Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Last month marked the 20th anniversary of Indiana’s creation of the CollegeChoice 529 Savings Plan, tax-advantaged education savings account that helps families save for college.
The Indiana General Assembly created the program to help parents and guardians save money for post-secondary or higher education. The many unique features 529 plans have to offer makes them one of the most popular ways to save for college.
There are many stresses associated with planning for the expenses affiliated with higher education, however, CollegeChoice 529 makes saving easier and benefits account owners and beneficiaries. For example, 529 plans offer:
• Tax-deferred investment growth;
• Tax-free withdrawals for qualified expenses, like tuition, room and board, computers and laptops, and books;
• Gift- and estate-tax benefits;
• Full control over how assets are being used; and
• Flexibility to use at eligible colleges, universities and vocational schools worldwide.
Parents and guardians can enroll at www.CollegeChoiceDirect.com, where they have the option to choose from different accounts depending on the amount of money they are interested in investing, as well as the returns they want to see. Beneficiaries can contribute anywhere from $10 to $298,770.
Even with today’s high college costs and relatively low interest rates, many think it is a good idea to borrow as much as possible for college expenses, but that could be a costly mistake. Many Hoosiers are currently saving for their child’s educational future, rather than waiting to borrow. Indiana currently has more than 328,000 CollegeChoice 529 direct savings accounts open.
For more information, click here.
