I keep hearing variations on the theme of, “When things are uncertain, it’s helpful to have specific tasks to do.” So here is a to do list for you, sorted by your student’s age. Current College Student Check your course schedule to confirm if your in-person and online courses align such that you can get to both. Make sure you…
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Tax Credits and Deductions
Many people think that as soon as your student hits college, you should stop contributing to their 529 account. But unless you already have 100% of qualified expenses in your 529, continuing to contribute can be really beneficial as long as you follow a few guidelines. In fact, you can almost use your 529 as a super savings account. First,…
This post is from April, 2020. If you are looking for information about the March 2021 stimulus payments, please go here. Parents of college students have likely heard that those students– if claimed as dependents on their parents’ 2019 taxes– are not eligible for the $1,200 stimulus payment. These payments are an advance refundable credit on 2020 taxes. This means…
If I had an FAQs page, one of the top questions would be, “Why pay the higher expense ratios in 529 plans when there are so many low-cost, tax-efficient investments available?” It’s certainly true that you could construct your own portfolio and then have the added bonus of not worrying about whether your child will attend college or not. However,…
Once upon a time, the American Opportunity Tax Credit was a pretty simple proposition: Families could get a $2,500 annual tax credit for $4,000 of out-of-pocket college tuition expenses for their dependent student, as long as their income was below the IRS threshold for the credit. However, tax law changes over the past few years have created some opportunities for creative claiming strategies, opening the tax credit up to a larger population.