Virginia 529 College Savings Plan (credit card, buy, income)

[schoolsinNova]

Does anyone have a Virginia 529 College Savings Plan? It looks as though there are 3 programs to choose from: Virginia Education Trust, College America, and College Wealth (enrollment is closed in the Virginia Prepaid Education Program). My child is 8, I am unsure which of the 3 programs is best for me to choose. Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks you!

[randr.xyz]

No advice on VA 529 plans but have you looked into Utah's? We started one for our son when we lived in California (we now live in UT, oddly enough but will be moving to VA as soon as clearence comes through). It is widely regarded as one of the better 529 plans and your don't have to be a resident to start one. I had several financial advisior friends in San Jose (as an accounting student who was interning while preggo) that told me to go with Utah's plan.

Utah Educational Savings Plan - Homepage

[kutra11]

Irrespective of which plan you choose, the only advice I have for you is to realize that your child only has 9 years until starting college. This is significantly less time to be heavily invested in equities, so I hope you choose an investing option that gives you adequate exposure to bonds as well. Good luck!

BTW, I selected VEST after doing my research a few years ago.

[schoolsinNova]

Thank you Randr.xyz and Kutra11 for your advice! I have since read several articles on the Utah 529.

[kiddhan625]

I also went with VEST for my 11 month old daughter. I did extensive research and even spoke with some investment managers.

[ednf]

These two websites have a bunch of very useful information:
[url=http://www.savingforcollege.com]The internet guide to funding college and Section 529 college savings plans. Savingforcollege.com[/url]
[url=http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/education/clarks-529-guide/nFZS/]Clark's 529 Guide | www.clarkhoward.com[/url]

There's also this other website I found recently on some blog (can't remember where off the top of my head) but basically it's a website that will allow people to donate to your 529 college saving plans using their credit cards. It hasn't launched yet but they have this pre-launch thing where they are offering $10 towards your 529 if you refer three people. It sounds pretty cool and for now they're only asking for your email for this offer, check it out at [url=http://www.gradsave.com]Gradsave - Changing the way you save for college[/url]

[alibaba1579]

We're doing VEST too (my kids are 3 and 1). My MIL works for a financial planner down in Florida, and he recommends Virginia's plan as one of the best.

[slim04]

Originally Posted by randr.xyz

No advice on VA 529 plans but have you looked into Utah's? We started one for our son when we lived in California (we now live in UT, oddly enough but will be moving to VA as soon as clearence comes through). It is widely regarded as one of the better 529 plans and your don't have to be a resident to start one. I had several financial advisior friends in San Jose (as an accounting student who was interning while preggo) that told me to go with Utah's plan.

Utah Educational Savings Plan - Homepage

The Utah plan doesn't make as much sense for most Virginia residents because you receive up to a $4,000 deduction (per person per account) on your state income tax return if you buy into a Virginia 529. The benefits of the Utah plan or lower expense ratios will not overcome the financial benefit of that tax deduction if you have sufficient income to use it now or in the future. The California plan doesn't provide a tax deduction for California residents, so there is no incentive to use it over a less expensive or more flexible plan elsewhere like Utah if you are a CA resident.

VEST and College America are very similar, but College America is designed for those that use financial planners. The fee structure allows your planner to be paid through the College America accounts and they will forward the statements/data to your planner so they can be intergrated with your other financial accounts. VEST is basically like a Roth IRA where you purchase a number of mutual funds with different asset allocations and risk profiles. It is for the do-it-yourself folks and is way more popular.

The College America program is very highly rated because most 529 plans do not make it easy for financial planners to be involved. But if you don't use a financial planner, most people don't, then it doesn't matter. The VEST is very similar to most other state mutual fund type 529 plans, the fees are not excessive or super low and they provide a decent amount of investment options. The plan isn't as flexible as some of the highly rated plans, but the tax deduction usually overpowers those concerns.

College Wealth program is basically a FDIC insured money market fund purchased through participating banks. It is really only for if your child will graduate soon and you don't want to risk investing in equity or bonds funds.

By the way, the Prepaid Plan opens at certain points in time, so you can invest in another 529 and do the Prepaid Plan when it opens again. There are lots of old threads on the advantages and disadvantages of the Prepaid Plan.