Saving For College

As the current school year is coming to a close and with tomorrow designated as 529 College Savings Day, I want to let families know about the Pennsylvania 529 college savings plans.  These plans are considered by many financial experts to be one of the best ways to save for college.

The Pennsylvania Treasury Department offers two great tax-advantaged 529 plans to help prepare for future higher education costs –the PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan (GSP) and the PA 529 Investment Plan (IP).  The primary difference between the two plans is the way savings grow.  Growth in the PA 529 GSP is based on tuition inflation.  For example, if you save enough for a semester at one of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education universities today, you will have enough for a semester there in the future, no matter when or how much tuition has gone up in the meantime.  Returns in the PA 529 IP are based on
financial market performance.  The PA 529 IP features low fees and more than a dozen conservative and aggressive investment options from Vanguard, one of the nation’s largest financial services companies.

Families saving through either plan receive tax-deferred growth on earnings and tax-free withdrawals when funds are used for qualified educational expenses.

The Pennsylvania 529 College Savings Program is a tax-advantaged way to help make college more affordable and accessible for Pennsylvania families.  The program currently serves over 167,000 accounts with more than $2.5 billion in assets and can be used at a wide range of schools from the Pennsylvania State
University and University of Pittsburgh to trade and career schools.

To encourage more families to save for college in a tax-advantaged way, the PA 529 College Savings Program is offering free enrollment, a $50 savings, for all new PA 529 GSP accounts opened by May 31^st.  Simply visit www.PA529.com
and use the code “TimeFlies” when prompted. There is no enrollment fee for the PA 529 IP.

To learn more about the program or to open an account, or contribute to an existing account, please visit www.PA529.com or call 1-800-440-4000.  You may also register for free to watch a webinar on the PA 529 College Savings Program at http://www.pa529.com/webinars.html.