someone with a large 529 who finds that the beneficiary gets a scholarship (or doesn’t go to college) can change the beneficiary to someone else – even themselves.

First of all, don’t try to time the market. You will never time it right.

Second, what you are looking for is called “technical analysis”. That is based on the theory that all the information you need to analyze a stock or crypto token is in the market data (price, volume, etc.), and by analyzing the market data over time you may be able to see a signal as to when to make a market move. There are lots of resources available online to learn the basics.

And finally, let’s say you read up on this, figure out some of your own good signals, and start to trade based on them. There are professional trading firms who do all that, algorithmically, much faster than you can. You may make money, but it will always be after they do.

Still want to do it? Good luck!

Makes more room for AI mods

It may vary state to state, but I bet you can secure your own financing. Go to your local bank and ask. The rate may be a bit higher than some random bank the dealership uses, but at least it’s something.

What you are really asking is whether you should hedge your US-based investments, anticipating a dramatic fall in the value of the dollar. But even if governments and large corporations start keeping reserves in Euro or other currencies, that doesn’t automatically mean the dollar tanks.

You could find a fund that specifically invests in non-US companies. Take note of the fees associated with these, since they will be higher than bog-standard index funds. I wouldn’t go nuts and put all your eggs there, though. Take a portion of your overall net worth to bet against America, but don’t use it all. It is possible that the global economy decides that the business-friendly Trump policies have enough value to put up with all the chaos, and the dollar might even get stronger.

Always remember as a an investor, you are a small fish, in the same tank as the sharks. You will be shark food eventually. Your goal is to simply survive by not being the slowest fish in the tank.

Someone else in this thread offered Crypto as an option. It certainly seems attractive with the current regulatory environment. But make sure that you understand what you are buying if you go that route. There is a difference between an established currency with its own blockchain and governance, and some random President’s shitty token which took no effort to set up and whose market can be tanked by manipulators whenever they want. If you are not interested in the difference, stay far away.

ESPP is only really done in huge companies, and the terms vary too widely to be added to a common calculator. When I had one, though, I could sell right away. And the purchase price had a few different ways of being calculated, and they applied whichever was lower, so sometimes my effective discount was 25% or more.

I just cranked that shit up to the max, and sold most of it right away. I kept a small portion from each purchase as a side investment, just in case they screwed me over. I considered it my own personal severance plan, built up essentially for free.

In addition to all of the very good advice in this thread, I will add I am a big fan of Dollar Cost Averaging. If you have a large amount to put into the market, don’t put it in to whatever fund you decide all at once, put it in on a monthly basis. This protects you, to some extent, from the market taking a dump the day after you buy, because you are always buying. And your cost at the end is an average of all the times you bought in, and is not so much tied to prices on the day you bought in.

This may involve some planning for moving money around, because you will want to keep the remainder in a good HYSA in the meantime.

Regulations on this will differ by state. The best move would be to find a local real estate lawyer. They wil instruct you on how to file all the proper paperwork with the local government, and also advise you on things you haven’t thought about, like how to structure your wills to make sure everyone is protected in the event something unfortunate happens to either of you.

Also don’t use this private transaction as an excuse to save money to skip any steps. Go get the title search and inspection done. You don’t want any surprises. If the inspection finds a fundamental problem, you might still go through with the purchase, but at least you’ll know up front what you’re in for.

Making any investment yearly at the same time is attempting to time the market, it’s a bet that the market will be lowest at that point vs the rest of the year. Otherwise, why pick Jan 1? Why not pick July 4? If the price is lower on Jul 4, you end up with more shares, as well as a small increase due to 6 months of interest.

When you DCA, you basically admit that you don’t know how prices are going to move, and you are spreading out your risk. Yes, DCA over 12 months may leave you with slightly less than if you put it all in on Jan 1, assuming the price was the lowest on Jan 1. But if you have monthly investments that whole time, it’s likely that at least one or two of those might have been bought at a lower price than Jan, and it may turn out DCA could result in more shares of whatever you are buying.

The “time in the market” adage applies over years, not months. On a scale of 10 years+, it doesn’t really matter whether you bought in Jan or July.

The theory is not based on interest rates, but rather tax loss harvesting. People have a better idea of what their tax liability might be at the end of the year, and it’s possible they might want to reduce their Capital Gains tax bill by selling positions that are negative to lock in a loss, offsetting some other gain. That means more selling in December, so it would make sense to buy as close to Jan 1 as possible, when the extra selling stops.

But it’s just another way to time the market, and timing the market is a bad strategy for the average investor. Just keep investing on your set schedule, and you will find that you still do OK, with much less drama.