What do you consider a "fully funded 529"?

[Anonymous]

I see people throwing around that their child has a "fully funded 529". I don't think there is any consensus about what this actually means. I can see it meaning a few different things:
1) You contribute an amount each year to get maximum tax write off (In VA this is $4,000 per child per year)
2) The 529 currently has an amount in it that given a historical rate of return and years until college, will pay for 4 years of college at a state school
3) #2, but at a private college
4) #2 or # 3, but includes funds for grad school as well
5) It has the maximum allowed contribution $350,000.

[Anonymous]

this precise question with almost exactly these options was posted recently. worth doing a search if you are really interested in the answers.

[Anonymous]

I don't know the answer, but I'm sure I will feel inadequate once the postings commence.

[Anonymous]

#3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know the answer, but I'm sure I will feel inadequate once the postings commence.

+1. With my $100/monthly donation I'm sure I'll be "fully funded" any day now!

[Anonymous]

Ours are funded at a rate per year that will be able to pay for 4 yrs of college at $50K per year by the time they graduate from HS. How much we contribute yearly depends on how well the funds have been doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this precise question with almost exactly these options was posted recently. worth doing a search if you are really interested in the answers.

I'm not OP, but it really irritates me when people say this. If forum posters were only ever allowed to ask original questions, forum activity would seriously die a quick death. Furthermore, have you ever tried searching these forums? I sometimes can't even find my own post using words I'm sure I used in my post.

OP, for me I think it would be 2, but honestly we'll probably never get there, because our retirement needs work first. I might modify it slightly to be that by graduation age, it will pay for school, based on our contributions in the future, not that it currently does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see people throwing around that their child has a "fully funded 529". I don't think there is any consensus about what this actually means. I can see it meaning a few different things:
1) You contribute an amount each year to get maximum tax write off (In VA this is $4,000 per child per year)
2) The 529 currently has an amount in it that given a historical rate of return and years until college, will pay for 4 years of college at a state school
3) #2, but at a private college
4) #2 or # 3, but includes funds for grad school as well
5) It has the maximum allowed contribution $350,000.

Technically, it's $4,000 per account per year. So, you could have multiple accounts for the same beneficiary and take multiple $4,000 deductions ... up to the $14,000 gift limit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:#3

+1

DH wanted to include grad school. I told him no. If we've fully funded our retirements and have extra to share, then I will happily help with grad school. Otherwise, I think it's reasonable to expect kids to self-finance, especially after graduating undergrad debt free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know the answer, but I'm sure I will feel inadequate once the postings commence.

+1. With my $100/monthly donation I'm sure I'll be "fully funded" any day now!

You are better than me, PP.

Hoping my child is smart

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:#3

+1

DH wanted to include grad school. I told him no. If we've fully funded our retirements and have extra to share, then I will happily help with grad school. Otherwise, I think it's reasonable to expect kids to self-finance, especially after graduating undergrad debt free.

Not trying to convince you otherwise, because I don't even know that when I have kids I will be able to/want to pay for their undergrad. My parents fully funded my undergrad (with assistance from gparents and grants/work study), and of course I am forever grateful, but now that I want to go to grad school, I am so risk/debt averse that I refuse to take out loans to do so... So I am stuck working and saving while delaying grad school. I wish my parents had evened it out more so that I could have used the $$ for both undergrad and grad but taking out smaller loans along the way. Having only a bachelor's does not open as many doors as it used to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:#3

+1

DH wanted to include grad school. I told him no. If we've fully funded our retirements and have extra to share, then I will happily help with grad school. Otherwise, I think it's reasonable to expect kids to self-finance, especially after graduating undergrad debt free.

Not trying to convince you otherwise, because I don't even know that when I have kids I will be able to/want to pay for their undergrad. My parents fully funded my undergrad (with assistance from gparents and grants/work study), and of course I am forever grateful, but now that I want to go to grad school, I am so risk/debt averse that I refuse to take out loans to do so... So I am stuck working and saving while delaying grad school. I wish my parents had evened it out more so that I could have used the $$ for both undergrad and grad but taking out smaller loans along the way. Having only a bachelor's does not open as many doors as it used to.

I'm not sure why this would help. If your total education expenditure, for undergrad and grad, was $200K, and your parents had a total of $100K to contribute, why would it matter when they did it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see people throwing around that their child has a "fully funded 529". I don't think there is any consensus about what this actually means. I can see it meaning a few different things:
1) You contribute an amount each year to get maximum tax write off (In VA this is $4,000 per child per year)
2) The 529 currently has an amount in it that given a historical rate of return and years until college, will pay for 4 years of college at a state school
3) #2, but at a private college
4) #2 or # 3, but includes funds for grad school as well
5) It has the maximum allowed contribution $350,000.

Technically, it's $4,000 per account per year. So, you could have multiple accounts for the same beneficiary and take multiple $4,000 deductions ... up to the $14,000 gift limit.

OP here - have never heard this before. Can you provide a link? So, can DH open accounts for our children and we can claim $8K per child per year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see people throwing around that their child has a "fully funded 529". I don't think there is any consensus about what this actually means. I can see it meaning a few different things:
1) You contribute an amount each year to get maximum tax write off (In VA this is $4,000 per child per year)
2) The 529 currently has an amount in it that given a historical rate of return and years until college, will pay for 4 years of college at a state school
3) #2, but at a private college
4) #2 or # 3, but includes funds for grad school as well
5) It has the maximum allowed contribution $350,000.

Technically, it's $4,000 per account per year. So, you could have multiple accounts for the same beneficiary and take multiple $4,000 deductions ... up to the $14,000 gift limit.

OP here - have never heard this before. Can you provide a link? So, can DH open accounts for our children and we can claim $8K per child per year?

My SIL and BIL do this...in MD though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this precise question with almost exactly these options was posted recently. worth doing a search if you are really interested in the answers.

I'm not OP, but it really irritates me when people say this. If forum posters were only ever allowed to ask original questions, forum activity would seriously die a quick death. Furthermore, have you ever tried searching these forums? I sometimes can't even find my own post using words I'm sure I used in my post.

If OP is primarily interested in answers, rather than conversation, this is a faster way to find them.