Do most parents have a 529 plan?

[Anonymous]

A family member was surprised to hear we didn't have a 529 plan for our DC's college. We have other investments and savings we plan to use when the time comes but it got me wondering - do most people invest in 529 when they have children? Are we somehow missing out for not having one?

[Anonymous]

*Most* families have 0 college savings

[Anonymous]

I think it's fairly common for UMC families to have a 529 plan--they are the ones who benefit most from the state tax advantage and have surplus money to invest and who will likely not qualify for much financial aid. Some frugal and foresighted MC families have one also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fairly common for UMC families to have a 529 plan--they are the ones who benefit most from the state tax advantage and have surplus money to invest and who will likely not qualify for much financial aid. Some frugal and foresighted MC families have one also.

This is right and PP who said *most* families have no savings is also right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fairly common for UMC families to have a 529 plan--they are the ones who benefit most from the state tax advantage and have surplus money to invest and who will likely not qualify for much financial aid. Some frugal and foresighted MC families have one also.

This is right and PP who said *most* families have no savings is also right.

+1000

Also, if you are already saving with the intention of using those funds for college (and you don't need them as some kind of emergency funds) by not using a 529 you could be missing out on state tax deduction as well as tax-free growth of the investment.

[Anonymous]

I doubt it.

Growing up, I sure didn't nor did my spouse.

Our kids have one but a lot of our neighbors and friends don't have them for their kids.

[Anonymous]

We have one for both kids--set them up the month they were born. I am hopeful that by the time they get to college (oldest is in 6th), we will have enough to cover 4 years for each.

I doubt my parents had a plan set up for us. But college was $10K a year back then.

[Anonymous]

We do, but we’re UMC, have the cash to fund it and want the state tax break. Started it when DS was young to capitalize on the tax free growth. Also save in other vehicles as we won’t qualify for aid.

[Anonymous]

We don't have 529s for our kids- We just have the money we put aside for their college education in other investment vehicles. If I remember correctly they all seemed to be tied to a specific state when our first child was born and that didn't make sense for us at the time.

[Anonymous]

The new college/career prep teacher at my school didn't even know about them They are basically a tool of the wealthy. Most kids and parents just keep talking about scholarships without having a real plan. Remember at lest 60% of households don't even have $1k in savings much less any other savings account.

[Anonymous]

From what I hear colleges assume parents have been saving for college since their child’s infancy.

[Anonymous]

If you have the money for other investments it is kinda silly not to have a 529 and miss out on the tax benefits. I started a 529 for each of my kids when I went back to work after maternity leave with an automatic deposit set up.

[Anonymous]

We were UMC when we started it and now we're much more wealthy, but still contribute.

[Anonymous]

We don't have one for our kids. We didn't even contribute to our retirement for more than a decade.

As it turns out, it looks like neither is heading for college. We feel bad about it since both of our families have gone to college for the past three generations. I guess we dropped the ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't have one for our kids. We didn't even contribute to our retirement for more than a decade.

As it turns out, it looks like neither is heading for college. We feel bad about it since both of our families have gone to college for the past three generations. I guess we dropped the ball.

There’s got to be more to this story.