529 Savings Plan

I’ve been researching 529 College Saving Plans. A few people have asked for my notes when I finish so I said I’d see about posting them here on the blog. I created a spreadsheet with the plans I reviewed and pertinent information about each of the plans, including published fees and where to find more detailed information.

Basically, it all comes down to money, right? In the end, each of us will have to evaluate whether the desired plan has the right balance of return on investment, administration fees, and tax advantages. (Of course you could always start with one plan and roll over to another one at a later date.)

If you are interested in investing in the AmericanFunds option listed in the spreadsheet, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the investment professional that I know. The CollegeInvest enrollment options are detailed on the CollegeInvest website.

One other note: Only 1 of the 4 plans reviewed offers automatic transfer of Upromise earnings. If you choose a different plan and you participate in Upromise, you can still have your Upromise savings put into the account; it is just a more manual process.

	Name	Initial Investment	Monthly investment req'd?	Admin	Fees	Other Comments
College Invest	Stable Value Plus	$25	No; No minimum on followup investments	MetLife	Enrollment: Free Management: 0.75%	Very low risk. Principal investment protection plus minimum rate of return guarantee. 100% stable fund investment. www.collegeinvest.org for details. CO tax benefits.
College Invest	Direct Portfolio	$25	No; minimum $15 investment on investments after initial	Vanguard & Upromise	Enrollment: Free Management: 0.75% for CO & WY residents; additional $20/year for non residents.	11 investment options. Offers automatic investment change to more conservative investments as child ages. Upromise automatic transfer participating plan. Online account access. www.collegeinvest.org for details. CO tax benefits.
College Invest	Scholars Choice	$250	No; minimum $50 investment/ investment after initial	Legg Mason Global Asset Allocation, LLC	Enrollment: Not stated. See investment professional for info. Management: Not detailed. "Multiple pricing options."	8 investment options. Offers automatic investment change to more conservative investments as child ages. Online account access. www.collegeinvest.org for details. CO tax benefits.
American Funds	College America	$50 with automatic monthly investment or $250 otherwise	$50 on automatic plan; otherwise no.	American Funds/ Wachovia Securities	Enrollment: $10 Management: $10/year	22 investment options. Work with investment professional to change to more conservative investments as child ages. Online account access. www.americanfunds.com for details. VA tax benefits.