How did you choose which 529 plan to invest in?

[Anonymous]

We currently live in Maryland, but DH thinks we should shop around for other states' plans. I've done a little bit of that, but found the information overwhelming.

How did you choose the plan you chose? Why?

[Anonymous]

I am a financial advisor and live in Maryland. Use Vanguard if you do not work with a financial advisor, use America Funds Virginia plan if you work with an advisor. Both have great funds and low fees. The tax benefit in MD is minimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a financial advisor and live in Maryland. Use Vanguard if you do not work with a financial advisor, use America Funds Virginia plan if you work with an advisor. Both have great funds and low fees. The tax benefit in MD is minimal.

Thank you so much for this advice!! I was doing some back searches on here, and all the threads seem 4-5 year olds, but Vanguard did come up a lot. I really appreciate your input.

[Anonymous]

Agree on vanguard, however I wouldn't agree that the md income tax deduction is minimal, unless you're in AMT land anyway.

[Anonymous]

If you are in MD, you might consider the prepaid plan as well as the savings plan (we actually did both).

The MD savings plan is a good plan (although the age-based portfolios are a little aggressive for my taste during the last few years) and the tax deduction outweighs the higher fees (as compared to Vanguard), at least for smaller balances (below, say, $50k).

After a while we started prioritizing other savings and ended up rolling our account over to Utah (MD doesn't have any rule about recapturing tax deductions from rollovers).

So I'd stick with MD unless and until you have a big balance, and then I'd look at Utah.

[Anonymous]

We did the prepaid and are glad we did. We will start the 529 soon. We liked it as at least you know you will have enough for tuition for 4 years and it isn't something that can be lost if the market changes.

[Anonymous]

Also the MD prepaid plan allows you to use it for any out of state school at pretty much the same benefit (oryou can roll it over to another 529).

[Anonymous]

IIRC, MD used to get low marks, but it seems to be better rated now. http://www.savingforcollege.com/articles/2013-plan-performance-rankings-q4

We started ours in Utah when it was rated highly, and not put just enough in MD's plan to get the maximum state tax break.

Given the improvement to MD's plan though, maybe I should switch over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also the MD prepaid plan allows you to use it for any out of state school at pretty much the same benefit (oryou can roll it over to another 529).

Um - not exactly.

[Anonymous]

I'd hardly call the tax advantages of MD's plan "minimal" for state residents. MD's plan has always had a good reputation, and if both parents open funds and contribute for each child, the tax savings can add up.

[Anonymous]

We went with the MD plan for the state tax deduction. I admit I did not do extensive research. The Morningstar plan was highly rated and it seemed acceptable.

[Anonymous]

also a plan run by tiaa-cref is usually good

[Anonymous]

Vanguard offers one i forget which state. It has the cheapest ongoing fees. The low fees over many years actually end up offsetting the little bit of tax deduction we would get. Do the math for your own situation...

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what is meant by the AMT tax comment above. AMT is related to your federal taxes and the 529 plan contributions can be deducted from your state taxes. These are two different things.

[Anonymous]

Went with Vanguard because it has low fees. Chose the NV plan because of the performance.