I thought the "situation" was grandpa or grandma's inheritance...

...me too.

That makes sense, went way over my head.

Esteban du Plantier said:

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Aust Ag said:

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we were sort of banking on another "situation" that would help us pay, but that hasn't happened yet.

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Assuming you're talking about free college, but I could be way off. Maybe you're investing in the lotto.

But I have toddlers and really can't see any way, with current trajectory, that college isn't substantially 'free' in 15 years.

So if I end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to be used specifically for education, do you think they'll wave penalties to use for other purposes? I'm assuming the kids aren't in private university. But even private schools would have to drop cost to compete.

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I'm in the same boat with two kids (age 3 & 1). I figure It will either cost $200,000 or be "free". Not going to worry about how the 529 money would be taxed, no way to accurately predict that. Going to keep plugging away to the UTAH 529 and telling Granparents/Aunts/Cousins that they don't need toys - they need ACCT 329 paid for!

How do you register under the Utah 529?

I have a vanguard account, but what do you do to specify?

AgsMnn said:

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How do you register under the Utah 529?

I have a vanguard account, but what do you do to specify?

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https://my529.org/start/ - link to the Utah 529

Quinn said:

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AgsMnn said:

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How do you register under the Utah 529?

I have a vanguard account, but what do you do to specify?

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https://my529.org/start/ - link to the Utah 529

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So you just use their website link and you can pull that money out for a college in Texas?

Can I do this on my own or do I need to go get help from an investment business?

AgsMnn said:

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Quinn said:

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AgsMnn said:

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How do you register under the Utah 529?

I have a vanguard account, but what do you do to specify?

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https://my529.org/start/ - link to the Utah 529

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So you just use their website link and you can pull that money out for a college in Texas?

Can I do this on my own or do I need to go get help from an investment business?

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You can do it on your own, and yes you can use the money for college in Texas, or any other state. You have to open the account through my529, transfer the money in, and then select how you want it invested from the list of options my529 offers. There are a number of low fee Vanguard funds available in that list.

Will I set up a 529 for each kid?

Last question for me. What about life insurance? Our rep mentioned using it fo college if we wanted to and taking out lump sums when needed.

While it's technically possible to use cash value from a life insurance policy to do that, it's typically not an efficient way to pay for college (especially when compared to the 529).

AgsMnn said:

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Will I set up a 529 for each kid?

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I set up individual accounts for each kid. Mine will be in college at the same time, so figuring out how to flip around beneficiaries based on payment timing sounded like a nightmare. It also makes for few questions from people that gift money into their accounts. Not to mention, if anything were to happen to me and my wife at the same time, one kid won't get the whole amount.

AgsMnn said:

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Last question for me. What about life insurance? Our rep mentioned using it fo college if we wanted to and taking out lump sums when needed.

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Absolutely not. Trying to sell you a policy.

John Francis Donaghy said:

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AgsMnn said:

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Quinn said:

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AgsMnn said:

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How do you register under the Utah 529?

I have a vanguard account, but what do you do to specify?

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https://my529.org/start/ - link to the Utah 529

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So you just use their website link and you can pull that money out for a college in Texas?

Can I do this on my own or do I need to go get help from an investment business?

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You can do it on your own, and yes you can use the money for college in Texas, or any other state. You have to open the account through my529, transfer the money in, and then select how you want it invested from the list of options my529 offers. There are a number of low fee Vanguard funds available in that list.

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New dad here: just starting the research process for college fund.

Why do different states have different funds? Like what is the difference between each states 529?? Is it just the fees on the account?

Fidelity Investments has a MasterCard and an AmEx that provide 2% rebates on all charges, said rebates being directable into a Fidelity Investments account, including a 529. Not long after my son was born, we got both cards and, thereafter, charged EVERYTHING to them. I was been fortunate enough to work in a couple of small businesses during that time and was able to run tens of thousands of dollars through those cards. Bottom line: Between our contributions of about $18,000, the rebates, and market growth, by the time he entered college in 2015, we had accumulated $80,000, more than enough to pay for three-and-a-half years at A&M.

