Shutterstock

It’s that time of year again, where we gather all of our important documents to file our annual taxes before the upcoming deadline. Many may decide to splurge with their refunds, while others decide to make wiser choices with their money. What will you decide? Before you make that call, if you have children, you may want to check out these savvy uses for your tax money.

Start A College Fund.  More likely than not, your child will continue their education after high school. Whether it’s college or trade school, the cost of going to school is expensive. Sure, there are options such as taking out a school loan or lending against the equity of your home. But, if at all possible, you don’t want to go into debt for school.

Use your tax refund to open a college fund for your child. There are many options such as a 529 Plan or a Coverdell Education Savings Account. Both options allow you to withdraw from the account once your child needs it for school, tax free.

*Set up an appointment with a financial planner to discuss which options are best for you.

Create Your Own Day Care Escrow. If you are one of many who has to pay out weekly for child care or after-school care, you may want to open a designated account to allocate money for this bill. Calculate your monthly cost and put away designated amounts — three, six, or nine months for example — to help lighten the burden of this strenuous cost.

Open a Savings Account With Your Child. It is very important to teach your child how to be responsible with their money. One of our fondest memories as children was the day our parents took us to the bank to open our very own account. We learned the basics of money. Which is to save, spend, and give some away to charity. To this day, this is the primary reason why we are good stewards over our money.

Take a trip down to your local bank. Sit down with a banker and discuss which account would be the best to open for your child. Most minor accounts are free and don’t require any extra steps such as direct deposit to waive a monthly fee. Don’t forget to bring your child along. It can be a great learning experience for you both.

Set Up a Will. Regardless of how much in assets that you have, a will should be established. A will leaves your loved ones with specific instructions on how you want your estate handled. Your will is where you will designate a guardian and instructions on how you want your minor children to be taken care of in the event you are no longer able to care for them.

*Seek the advice of an attorney to set up a proper will.

Invest in Music Lessons. Studies have found that a child who plays a musical instrument can enhance their learning abilities. If you notice your children showing interest in music and instruments don’t ignore it. If your child can’t participate in learning an instrument at their school, look for one-on-one lessons with an outside instructor.

Our children are the future. If we take the time out now to invest in them, they will make a difference in this world. Before you know it, they will be leaving the house for college to start their own lives and make their own paths. Aren’t your children worth your tax dollars?

Tai and Tarin Perry, the Double Saving Divas,  are financially savvy identical twin sisters, and investment bankers turned money saving experts. You can also connect with them on their Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube Channel.

And join us and the Double Saving Divas this Friday at 3pm ET for a Facebook chat, where we’ll be answering all of your money questions. Click here to tune in.

If there was ever a reason to start taking lottery pools at your job more seriously, the winning pool of two Baltimore teachers and an administrator should be proof that you can’t miss out next time.

The three educators stepped forward on Monday to collect their winnings, but did so anonymously: they wore sweatshirts, gloves and hid behind one of their checks. I guess they were smart enough to realize that the minute they let the world know who they were, the sooner the “world” (and all of its many cousins) would want to get broke off too.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the individuals aren’t planning to spend their new millions on extravagant and wasteful things. After taxes, all three winners will attain $35 million in the next few days, which they plan to use on sensible things like new homes, investments (BORING! I’m kidding…), a European vacation, and probably the best idea: a college fund for one of the winner’s children.

After the big lottery on March 30, a woman by the name of Mirlande Wilson, a single mother of seven kids who played the lottery in a pool with her McDonald’s co-workers (but bought extra tickets for herself, alone), tried to claim that she was a winner. Then she wasn’t so sure if she was, causing a great deal of stress for her co-workers and lottery officials. In the end, she wasn’t the winner, we all learned the importance of making photocopies of the tickets we buy in pools, and these three winners shared a good laugh: “They were humored by it,” says Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino. Now that the three winners from Maryland stepped forward yesterday, and the winner from Kansas stepped up last week, the last baller winner from Illinois is the only person left to come forward.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Maryland winners are two women (one in her 20s, the other in her 50s), and a man (in his 40s), and before winning the lottery, each were said to have been working second jobs to pay the bills. Now that they don’t need a second or primary job, I’m wondering if they will chuck the deuces to their education positions? I love the kids just as much as the next person, but with $35 million??? Geez…I think I’d already be on my way to backpack through Europe. Congratulations!

More on Madame Noire!

• 7 Ways He Wants You To Be Better Than His Last Girlfriend
• The Simmons Family (Including Ex-Wife Valerie Vaughn) Pose For Ebony’s Mother’s Day Issue
• “Ask A Black Man” Episode 2: The Dating Episode
• Sheree’s $750K Salary Demand Likely Got Her Cut
• Stripper Vanity Wonder Writes Book On Undercover Butt Shots Culture
• Columnist Fired For Article On What White Parents Should Tell Kids About Blacks
• Am I Raising a Spoiled Brat?
• Beyonce, Jay-Z & Blue Ivy Head to St. Barts