How much to put into 529s?
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Anonymous
Or simply pick a 529 plan that you can select high growth stock funds. VA American Funds is an excellent one. Why would you give up the tax free growth? |
Anonymous
+1000 Best plan out there, choose your own investments, never do the "X years until college start" plan and you will not be disappointed |
Anonymous
Np- what?! My Virginia invest does horribly. I’m shocked at how little it’s risen. Versus my mutual funds or even my ally savings account that gets 5%. I actually lost money a couple of years ago too. It’s just atrocious. My 3 year old only has a few hundred in interest with 4 years of money put in. |
Anonymous
How do you access IN VA American funds. I have been disappointed in virginia529 |
Anonymous
Because you can only use the account for college and you’ll need to sell the securities at a certain point in time. A 529 is great in a bull market. |
Anonymous
Unless you’re getting an additional tax break for contributing that makes it worth it - look at other state 529s. New York State’s has been okay (not great) in terms of options, growth and fees (for non target date selections). |
Anonymous
The stock market did take a dip so it will be negative during that time. |
Anonymous
There are growth funds that have averaged over 11-12% for the last 10 years. Why did you not put the money in those? Couple that with the tax free growth over 18+ years and I seriously doubt you can beat those returns. Especially if you could not find the right funds in AF 529 plan to earn at least 10% in the last 5 years. |
Anonymous
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OP: It will be about $400K, to me as the spouse. We already have 529s started in VA- Invest 529s. Balances are not large, though.
13 y.o- ~$75K 10 y.o.- ~ $30K 7 y.o.~ $20K Have strong retirement and other savings, but this is where we need to fill in. |
Anonymous
+1 Our 529 was fully funded by the time DC was a senior in high school. HALF of the fund was from investment returns. People should know that 1) You can pick ANY 529. You do not need to stick to your state one if you do not like it, and the gains don’t surpass any state deduction. We’ve been in Utah 529 for 20 years. Fees are .14% which is nothing compared to tax free gains. 2) You need to actively DIRECT your funds. Don’t just pick a target date fund. Do the research on the performance of each available investments, make your selections wisely. We were growth all the way until about junior year in high school. |
Anonymous
This is a huge inheritance for you OP. Stick everything into the 529s. Choose investments wisely for growth. |
Anonymous
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Is the $400k your whole inheritance or is that just the intended (inherited) 529 funds?
If you’re inheriting $400k, I’d be concerned by front loading 529s, you’re effectively gifting your inheritance to your kids. In the event of a divorce, that money is gone to you. Why not just keep the bulk in your separate name? If you don’t commingle the funds, you can always use it for college but it’s yours otherwise if you divorce. |
Anonymous
| I might do something like 100k, 75k, 75k for the kids and then the remaining 150k in brokerage. That gives you flexibility while helping with the college funding. |
Anonymous
Pardon my cluelessness, but what are growth funds, if I don’t see any option by that name? Can I replicate that through a combo of stocks and bonds? |
Anonymous
NP. I’ve just chosen the VA stock index fund for our 529 accounts. Returns have followed the market for the 8 years we’ve had them opened. And since the market has been up since 2016 we are very satisfied with our returns. |