"Thanks for the responses. It'll be more than $800 that we'll invest. I look into index funds."

I would do a dividend ETF, for at least the next 5 years or so. As you get closer to the time she'll need the money (maybe 2 years out), put it someplace more safe.

thanks for the responses. It'll be more than $800 that we'll invest. I look into index funds.

Sounds like you have a good set up. I would just leave the gift money in a regular account. If its a very large sum, I'd consider investing it but for $800, I'd leave it in savings. We actually just keep track of gift money for my dd and will eventually open a separate account for her, but we haven't bothered yet.

We put $100,000 into 529 and $75,000 into index funds at birth.

We have a similar setup for our 2 yo DD. A 529, an account we save our money for her in for things like future trips to urope, and an account with her personal/gift money. Our account that we're saving to spend on her is in stocks (index funds), but her personal money is in a high interest checking account. I'd be pretty upset if we lost her money in the market, and we figure it's not really our money to make those decisions about. The gift money is hers, to make her own decisions about, but I think we're being good stewards of it in the meantime.

We have a 529 that we contribute to monthly. We also have a bank account that we deposit her gift money into... she has $800 in that. I would like to invest that $$ in stocks for her or something. Is anyone else doing something similar?

In the long run, I'm thinking the gift money could be used to help pay for a summer study abroad opportunity while in HS or a vehicle. Things not necessarily college-related.