Need help!!! --How can I find my 529 that I bought several years ago??? (credit report, home)

[tianwaifeixian]

Hi All,

My husband bought 529 for my son a couple of years ago. Now he forgot where he purchased the plan. We tried to call NC529 and all the financial institute that we could think of, but none of them can locate our information. We bought the plan maybe around 2007 and contributed in 2008. After that, we didn't put any money.

Now how can i find my money back???

Thank you all!

[m378]

If you did it online, search your email for confirmation.

[michgc]

www.CFNC.org is the current website for the NC529 plan.

[Prumio]

You may not have purchased your 529 in the state of North Carolina (not required that you purchase in the state where you live). See if you can get your bank records from 07 & 08 to see what payments you made and to whom. If you do not have them, it may take a little while for the bank to pull them from their archives, but hopefully they can.

[adamwmcknight]

If you made a contribution, you likely received a 5498. Check your tax records for that document.

[tianwaifeixian]

we called the bank. They can only go back for 7 years. So basically they can only go back up to July 2009. I did check the tax record and didn't recognized that form. Is 5498 a must if we made and contribution?

[tianwaifeixian]

And also, do you know when open the 529, should that be my son's SSN or my husband's?

[pitroad]

I wonder if you looked at your credit report(s) https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action if it would have some kind of entry regarding the 529

[Prumio]

Something not entirely making sense here. You should have been receiving account statements all these years. If not quarterly, at least annually. Those could have been either via the mail (paper) or through email (paperless). Have your changed both home address and email address since your husband set it up? If so, try to remember all the places that you have lived and resubmit forwarding address changes (USPS.COM) to your current home address. For old email accounts, reach out to the system administrator for help. Also, some states have "higher education plans" that may be referred to as "529's" for convenience, but are actually different. Perhaps you had one of those instead?

[Myghost]

From everything I have learned, these are typically a bad deal. They are very restrictive, and can hurt any finanicial aid opportunities.

For what it's worth, if you do a 401k (or 403b), college is one of the exemptions from penalty. Why not use that? That way if your child gets scholarships, or decides not to go to school, you are not out of so much money.

I know this is off topic, I'm sorry, but it seems to relate since the topic is 529s and there are other options. (Also to help avoid the situation OP finds herself in.)