Saving for college - am I doing it wrong?

[Anonymous]

How do you save for college for your children? What is the lowest cost, smartest way to save? We have 529 accounts with Edward Jones but the returns have been very low, <2.5% or even worse. I believe I am paying some fees too, they arent huge but if the returns are also low, why bother at all? Is there a way I can just invest/save myself? thank you

[Anonymous]

We have real estate investments that have far surpassed what a 529 can provide in gains. The state tax break doesn’t benefit our situation either because we get deductions already from itemized returns.

Look into doing your own investments through bonds, mutual funds and stocks if you want better gains.

[Anonymous]

Check what your 529 is invested in. It should be index funds if your kids are young and those should be returning a lot more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you save for college for your children? What is the lowest cost, smartest way to save? We have 529 accounts with Edward Jones but the returns have been very low, <2.5% or even worse. I believe I am paying some fees too, they arent huge but if the returns are also low, why bother at all? Is there a way I can just invest/save myself? thank you

Your first problem is using Edward Jones. They are notorious for high fees that are poorly disclosed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check what your 529 is invested in. It should be index funds if your kids are young and those should be returning a lot more.

[Anonymous]

Invest directly with the 529, skip going through your brokerage. We had done that for a while, and I'm not going to lie, it took me a few years to realize they were taking ten percent off the top, which is shocking and horrifying. When I realized, I told them to eff off, and moved all of our funds elsewhere, and stopped sending them the 529 funds monthey- sent it directly to the plan instead