529 College Plans

you can get a lot of great information at collegesavings.org. also if you google 529 Plans you will likely find a recent article with morningstar ratings; or perhaps this was on the collegesavings web site. I recently set up 529 plans through Utah; you can invest directly without a sales person. The Utah plans were rated highly by morningstar, plus they have the most flexibility in terms of what you can invest in (inside the 529 plan) and one of the lowest costs of the plans. (All the plans are "no cost," but administration costs reduce income so the lower a plans administrative costs the greater the investment income.) Consider the possibility of mixing Education IRA's and 529 plans. Education IRA funds can be used for more things, like computers for use in college etc., but one is limited on how much one can invest in an IRA. 529 plans limit what you can invest in and you can only change to another plan about once a year. Learn more about the utah plan at www.usep.org.

Hi Elaine,

I just opened two 529 plans for my sons. We went with TD Waterhouse (in Nebraska), which is who my husband has his retirement accounts with. We were referred there by his uncle, a financial planner. It was very easy to do, everything was online. And, the plans were opened very quickly. My husband has a Texas plan for his son, and it has not performed very well. I'm hoping we have better luck with TD Waterhouse.

Good luck! C.

We went with a 529 through Edward Jones. We have a great guy we've worked with for several years. He also has our IRA's and everything else.

We prefer the 529. It is for education only and if daughter were to withdraw money for something other than education, she would be taxed. That is ok with us. If she has money leftover, get a full scholarship somewhere, or whatever.....her children can use this money for their college education. At this point, she is fully funded with education and we are planning on the other things that I am sure she will need.

We like the idea of getting our future grandchildren (if any) started with education. This money can be transferred within the family.

Susan

We have Coverdell funds for our children and find that they were the best deal with the most flexibility.