Which 529 to choose for VA residents?

[Anonymous]

Sorry for repeated topic, I did check previous posts, but still confused.

Among Virginia 529 (inVest), Utah 529, and Vanguard 529, which should I choose?

Thought: (1) for Virginia 529, we are thinking to open two accounts for our son under my wife and my name, $4000 each, so to deduct $8000 for our state tax, but the best return is only about 5-7% in the long run, http://www.virginia529.com/invest/performance/ (2) Utah 529: they use Vanguard index, so why not just open Vanguard account directly? And also, can I claim VA state tax if I buy Utah 529? (3) Vanguard 529, seems high return in long run, especially some portfolio could give you 10-11% return, https://investor.vanguard.com/529-plan/list#/529-plan/asset-class/month-end-returns but heard we cannot claim VA state tax either, right?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

If the Vanguard is part of the VA 529 invest why wouldn't you be able to take the deduction? Also, I am not sure if it works out that you can take a 4,000 deduction per spouse for your child's account. But I could be wrong

[Anonymous]

The va invest has several vanguard funds, so I would not expect vanguard index funds in one program to outperform/underperform the same vanguard index funds in another program.

For va invest you can deduct up to 4K per contributor/beneficiary/investment combination. So if you put 4K into each of the following you could deduct 24k/year:

Husband/child/investment 1
Husband/child/investment 2
Husband/child/investment 3
Wife/child/investment 1
Wife/child/investment 2
Wife/child/investment 3

With vanguard index funds, a very generous deduction (5.75% immediate return on your investment), and only a small admin fee, there really isn't a reason not to do the invest program.