"5) Discount brokerage account. Then, each year's contribution can be invested as one sees fit. The tricky part here is to find a deep-discount brokerage that I'm comfortable with AND has ultra-low or no ongoing fees AND will accept a custodial IRA AND will reinvest dividends AND will allow bond investments AND has decent no-fee mutal funds to pick from. This choice allows Foolis Four-type portfolios to be set up, once the pile grows to $4,000 or so. [I can't see buying 4 stocks with $2,000, even at $12 commissions--that's over 2% off the top.]

Any feedback? Thanks."

>>>>> Hi, DownwardSpiral!

I have set up a '97 IRA for my seventeen-year-old daughter at Waterhouse, which offers most of the features you are after. While they will not allow a custodial IRA, they did allow me to set up the account online (after providing the required information over the phone to establish identity), and control the account from there. FWIW, I am making a limit buy of Texaco stock, as part of the Beat the S&P Strategy. In 12 or 18 months, I will sell if Texaco is no longer on the Beat the S&P list, and buy whatever is on the list at that time.

I will soon help her set up a '98 IRA. For that, I will buy one of the other Beat the S&P stocks (currently Ford, Anheuser-Busch, and Emerson Electric, if memory serves me).