Saving for College.

Hi A.,

I use CollegeAdvantage as my savings plan. A relative who is a financial advisor recommended it to me and we really like. You can take a look at the website for all of the information about it. www.collegeadvantage.com

Have you tried Upomise? www.upromise.com. It is the simplest way to save. You really don't have to do much of anything. You register your credit card, grocery/pharm card and and when you buy participating products money goes into your account!! It is great. Check it out and let me know what you think.. and I am working on the sports thing for my daughter but her idea of "sports" is getting up to go to the kitchen,,lol but thanks for the advice!

I have been looking into this subject a lot lately. If you google Ohio 529, it offers all sorts of help as far as who to choose and what types of programs are offered. I have not chosen one yet, because I am waiting on my husband to look over everything.

go to a bank and start buying savings bonds. The bank will give you info on how to purchase them and how they grow in value?

I used College Advantage, which is Ohio's 529 college savings plan, to save for my kids. You can start the account with as little as $15 then contribute whenever you are able or else setup regular withdrawals from you checking account. The web site is www.collegeadvantage.com.

I am by no means an expert, but I just recently talked to my financial advisor about the same thing. There are two basic types of college savings plans: a 529 College Savings and Coverdell College Savings. From what I understand, the 529 has to be used for college related expenses or is subject to taxes and penalties if your child does not go to college. The Coverdell can be used for college related expenses or k-12 and is also subject to taxes and penalties if not used for those things. You are more limited in the amount you can contribute with a Coverdell and it depends on your income. 529 plans are more popular, but I don't know exactly why. I would call your bank to start with and ask if they offer 529 plans and coverdell plans. If they do, ask them to tell you about them. You could also look at some of the big online banks like Bank of America to see what information resources their website offers. Or just research 529s and coverdells online. Hope this helps some...maybe someone who knows more than me will tell you more!

My husband and I have invested through CollegeAmerica for our son. You only have to have $250 to start and can invest as little as $50 at a time. It's one of the most reliable funds on the market. Congrats on planning ahead and good luck!

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we got a 529 at our bank, it's been pretty lucrative. My husband did all of that though. But maybe try asking your bank if they do any of that. If they don't, they'll probably know where you should go.

A.,
I would suggest meeting with a financial advisor. If you don't have one you can contact someone who does your life insurance policy or someone at your bank and see about opening a 529plan. They are great and easy to contribute to. My is a direct withdrawl from my paycheck. And then they give you a receipt booklet that you can give to others in your family so if they would like to contribute they can just send a check in with one of the slips and the money would go into her account. They invest the money into a moderate or agressive account and you make money on the money you put in. Last year my kiddos made a substantial amount of money on theirs in an aggressive account. We use Wycovia to do it and it doesn't cost you any money out of pocket to set up. Hope that helps.

I agree with all the great responses...the 529 plan is a good program. However, my husband and i just met with our financial advisor this week and we have transferred money into a Roth IRA to use as a college fund. We chose not to use a 529 plan only because we plan on our daughter getting a full ride to Harvard----LOL :) Truthfully, we did decide not to go with the 529 plan because you are limited to the use of the money (college education only). Now if your child does get a scholarship or does not go to college, you can use the 529 fund yourself or pass it on to grandchildren. However, the Roth IRA was what we felt would work best for us. We also found out that it will take approx. $250,000 for our daughter to attend a state school for 4 years when she is 18...wow! I think you are very smart to start saving!

Hello A.. Mom's have already given you great advice on saving for college. My questions is, do you know for sure that your children are going to go to college? There are saving programs with the same bennifits where the child can use the money for college or buy a home without the tax penalities for not using the money for college. I would look into one of those. I go to www.crown.org for financial advice and if you can't find what you want, you can send an e-mail to them. Best of Luck.

A.,

A 529k plan is the best plan out there. Banks and various insurance companies offer ways to get connected to them. We go through Northwestern Mutual. The tax benefits are fantastic.

T.

Hello A.,

I'm doing the college advantage for my daugher. www.collegeadvantage.com -- I'm hoping it's enough to pay for two years anyhow by the time she gets there! I set it up five years ago and it hasn't grown crazy fast but does increase each quarter. Plus comes out automatically from my bank account so I don't forget. For me just having something that's automatic was a great thing. I chose the option that's more like a 401k, picking different funds, as opposed to buying credits - I'm not real sure that's still available anyhow.

Best of luck. If you find something that looks more worthwhile please let me know. : )