It's not going to work for everyone -- you need to have a lot of charges to run through the cards, and you have to have a favorable market, but it worked for us.

Anybody know of a good place to look for unclaimed or "hidden" scholarship opportunities?

Like, somebody told me yesterday that since my Dad served in the military, his grandchildren where eligible for some scholly money.

Any way, or reason, to convert 2 Texas 529's to another state and broker?

A friend of my wife was selling Edward Jones when we had our kids. Wife just went with her advice and set up retirement and 529 accounts through Edward Jones. I've moved the investment and retirement accounts elsewhere, but still contributing to the Edward Jones 529 accounts. Low 6 figures (combined) in 2 529 accounts with 10 and 13 years until college for my kids if that changes advice.

TxAg20 said:

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Any way, or reason, to convert 2 Texas 529's to another state and broker?

A friend of my wife was selling Edward Jones when we had our kids. Wife just went with her advice and set up retirement and 529 accounts through Edward Jones. I've moved the investment and retirement accounts elsewhere, but still contributing to the Edward Jones 529 accounts. Low 6 figures (combined) in 2 529 accounts with 10 and 13 years until college for my kids if that changes advice.

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your EJ advisor can do that for you. There's really no reason to use the Texas plan, IMO

For those that set up 529 recently - I am setting one up thru the UTAH my529 site for my newborn and wondering which investment route to go with:

1) The Age based option: aggressive, moderate, conservative
or
2) Customized option? If so, which fund/funds do you recommend?

I just stuck it the Vanguard S&P 500 fund. 18 years is plenty long enough to ride out any dips in the market, and the fees are nice and low. No reason to overthink it. Will probably customize it more as college gets closer to make more balanced allocation that's not as exposed to market dips, but with a decade plus on the horizon I'm not really concerned about that at all right now.

MAS444 said:

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I just did age based aggressive. 8% return since we started 5 years ago.

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+1
Only two years in next month and still positive overall at last check.

Quote:

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A good rule of thumb is that tuition rates will increase at about twice the general inflation rate. On average, tuition tends to increase about 8% per year. An 8% college inflation rate means that the cost of college doubles every nine years.

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https://finaid.org/savings/tuition-inflation/

MAS444 said:

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I just did age based aggressive. 8% return since we started 5 years ago.

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Before or after fees?

After.

So if on the aggressive side you might get 8% returns but college is going up 8% annually, what are the pros of the 529?

OwlAg13 said:

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So if on the aggressive side you might get 8% returns but college is going up 8% annually, what are the pros of the 529?

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The tuition may go up 8%, but this does not include room and board, books, etc.

ETA: A&M's annual increase for tuition is 2-4% depending on what inflation is doing.

https://www.theeagle.com/news/local/texas-a-m-university-system-board-of-regents-ok-tuition-hike-for-inflation-adjustment/article_5e3b7fa0-d6c9-52a1-8822-9473f126dd32.html

You still get tax advantaged earnings. You can also invest in higher risk vehicles than an age-adjusted fund in the 529. It's just screwed up that the annual inflation rate in higher ed is the equivalent of decent market returns.

Cool, thanks everyone

OwlAg13 said:

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Cool, thanks everyone

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You've done a great thing here. Keep feeding it, I promise you wont regret it.

barnyard1996 said:

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OwlAg13 said:

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Cool, thanks everyone

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You've done a great thing here. Keep feeding it, I promise you wont regret it.

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Also, feed it early. With these interest rates, if I had enough equity and the kids were young enough, I'd do a cash out refi and put the money in a 529. The 529 functions like a Roth IRA, but the time horizon is compressed. You only get to make money tax free for 20 years or so, whereas a Roth is a 40 year time frame. With 6 kids there's only so much I can do, but I'm scrapping along.