Such as college savings funds, bank accounts, a will in the event of anything happening to you, etc? Obviously love, care, and structure are givens. I am mostly wanting to know: what do other parents do (financially, legally, or otherwise) to make a stable future for their children?
Oh! I suppose I will answer my own question as well. We have a bank account for our son that we keep enough money in to pay for diapers, replacements, and necessary items as they arise (such as the new gate we found we needed for our speedy little guy). We also have a 529 college savings plan that is accessible by both of us as well as my in-laws. We are meeting with a lawyer in the coming weeks to draw up our will. We need something in writing that will secure where/who our son would go to in the event of anything happening to us, particularly because our parents live 250 miles apart and we want to be sure our son does not become a tug-o-war between them. On a non-financial level, we are also teaching our son a second language because young children learn language so well and we think it'd be a waste not to when he seems so eager to learn new words. There are many more things we have in place, but these are a few.
Rhianna, great answer. I hadn't even considered as far out as the car. Its so hard to think out that far in time when they are so small. I had the same experience, it sounds, as your husband. My parents didn't save anything for me, no car, no college savings, nothing. I was lucky enough to get a full ride at school based on my academic record. I also worked my butt off in high school and in college to pay for everything else. I remember the point when I was younger when I realized my mom had not saved a single penny for college, I was only 13, but still the next day I went out and looked everywhere I could for a job. My partner on the otherhand was handed a very stable future. His parents paid his tuition in full, bought him his first car, and his second one when the first one was wrecked. They even gave him a hefty sum of what was left from his school savings for a house. He was very lucky. While I don't want everything handed to my son, I want to make sure he won't have to struggle.
I also wanted to add that I find it very sad when parents don't save anything either because they didn't go on to college or because they don't think their child will go to college (which is usually because the parent didn't go to college). My brother and I were always in the same grade because we are only ten months apart and he didn't make the cut off to go to school the year before. We were the first in our family to graduate high school on time, let alone go on to college. My mom honestly didn't think we would go to college. Now my brother, who is in the 6th grade is following my path: top of his class, interested in learning, excited for the idea of college. But my mom will not save anything for him, I have spoken with her many times about it. I wish I could do it for him, but financially I have to save for my son. It really does bother me though.
Mine I THINK have something in their will for my sister's care (I hope), but that was all they did. I was told I had a bank account for college money that they were putting money into, but I'm halfway done with undergrad and they haven't even mentioned it, so apparently that either didn't exist or went someplace else. Whoops!
EDIT: Apparently I was misunderstood since I got a thumbs down. I'm just being honest, my parents really didn't do anything, and if hearing that is going to make some parents think then that's great-- that's why I said it.