Child Portfolio

We began saving for our daughter’s education in 2010, before our son was born, and in 2016 started brokerage accounts for each of them. Our contributions are now more regular and largely automated, but we have benefited from having funds invested in the market for more than ten years. Early investments in Apple and Google have largely offset the unfortunate investment choices I have made.

In late 2016 we made each of our kids into trust fund babies by opening a joint and informal trust margin account in each of their names. After investing C$600 in an S&P500 ETF in December 2016, our children chose Disney as the first company they bought for themselves in January 2017. Since then, our kids have made an investment of roughly C$250 every three months.

Every quarter I chose four companies suitable for their ownership and make a relatively simple pitch about each company’s business and prospects. Most of the businesses they own are consumer-facing businesses and owning a small stake in the business helps to encourage their understanding of each company’s purpose. Ownership also lends itself to learn about etiquette as we encourage them to behave in a way that attracts more business to their store.

My happiest moment in this adventure was when we were driving home from Home Depot and my daughter asked if we could buy a stake in its ownership. “The store is always busy,” she said. Funny she didn’t make that statement after or during our five-minute wait in the Costco check-out line, but I digress.

Below are two images that include the current positions and weights, as of 14 March 2021, of their trust accounts and their education account. The weights are deceiving because our education savings account has a total value five times greater than the combination of the value of the two trust accounts. Eight of the positions in the education account have more than doubled in value. PayPal is nearly a 6-bagger; Apple and Google are nearly 5-baggers.