OT: start a 529 now?

[pbnative]

Thanks for the responses! We decided to open the account for her, just have to decide which one. Hopefully she’ll be buying low for awhile.

[Coronita]

[quote=pbnative]Thanks for the responses! We decided to open the account for her, just have to decide which one. Hopefully she’ll be buying low for awhile.[/quote]

It’s been awhile since I opened one. I think the one I ended up opening was Vanguard’s 529 plan with Nevada (also known as the upromise plan), because of the link to upromise. Supposedly, if you register all your credit cards, supermarket cards, etc when you buy/spend certain things, a very tiny percentage goes to the upromise account.

In practice, I haven’t seen any money added to the 529 account from me spending. I guess because most of the goods/services that have some deal with upromise is also considerably more expensive than no-name brands that don’t do deals with upromise. For example, instead of buying a designer brand napkins (with a upromise deal), I usually just buy the Vons brand special….

There supposedly was some tax advantages if you live in a state for which 529 earnings are state tax exempt, then you would want to participate in your state sponsored plans. BUT, unfortunately, for CA, it doesn’t matter.

The CA 529 plan (when I looked sponsored by Fidelity) stunk.

There’s a upromise credit card that you can get that basically rebates dollars back to your upromise account. But considering that credit card’s rebate amount is about 1%, there really isn’t any difference if you were to do this versus get any other 1% rebate cash card, and then just deposit your rebate amount into your upromise account (with the exception that there is a minimum deposit of $100 i think to your nevada’s 529 plan account). So I personally like to keep the number of cards low, so it don’t have to worry about keeping track if one extra card gets lost,stolen,etc.

Imho, it’s a great time to start a 529 plan for which you won’t touch for another 10-15 years. But that’s just me. Don’t take that as financial advice.

[Coronita]

[quote=pbnative]Thanks for the responses! We decided to open the account for her, just have to decide which one. Hopefully she’ll be buying low for awhile.[/quote]

It’s been awhile since I opened one. I think the one I ended up opening was Vanguard’s 529 plan with Nevada (also known as the upromise plan), because of the link to upromise. Supposedly, if you register all your credit cards, supermarket cards, etc when you buy/spend certain things, a very tiny percentage goes to the upromise account.

In practice, I haven’t seen any money added to the 529 account from me spending. I guess because most of the goods/services that have some deal with upromise is also considerably more expensive than no-name brands that don’t do deals with upromise. For example, instead of buying a designer brand napkins (with a upromise deal), I usually just buy the Vons brand special….

There supposedly was some tax advantages if you live in a state for which 529 earnings are state tax exempt, then you would want to participate in your state sponsored plans. BUT, unfortunately, for CA, it doesn’t matter.

The CA 529 plan (when I looked sponsored by Fidelity) stunk.

There’s a upromise credit card that you can get that basically rebates dollars back to your upromise account. But considering that credit card’s rebate amount is about 1%, there really isn’t any difference if you were to do this versus get any other 1% rebate cash card, and then just deposit your rebate amount into your upromise account (with the exception that there is a minimum deposit of $100 i think to your nevada’s 529 plan account). So I personally like to keep the number of cards low, so it don’t have to worry about keeping track if one extra card gets lost,stolen,etc.

Imho, it’s a great time to start a 529 plan for which you won’t touch for another 10-15 years. But that’s just me. Don’t take that as financial advice.

[Coronita]

[quote=pbnative]Thanks for the responses! We decided to open the account for her, just have to decide which one. Hopefully she’ll be buying low for awhile.[/quote]

It’s been awhile since I opened one. I think the one I ended up opening was Vanguard’s 529 plan with Nevada (also known as the upromise plan), because of the link to upromise. Supposedly, if you register all your credit cards, supermarket cards, etc when you buy/spend certain things, a very tiny percentage goes to the upromise account.

In practice, I haven’t seen any money added to the 529 account from me spending. I guess because most of the goods/services that have some deal with upromise is also considerably more expensive than no-name brands that don’t do deals with upromise. For example, instead of buying a designer brand napkins (with a upromise deal), I usually just buy the Vons brand special….

There supposedly was some tax advantages if you live in a state for which 529 earnings are state tax exempt, then you would want to participate in your state sponsored plans. BUT, unfortunately, for CA, it doesn’t matter.

