VA 529 has been flat, what to do in coming 1-4 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've got a 2025 grad as well in VA529. We did the Prepaid VA529, and hope DC will choose an in-state college. We also have the Invest VA529, and that has been in 70% US Market index and 30% International Index - and that has done great over the years.

I still have the invest portion fully invested in the market at the same percentages since I assume I still have 4-5 more years to recover if the market does anything wrong since we will be using the prepaid for the first 4 years in some capacity.

This prompted me to breakdown my VA529 Prepaid investment returns versus my VA529 Invest portion over the past 17 years. So if you are curious, the PrePaid we had (no longer available in the same form) was a $38K investment (now worth $47K if we take out in cash) but if DC attends UVA @$88K - that is 228% increase, VT @ $74K is a 191% increase, and VCU @ $68K is a 176% increase.

The VA529 Invest accounts has increased 232% in the past 17 years, adding money monthly.

So I guess it is kind of a wash as to which performed better. The security of having in-state paid for no matter the market conditions is nice, but less advantageous if DC attends a less expensive in-state college.

If I had done only the US index (277% increase), and not any of the international index (159% increase), the VA529 Invest would have been the clear winner.

Although I'm tempted to take the VA529 Invest and put it into something safer, I know it still has potential for a few more years.

Where are you getting your tuition and fees numbers? VCU's is higher than VTs.

UVA is currently $20,923 times 4 = $83,692, so that is kind of close to your $88K
VT is currently $15,950 times 4 = $63,800, which is not close to your $74K
VCU is currently $16,720 times 4 = $66,800, is very close to your$68K, but still different

https://www.virginia529.com/invest/tuition-track-details/#ttp-calc

First results from Google's AI Overview, and fees may not have been included. i.e. In-state tuition and fees for the University of Virginia (UVA) for the 2023–2024 academic year were $22,323. This does not include mandatory fees, which were $3,484 for in-state students. The total cost of attendance for in-state students, including mandatory fees, housing, and food, was roughly $40,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

First results from Google's AI Overview, and fees may not have been included. i.e. In-state tuition and fees for the University of Virginia (UVA) for the 2023–2024 academic year were $22,323. This does not include mandatory fees, which were $3,484 for in-state students. The total cost of attendance for in-state students, including mandatory fees, housing, and food, was roughly $40,000.

Found the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've made plenty on the 529 - you're in the wrong funds.

Which funds are you in?

[Anonymous]

My grandfather had opened a 529 for my younger child at birth and put $3,500 in it, very generously. We have other 529 accounts where we put most of our savings, so I hadn't really been tracking this one. It's in the Maine 529 plan. Just looked at it last week, 9 1/2 years later, and it's worth... $5,000. Rolling it into another plan ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've made plenty on the 529 - you're in the wrong funds.

Which funds are you in?

Please tell! I want to change mine today, cause I’m seeing very little growth.

[Anonymous]

VA 529 American funds have produced great returns. What are you in?

Also what is worse than fees? Not correctly investing your money.

[Anonymous]

Real world example for those curious:

VA 529 plan. All accounts 100% total stock market index:

DC 1 8 years old:

Total invested: $29,000
Total value: $61,000

DC2 6 years old:

Total invested: $23,000
Total value: $38,000

DC3 4 years old:

Total invested: $14,000
Total value: $20,000

Providing these numbers for posters who are curious about returns with an all-stock market portfolio in the VA 529 plan. We never used an age-based portfolio.