529 College Plan And Its Benefits For You529 college plan is a plan that helps you to educate your child in a college without burying yourself under a mountain of loans. It is a well known fact that the college education fee is touching heights. It is increasing at a staggering rate every year. In this difficult time, 529 college plans help you accumulate this big amount very easily. 529 college plan provides you with two options - prepaid tuition plans and college saving plans. Accumulating money for your child's higher education is an imperative task. Every parent wants the best education for his/her child. For this, money is required in ample amount. The earlier you start saving the better it will be in shaping your child's future. Over the past 30 years, the cost of education at a four-year public college has increased by nearly fifty percent. The cost of same duration of studies in a private university has increased nearly by two folds. To meet these steeping costs, it is imperative that parents start saving now. Considering the cost of higher education in America, there are only a few who can afford to pay the college fees themselves without the help from parent/guardian, loans, scholarships etc. To tide over this, the US congress launched the 529 plan in 1996. In a 529 college plan, any person can contribute to the account. The income level of the parents is also not a constraint in opening a 529 account. People from any income group can save money for their children through a 529 college plan. But there is a wrong notion about 529 college plans; it is believed that this plan is only for parents who wish to send their children to a state school. However, this is not true. You can get a 529 college plan for whichever university you want to send your child to. Every state in United States of America now has a 529 plan. The control of the operation of a 529 college plan lies with the state itself. Make sure that a 529 college plan is not an end moment alternative. You should not think about it when a child reaches the door of college. Saving the amount required is in fact a long term process. You can save this amount by paying a small installment every month. At the end, you can pay for the college expenses with the amount that has accumulated in this account. If a person starts saving at early stages of his childs life, then (s)he can also avail the investment and tax benefits offered by the 529 college plan. |