Monday, January 2, 2017

Give A Gift of College


 

A sort of new website, where you can gift a child (birthday for example) some money that will be transferred to their 529 college savings account.  You can also give the child one of your existing gift cards (like for a restaurant or something) that you don’t plan to use, and it will go to the child’s 529 (minus a fee).

Lately I have discovered that 529 plans are a probably a better idea than I had originally thought.  The individual funds are merged by States that sponsor them so returns can be better than individual families might earn by picking their own investments (or not, depending) , and also there is no stress on the family to “invest” the funds.  It is done for the parents. 

Also there are fringe benefits (in my opinion) regarding how the proceeds are taxed when used to pay for college, and other things that might make it more attractive than a pure savings account.  Also, if there is some change of good fortune in the family, the funds are secure for the child’s education, much like an IRA.


Is another option for similar gift giving.