Are you still filling out the FAFSA? Is that because you have questions about it? One of the most frequently-asked questions about filling out the FAFSA is, “Do I need to include 529 Plan assets as an asset, and is the answer different if the account beneficiary is a child other than the one on whose behalf I’m filling out…
What happens if you don’t use all the money in your 529 plan? This may happen for a variety of reasons: your child received a scholarship, chose a less expensive school than what you had budgeted for, or didn’t attend college after all. Maybe you had other family members contributing to the cost of college. Maybe you just put more…
Many parents mistakenly believe that their income level means that they will be required to pay full fare for college for each of their children. The notion of $60,000 in annual costs x 4 years x 3 children keeps them up at night—understandably. As does the thought of limiting their children’s aspirations to in-state schools. In fact, aid is available…
Here is a 3-year performance ranking of all direct-sold 529 Savings Plans. (See my previous post for an explanation of the difference between Savings Plans and Prepaid Plans.) This ranking table does not account for tax benefits that some state plans provide on contributions. Because this isn’t comparing specific portfolios (i.e. the age-based option for 10-year-olds) but rather an aggregate…
There’s no such thing as a dumb question, but asking questions seems to make plenty of people– myself included– feel dumb, which then causes us not to do it. For those who find themselves wishing they had asked more about 529 plans, here is a “back to basics” guide. (As an aside, there is a veritable alphabet soup of college…