The CA 529 plan (when I looked sponsored by Fidelity) stunk.

There’s a upromise credit card that you can get that basically rebates dollars back to your upromise account. But considering that credit card’s rebate amount is about 1%, there really isn’t any difference if you were to do this versus get any other 1% rebate cash card, and then just deposit your rebate amount into your upromise account (with the exception that there is a minimum deposit of $100 i think to your nevada’s 529 plan account). So I personally like to keep the number of cards low, so it don’t have to worry about keeping track if one extra card gets lost,stolen,etc.

Imho, it’s a great time to start a 529 plan for which you won’t touch for another 10-15 years. But that’s just me. Don’t take that as financial advice.

[Coronita]

[quote=pbnative]Thanks for the responses! We decided to open the account for her, just have to decide which one. Hopefully she’ll be buying low for awhile.[/quote]

It’s been awhile since I opened one. I think the one I ended up opening was Vanguard’s 529 plan with Nevada (also known as the upromise plan), because of the link to upromise. Supposedly, if you register all your credit cards, supermarket cards, etc when you buy/spend certain things, a very tiny percentage goes to the upromise account.

In practice, I haven’t seen any money added to the 529 account from me spending. I guess because most of the goods/services that have some deal with upromise is also considerably more expensive than no-name brands that don’t do deals with upromise. For example, instead of buying a designer brand napkins (with a upromise deal), I usually just buy the Vons brand special….

There supposedly was some tax advantages if you live in a state for which 529 earnings are state tax exempt, then you would want to participate in your state sponsored plans. BUT, unfortunately, for CA, it doesn’t matter.

The CA 529 plan (when I looked sponsored by Fidelity) stunk.

There’s a upromise credit card that you can get that basically rebates dollars back to your upromise account. But considering that credit card’s rebate amount is about 1%, there really isn’t any difference if you were to do this versus get any other 1% rebate cash card, and then just deposit your rebate amount into your upromise account (with the exception that there is a minimum deposit of $100 i think to your nevada’s 529 plan account). So I personally like to keep the number of cards low, so it don’t have to worry about keeping track if one extra card gets lost,stolen,etc.

Imho, it’s a great time to start a 529 plan for which you won’t touch for another 10-15 years. But that’s just me. Don’t take that as financial advice.

[Coronita]

[quote=pbnative]Thanks for the responses! We decided to open the account for her, just have to decide which one. Hopefully she’ll be buying low for awhile.[/quote]

It’s been awhile since I opened one. I think the one I ended up opening was Vanguard’s 529 plan with Nevada (also known as the upromise plan), because of the link to upromise. Supposedly, if you register all your credit cards, supermarket cards, etc when you buy/spend certain things, a very tiny percentage goes to the upromise account.

In practice, I haven’t seen any money added to the 529 account from me spending. I guess because most of the goods/services that have some deal with upromise is also considerably more expensive than no-name brands that don’t do deals with upromise. For example, instead of buying a designer brand napkins (with a upromise deal), I usually just buy the Vons brand special….

There supposedly was some tax advantages if you live in a state for which 529 earnings are state tax exempt, then you would want to participate in your state sponsored plans. BUT, unfortunately, for CA, it doesn’t matter.

The CA 529 plan (when I looked sponsored by Fidelity) stunk.

There’s a upromise credit card that you can get that basically rebates dollars back to your upromise account. But considering that credit card’s rebate amount is about 1%, there really isn’t any difference if you were to do this versus get any other 1% rebate cash card, and then just deposit your rebate amount into your upromise account (with the exception that there is a minimum deposit of $100 i think to your nevada’s 529 plan account). So I personally like to keep the number of cards low, so it don’t have to worry about keeping track if one extra card gets lost,stolen,etc.

Imho, it’s a great time to start a 529 plan for which you won’t touch for another 10-15 years. But that’s just me. Don’t take that as financial advice.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Hey, I almost forgot about my Upromise account. I opened it back in 2001. Just looked today for the first time in maybe 2 years and I’ve accumulated $238. Mostly on Gas and groceries in 15-20 cent increments. If I keep up this pace, it will buy exactly one textbook freshman year.

