Revelstoker Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 529 plans are not that great. One thing that hindered them in the past and may still is that they are state plans and the funds are not available if your kids goes to school out of state and if I remember right, they become a PITA if you move. We moved 4 different states now so I just went with a normal investment account.Put it into a managed fund and you can get better returns than you are now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohdaho Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 529 plans are not that great. One thing that hindered them in the past and may still is that they are state plans and the funds are not available if your kids goes to school out of state and if I remember right, they become a PITA if you move. We moved 4 different states now so I just went with a normal investment account.Put it into a managed fund and you can get better returns than you are now.Not true nowadays. You can invest in out of state 529 plans since some do not have residency requirements. Can then be applied to colleges in and out of state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 529 plans are not that great. One thing that hindered them in the past and may still is that they are state plans and the funds are not available if your kids goes to school out of state and if I remember right, they become a PITA if you move. We moved 4 different states now so I just went with a normal investment account.Put it into a managed fund and you can get better returns than you are now. Sorry to bump an old thread, but it's relevant. I just setup a 529 plan for my son. You can use the funds at any accredited college, tech school, etc in the US. As well, if you do move and want to transfer to another school's plan, you can roll it over to any other 529 plan and possibly any other tuition savings account. I set it up because it's better than nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Sorry to bump an old thread, but it's relevant. I just setup a 529 plan for my son. You can use the funds at any accredited college, tech school, etc in the US. As well, if you do move and want to transfer to another school's plan, you can roll it over to any other 529 plan and possibly any other tuition savings account. I set it up because it's better than nothing. Also it is still possible to use the funds for another member of the family to go to college without taxes if your son decides not to. I.E. cousin, niece, nephew. We've had ours for a few months now, and already growing pretty quick from his starting balance. Actually need to make our contribution pretty soon, we are looking to do 3-4 large ones per year vs. just 1 big one, just to try to help spread it out more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 What sucks is that 529 holdings count against you in FASFA (federal student aid) calculations. In that regard it's no worse than having private savings for college, and there is a tax savings benefit, but like folks have mentioned, the investment choices are narrow and it's a bad deal if you don't use the funds for education. Alternatively, most college financial planners will recommend whole life insurance policies with investment riders. Weirdly, these don't count against you in the FASFA calcs, which can really help if you're in the $50k-100k/yr earnings bracket, but there are risks in those too. After looking long and hard at all my options over nearly 18 years, I've repeatedly shied away from 529 and whole life vehicles, preferring instead a balanced investment portfolio. YOUR mileage may vary though, so don't take my word any anything except just sharing what I've done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 What sucks is that 529 holdings count against you in FASFA (federal student aid) calculations. In that regard it's no worse than having private savings for college, and there is a tax savings benefit, but like folks have mentioned, the investment choices are narrow and it's a bad deal if you don't use the funds for education. Alternatively, most college financial planners will recommend whole life insurance policies with investment riders. Weirdly, these don't count against you in the FASFA calcs, which can really help if you're in the $50k-100k/yr earnings bracket, but there are risks in those too. After looking long and hard at all my options over nearly 18 years, I've repeatedly shied away from 529 and whole life vehicles, preferring instead a balanced investment portfolio. YOUR mileage may vary though, so don't take my word any anything except just sharing what I've done.That's the thing, FASFA is a joke, it costs us more to complete it and send it in than I got when I went to school. By my Jr year we didn't even bother with it. Granted this was with 2 parents and their financial planner set them up very well, but it's still a joke. I love my whole life policy since it's a cash value, so does my wife. We'd never buy anything but it, constantly making a killing, and I've never paid a premium and just watched the value grow. It's all about who handles it as to each person's experience, but so far our's has been good, and from the looks of his history with my family, it won't be anything but. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 That's the thing, FASFA is a joke, it costs us more to complete it and send it in than I got when I went to school.You must make too much money. ;-). Federal financial aid is no joke to households making under $50-75k/yr with low (to no) savings but still want to give their kids a step up. I have a friend who's a single mom with 3 kids and a deadbeat dad, making under $40k. Fafsa helped to send her straight As daughter to Berkeley medical school last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 You must make too much money. ;-). Federal financial aid is no joke to households making under $50-75k/yr with low (to no) savings but still want to give their kids a step up. I have a friend who's a single mom with 3 kids and a deadbeat dad, making under $40k. Fafsa helped to send her straight As daughter to Berkeley medical school last year.Wouldn't say that, but definitely too much to qualify for FASFA, would think most families with both parents working career jobs would be, even at 30K base a year. Definitely glad it helps some families, but my wife got d*ck from FASFA and her parents made less than 75K a year combined too. Granted there was a ton of underlying circumstances there, but her undergrad and PhD was basically self paid, except for her scholarship money and student loans. There's just so many factors anymore in the government helping people out. Want to get college on the cheap, get knocked up in HS, don't work, live at home, and I'll stop there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 529 doesn't really affect fafsa that much.If the student is a dependent, a 529 plan account is considered as the parent's asset (if the Account Owner is the parent or the dependent student). As a result, it will generally be counted at a rate of only 5.64% of its value for the EFC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodninja420 Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 For families in that middle income level, FAFSA can be less about pulling down federal funds and more of a tool for individual colleges' aid programs to make determinations. There is a lot of money given out on a need basis in the top 50 or so universities. I know in the Ivy League families earning under 100k are offered 100 percent free tuition. And that phases out slowly enough that families making up to 150+ are still pulling down need based aid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zx3vfr Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Meh, fuck college, send the kid to a trade school while in high school so it's free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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