Why You Should Open a Stock Account for Your Child (Kiwoom Securities Non-Face-to-Face Account Opening)

Unless you’re a stock expert, it’s difficult to invest based solely on thorough analysis and future projections of a single company. However, if you believe the United States will continue to lead the world and maintain its position as the top economy, I think that’s the reason we should open a stock account for our children.

Upward-trending U.S. S&P 500 ETF Index

The U.S. S&P 500 ETF is a fund that invests in approximately 500 of the most influential companies in the U.S. market. The chart above shows the U.S. S&P 500 ETF index from 1996 through 2024. How much has it risen?

From 1996 to 2024, over 28 years, it grew nearly 7.8 times. Isn’t that truly remarkable? Did the

U.S. economy experience only positive and good things for 28 years? No. The 2000s saw the dot-com bubble, and 2008 brought the subprime mortgage crisis.

More recently, there was the COVID-19 issue in 2020. Despite all this, the U.S. economic index chart has continued its upward trajectory for 28 years.

Why You Should Open a Stock Account for Your Child

While it may seem like hindsight, you might wonder: even though the economy has grown and indices have risen so far, will that necessarily continue? You can consider various scenarios, but I believe those who invest in stocks must believe our economy will continue to grow.

If not, then perhaps you shouldn’t be investing in stocks. If you don’t believe the U.S. economy—which is leading the global economy by the scruff of its neck—will grow, then I think other investment options besides stocks are better. This is

because stock investing, especially investing in U.S. stocks, fundamentally starts with believing the U.S. economy will continue to develop.

If I had had a child in 1996 and opened a stock account for them then, gradually investing in an S&P 500 ETF, how much would that child’s money have grown by now, in 2024, at age 28?

Just imagining it makes me happy. I think it’s probably the best option every parent considers. I believe this is precisely why we should create stock accounts for our children. While the amount of

money may vary depending on the parents’ financial situation, I think it’s the parents’ decision to determine the age at which their children start investing.

Additionally, the U.S. S&P 500 ETF pays dividends. For those curious about confirming dividend deposits at Kiwoom Securities, please refer to the post below. You can also see my actual dividend amounts.

Kiwoom Securities: Create a Stock Account for Your Child

It’s best to open a stock account for your child as soon as possible and start investing, even with a small amount. Starting at age 1 versus starting at age 10 ultimately results in a different amount of money accumulated. Of course, I still consider age 10 a very early start. Kiwoom Securities

, Korea’s top stock app, offers a service to set up your child’s stock account online. You can create your child’s stock account in just a few minutes without visiting a securities firm. All it takes is the parents’ determination.

Kiwoom Securities: How to Open a Non-Face-to-Face Stock Account for Your Child

To open a non-face-to-face stock account for our child at Kiwoom Securities, first open the Hero app. Then, look at the bottom of the leftmost photo and click the ‘Open Account’ menu.

Next, in the middle photo, select the ‘Our Child (Minor)’ menu again to review the required documents as shown below.

[What You Need to Set Up a Stock Account for Your Child]

You might be concerned about the family relationship certificate and basic certificate, but during the account creation process, you can submit these certificates using your parents’ certificates, so there’s no need to worry too much.

Agree to the basic terms and conditions, enter your child’s name, resident registration number, and the account number of a bank or securities account in the child’s name.

Since our child is still a minor, you must also enter the information of the legal guardian, the parent(s). You should be able to complete this without much difficulty using basic information. Here, we will perform a mobile phone verification for the parent(s).

Now it’s time to enter our child’s information. For the child, since none of the options for funding source and origin really fit, we selected “Financial Income” and set the account opening purpose as “Savings and Investment.” If

the child doesn’t have a phone number or email, you can simply check the box indicating it’s the same as the parent’s information and proceed. Even though they’re a minor, if they do have a phone number or email, you can use the child’s personal information. We selected “Comprehensive” for the product.

For the Financial Transaction Purpose Confirmation, you can select ‘No’ unless it applies to you. Next, the parent account verification process will appear. When you enter your parent’s account information, you’ll see a 1 won deposit along with a three-digit code. Use that exact code for verification.

After that, you’ll need to photograph your parent’s resident registration card or driver’s license for verification.

Finally, for the Family Relationship Certificate and Basic Certificate, you can submit your parents’ verification documents directly to Kiwoom Securities. This allows Kiwoom Securities to verify the Family Relationship Certificate and Basic Certificate immediately. This way, you won’t need to submit separate certificates. After completing

this step, Kiwoom Securities will need a little time to review and confirm the relationship with the child. You will receive the result via text message. Once this is done, all procedures will be completed, and the Kiwoom Securities My Child Non-Face-to-Face Stock Account will be created.

Conclusion

Today we discussed why we should open a stock account for our children. It’s likely every parent’s wish for their children to live happily in the future, focused on what they want to do, without worrying about money.

Even at this very moment, we live in an era where living solely on earned income is no longer possible. That gap is expected to widen even further in the future. So, I think it’s essential for our children to also learn about capital income, beyond just earned income. The most fundamental form

of such capital income is likely stocks. Among these, investing in the U.S. S&P 500 ETF, which tracks the 500 leading companies in the United States—the safest and most reliable nation—is believed to be the strongest option.