Re: 529
When I opened the CA 529 it was TIAA_CREF, which had decent options. I also thought they might eventually provide a tax break, which was not such a stretch of the imagination back in 2001. I should probably switch to a better plan, but I’ve been contributing on autopilot for so long and I’m lazy.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Hey, I almost forgot about my Upromise account. I opened it back in 2001. Just looked today for the first time in maybe 2 years and I’ve accumulated $238. Mostly on Gas and groceries in 15-20 cent increments. If I keep up this pace, it will buy exactly one textbook freshman year.

Re: 529
When I opened the CA 529 it was TIAA_CREF, which had decent options. I also thought they might eventually provide a tax break, which was not such a stretch of the imagination back in 2001. I should probably switch to a better plan, but I’ve been contributing on autopilot for so long and I’m lazy.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Hey, I almost forgot about my Upromise account. I opened it back in 2001. Just looked today for the first time in maybe 2 years and I’ve accumulated $238. Mostly on Gas and groceries in 15-20 cent increments. If I keep up this pace, it will buy exactly one textbook freshman year.

Re: 529
When I opened the CA 529 it was TIAA_CREF, which had decent options. I also thought they might eventually provide a tax break, which was not such a stretch of the imagination back in 2001. I should probably switch to a better plan, but I’ve been contributing on autopilot for so long and I’m lazy.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Hey, I almost forgot about my Upromise account. I opened it back in 2001. Just looked today for the first time in maybe 2 years and I’ve accumulated $238. Mostly on Gas and groceries in 15-20 cent increments. If I keep up this pace, it will buy exactly one textbook freshman year.

Re: 529
When I opened the CA 529 it was TIAA_CREF, which had decent options. I also thought they might eventually provide a tax break, which was not such a stretch of the imagination back in 2001. I should probably switch to a better plan, but I’ve been contributing on autopilot for so long and I’m lazy.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Hey, I almost forgot about my Upromise account. I opened it back in 2001. Just looked today for the first time in maybe 2 years and I’ve accumulated $238. Mostly on Gas and groceries in 15-20 cent increments. If I keep up this pace, it will buy exactly one textbook freshman year.

Re: 529
When I opened the CA 529 it was TIAA_CREF, which had decent options. I also thought they might eventually provide a tax break, which was not such a stretch of the imagination back in 2001. I should probably switch to a better plan, but I’ve been contributing on autopilot for so long and I’m lazy.

[equalizer]

Illinois 529 plan was revised with super low Vanguard TOTAL EXPENSE fees of 0.20-0.23. Just a few years ago the fees in most states were 0.50-0.70. Many states add 0.3-0.4 for admin, IL charges only 0.03%!

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/OFI529/PN/generated/en_us/PrimaryNavigation_07-07-08-154831.xml

Expense ratios only found in PDF format:

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/digitalAssets/7d1d5768336e7110VgnVCM100000e82311ac____-2.pdf

[equalizer]

Illinois 529 plan was revised with super low Vanguard TOTAL EXPENSE fees of 0.20-0.23. Just a few years ago the fees in most states were 0.50-0.70. Many states add 0.3-0.4 for admin, IL charges only 0.03%!

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/OFI529/PN/generated/en_us/PrimaryNavigation_07-07-08-154831.xml

Expense ratios only found in PDF format:

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/digitalAssets/7d1d5768336e7110VgnVCM100000e82311ac____-2.pdf

[equalizer]

Illinois 529 plan was revised with super low Vanguard TOTAL EXPENSE fees of 0.20-0.23. Just a few years ago the fees in most states were 0.50-0.70. Many states add 0.3-0.4 for admin, IL charges only 0.03%!

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/OFI529/PN/generated/en_us/PrimaryNavigation_07-07-08-154831.xml

Expense ratios only found in PDF format:

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/digitalAssets/7d1d5768336e7110VgnVCM100000e82311ac____-2.pdf

[equalizer]

Illinois 529 plan was revised with super low Vanguard TOTAL EXPENSE fees of 0.20-0.23. Just a few years ago the fees in most states were 0.50-0.70. Many states add 0.3-0.4 for admin, IL charges only 0.03%!

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/OFI529/PN/generated/en_us/PrimaryNavigation_07-07-08-154831.xml

Expense ratios only found in PDF format:

https://www.brightstartsavings.com/digitalAssets/7d1d5768336e7110VgnVCM100000e82311ac____-2.pdf

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