529 or mutual funds, or something else?

Financial Planning - Financial planning in general. (Moderated) 

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Subject Author Date 529 or mutual funds, or something else? Brandon Riffel 10-21-2007  Re: 529 or mutual funds, or something else? joetaxpayer 10-21-2007  Re: 529 or mutual funds, or something else? wyu 10-22-2007  Re: 529 or mutual funds, or something else? kastnna 10-22-2007  Re: 529 or mutual funds, or something else? akhan 10-24-2007
Posted by Brandon Riffel on October 21, 2007, 7:03 pm We just had our first baby and want to start putting away some money for his college education. I've heard good things about the Kansas (which is the state we live and work in) Learning Quest 529 Plan. Is this the best option for us? I'm not a finance wizard (which is obvious because I'm asking for help), but I have some basic knowledge of money and banking. Is the state sponsored 529 the best because it offers some tax incentives both for us and for our friends and family that might contribute to the account? Should we instead open up an account with an investment advisor and let them put our money into mutual funds or something else? Posted by joetaxpayer on October 21, 2007, 9:29 pm Brandon Riffel wrote: > We just had our first baby and want to start putting away some money > for his college education. I've heard good things about the Kansas > (which is the state we live and work in) Learning Quest 529 Plan. Is > this the best option for us? I'm not a finance wizard (which is > obvious because I'm asking for help), but I have some basic knowledge > of money and banking. Is the state sponsored 529 the best because it > offers some tax incentives both for us and for our friends and family > that might contribute to the account? > > Should we instead open up an account with an investment advisor and > let them put our money into mutual funds or something else? I hope you've looked at the web site; https://www.learningquestsavings.com/learningquest/index.jsp and more important the link to show the fees. The program management fee is .2%, so over 20yrs, you'd have spent less than 3% in this fee to avoid any cap gains out the back end. Looks good to me. They offer an S&P fund at a whopping .05%, this is the Vanguard Institutional Index Fund and is about half the expense ratio you'd find in a regular index fund or ETF. A resident of Kansas, you won't pay the annual $20 maintenance fee. The tax incentive (a state deduction) is just gravy, it will completely offset the program management fee for the full time the money is invested. I'd stick with this plan for the combination of low expenses, and state deduction. JOE Posted by on October 22, 2007, 3:38 pm > We just had our first baby and want to start putting away some money > for his college education. I've heard good things about the Kansas > (which is the state we live and work in) Learning Quest 529 Plan. Is > this the best option for us? I'm not a finance wizard (which is > obvious because I'm asking for help), but I have some basic knowledge > of money and banking. Is the state sponsored 529 the best because it > offers some tax incentives both for us and for our friends and family > that might contribute to the account? The top 4 plans are from Kansas, Ohio, Utah and Illinois. All of them offer Vanguard options for roughly 0.25%-0.30% total expenses. If you are in one of those states, it's probably best to stick with the state plan since there may be additional tax deductions/credits. If you don't live in those states, Ohio offers slightly more slice-and-dice + no annual fee for non-OH participants while Kansas' plan has Emerging Markets as 15% of their International allocation. Otherwise, a wash. Posted by kastnna on October 22, 2007, 5:03 pm Brandon, Here is a morningstar article from earlier this year that gives their best and worst list. Its worth reading over. Note: some of the plans are broker-sold and some are not. They indicate which are which. http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=187673&pgid=wwhome1a Posted by on October 24, 2007, 11:47 am > Brandon, > > Here is a morningstar article from earlier this year that gives their > best and worst list. Its worth reading over. Note: some of the plans > are broker-sold and some are not. They indicate which are which. > > http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=187673&pgid=ww... Thanks for the link, I looked at it, I have Texas tomorrow college fund for both of my kids (4 and 10), since there is no state income tax in Texas, I am not sure if this is a best place for our 529, any suggession for Texas residents. Abid Similar Threads Posted Expense-free mutual funds? June 21, 2007, 10:14 am Managed Payout Mutual Funds April 26, 2008, 12:43 pm ETFs vs open ended mutual funds December 9, 2006, 6:42 am software for managing mutual funds and stocks July 23, 2007, 11:29 am How do mutual funds give you the exact Ending NAV of the day? January 28, 2008, 8:08 am mutual funds or high yield savings account November 24, 2006, 11:29 am Mutual Funds, Roth IRA, Savings Bonds, TSP, and Annuities... What else can I do? February 5, 2008, 5:46 am Moving Roth money from m-market into mutual funds February 15, 2008, 3:45 pm Which styles of actively managed stock mutual funds outperform? January 22, 2008, 11:19 am mutual funds holding commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) November 21, 2008, 10:42 am