College Savings Plan
I am no Vanderbilt. I do not think that I would be able to bequeath much to my children. Hence, the best that I could do is to make sure that I raise my children to be good adults… AND, that they are well-educated so they are armed to have a good future.
As young as my kids still are (one in pre-school and another still in my stomach), I already have their University education in mind particularly, the hows of saving for their college education. After all, just like any investment, the earlier one starts the better.
Several financing methods for saving for our children's college education are available. Some are even tax-deductible.
529 College Savings Plans lets us earn stock-market returns on college savings. Our contributions or investments are set aside and can even grow tax-free. Apparently, this is a popular option.
Pre-Paid Tuition Plans let us "buy" education plans for future use, using today's prices.
For more information, read Saving for College: A Complete Guide for New Parents over at Baby Center. Other options mentioned are Custodial Accounts and IRA Accounts.
In addition, we can also slowly teach our children how to help us save. A piggy bank where we can put extra change, some of the money our children received as gifts is a good idea. And when our children are old enough to earn a bit (Babysitting, summer job) then, they could also add a little bit more to the pot.
Education is an important part of our children's future. Unfortunately, it does not come cheap. Start saving now to help ensure our children's success.
August 14th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Like yourself, I have already started to save for my kid’s education. They are 2 and 4. I am worried about having to put 2 kids through college at the same time and have started saving through a 529. I also found these college savings sites that helps you save for college with your online shopping. UPormise and Little Grad are the two that come to mind. Check them out if you want to save a little extra each time you shop online.
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 am
Great information here! I admire parents that save for their children’s college education. My parents didn’t really care about my college education. They basically told me that if I wanted to go to college I needed to figure it all out on my own. Luckily I found websites like collegeboard.com and smbcollegelife.com that provided me with the information i needed to get myself to college. I’m now a senior at Penn State University thanks to these resources! Hope this helps
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Be sure to check out your states 529 plan. Some state plans offer additional benefits to parents investing for their children’s education. Georgia’s Path2College is a great example of a state plan that offers state income tax deductions for Georgia residents who invest on behalf of a loved one.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Given the markets over the last year, people in 529 plans have taken a financial beating. However, 529 plans may be perfect going forward. But they are \”market-based\” and therefore subject to the risks and rewards of your investments. One way to pump up your savings is through collaboration — grandparents, aunts and uncles can \”sign up\” to give a little each month. VestMatch (http://www.vestmatch.com) gives you the tools for savings collaboration, and it works with any bank, brokerage or 529 plan account.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Saving for college is the easy part, but not touching the savings is the hard part. Another tough thing is finding a company that’s right for you. After searching far and wide for a company to trust our hard earned money with. My husband and I chose Innovative Investment Group LLC. They are phenomenal! We have a 529 and two life insurance policies with them. They sent our daughter a birthday card this year and send my husband and I an anniversary gift! What company do you know that does that? They are so thoughtful, and you can tell that they care about people more than money and will never let you buy more than you need. I would recommend this company to anyone! Check them out! http://www.iiginvest.com
July 15th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Considering the high school fees at the moment, it is definitely not a bad idea to start saving for your kids education as soon as they come into this world. It scares me what may happen over the years though, just how much more our children education is going to cost, is our saving going to be enough to pay for it? It depends on how things will evolve, one thing it’s for sure though: it can’t harm to save as much as possible.