You can open a savings account for your child as soon as they have a Social Security number. You have two options: a custodial account or a joint savings account. In either case, you’ll need identification and an initial deposit.

With a custodial account, you will manage the account; your child won’t be able to conduct any transactions without you. With a joint account, your child may be able to do more on their own, including using a debit card.

A financial plan can also help you focus on crucial issues like emergency preparation and insurance. Do you have enough cash to cover at least three-to-six months’ essential living expenses? When was the last time you reviewed your health insurance coverage? Do you need life or disability insurance and how much? These are the deeper questions a plan can help you answer to protect your family from the unexpected.

When you sell a capital asset like a stock, the difference between your proceeds and the cost of your purchase is your capital gain (or loss). If you’ve held the asset for one year or less, that gain or loss is short-term. If you’ve owned the asset for longer than a year, your gain or loss is long-term.

This is an important distinction because short-term and long-term gains are taxed differently. A short-term gain is taxed at whatever your effective tax rate is. For example, if you’re in the 35 percent tax bracket, all your short-term gains are taxed at 35 percent. Long-term gains have a special tax rate that is typically 15 percent but that can drop to 0 percent in certain situations, such as if you’re a low-income taxpayer.