college

3 tips to turbo charge your 529 plan #529Day

May 29th has been nationally recognized as 529 College Savings Day, a way to raise awareness for the importance of saving early for college. My guess is that 99% of people have never heard of 529 Day so you are now ahead of the pack. The bigger problem is that more than two-thirds of investors don't know what 529 plans can do. Only 32 percent of people could correctly identify a 529 plan as an option for saving for college expenses, according to a survey by Edward Jones. That is a depressing number when you consider that 529 plans offer many tax benefits that help your investments grow over time. The biggest advantage is that investment earnings aren't subject to capital gains tax when used for qualified education expenses. Furthermore, 33 states and the District of Columbia sweeten the deal by giving residents a tax break if they invest in their state's 529 plan.

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Has college tuition reached its breaking point?

As the father of a 5-year-old, I worry about the cost of college and I'm sure many parents of young children do. Prices at my alma mater, the University of Richmond, have risen close to 200% since I graduated in 1997. Has the quality of education also improved by that much? It's doubtful. While amongst friends, we laugh uncomfortably at the thought of million dollar tuitions, but one wonders if there has to be a breaking point where people just turn their backs on higher education. At what point is it unaffordable?

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Using a 529 plan to pay for gap year

Last year, Malia Obama made headlines when the White House announced that she would take a gap year between high school and college. The hiatus from classrooms, textbooks and tests has been a common occurence in other countries like Australia, UK and Israel; and it has become an increasingly popular choice in the US. I didn't take a gap year but I studied in the UK during my junior year of college and backpacked across Europe with friends. Traveling certainly expanded my worldview and I would encourage my own daughter to consider a gap year. In today's global economy, it can only help to have more experience with other cultures and a perspective that expands well past any borders. The concept is that college bound students go on an adventure, do something meaningful and arrive as a freshman a year later more mature and focused. This can be a year of travel, community service, interning, language immersion or working — or a combination of any of those.

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