Anonymous wrote:i am in the MD 529 plan. fees are higher than i'd like, but ultimately i am going to contribute just enough for the tax break, then open a separate 529 with vanguard, put the rest in there.
have a 4 month old. putting 1000/mo in the account now.
Anonymous wrote:$1000/month! Holy shit.
From the VA 529 program guide here:
http://www.virginia529.com/documents/general/vcsp_program_guide.pdf
page 4
"Virginia taxpayers with VA529 accounts may deduct up
to the lesser of $4,000 per year or the amount contributed,
for each VA529 account they own, with an unlimited
carry-forward of unused deductions."
It is definitely per account, not per parent or per child. All of the documentation I get from the VA 529 plan has a different account number for each combination of investment choice, parent, and child.
Anonymous wrote:We're in MD and enrolled in the MD 529 plan. It's fees are higher than most, but so are its returns (fees factored and all), at least when we were researching plans a year or two ago. Plus, of course, we get the tax break.
We aim for $5K a year but probably do half that.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You can contibute more than 4k/year but you only get a tax deduction for 4k/yr. Contributions over 4k have an unlimited carryforward until all contributions have been deducted.
The College America plan can only be set-up through a financial advisor so you need to take into account additional fees that the advisor will charge on top of the standard 529 plan fees. You cannot set-up this type of plan on your own. The VEST or Prepaid plans you ca set-up on your own without advisors.
Is it beneficial to have a financial advisor set these up for us? Are the returns much better?
We were looking into signing up with an advisor a few months ago but he started getting aggressive and it turned me off. I vaguely remember our life insurance rep telling us to sign up directly and skip the advisor for the 529. I'm assuming he meant the VEST plan and the financial advisor was trying to set us up with College America.