Comments on: I Enrolled In A Maryland 529 Plan

By: lane burritt

lane burritt — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:07:30 +0000

The responce from Louis was very interesting. In light of the trust stock in todays climate would that change your advice on a prepaid trust vs. a MD College Investment Plan?

By: Louis

Louis — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:11:00 +0000

For those who are considering the Prepaid College Trust plan, it is important to note that you are actually buying units of a trust that are priced daily. If you decide to exit the plan at some point (by, for example, transferring your value of your units in the Prepaid College Trust to the Maryland College Investment Plan), then the price of the units on the dates that you made payments to the Prepaid College Trust becomes very significant. In other words, you will want to try to make the payments when the stock market is relatively low. Also, be sure to request a valuation of your trust account each time you make a payment to the trust. The Trust documents try to minimize the fact that you are buying units of a trust, but it is to your advantage to keep track of the unit value each time to make a payment.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:17:16 +0000

As coincidence would have it, I also enrolled in the Maryland 529 plan this week. What are your thoughts on the investment choices? I trust TRowe (have Roth IRA there), but the expenses on the funds are all about 80-90 basis points when you look at the underlying fund expense ratio and the program fee. I didn’t shop around, but they seemed a little high. In any case, I ended up going with the Target-date 2024 fund.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:43:13 +0000

I’ve thought about doing the same thing for myself so I can save for an MBA program. I can always transfer the money to my children (or other family members) if I don’t use it. I need to look into it – I’ve heard OH has a good 529 program.

By: eric

eric — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:28:16 +0000

I am sure you checked it out but the website below gives some good information regarding state college savings plans. It is especially good to make sure that your home state's plan competes well with other states. If not, in some states it may actually be beneficial to invest elsewhere and pass on the in-state tax benefits if they apply: Savingforcollege.com I chose the investment plan as well in my home state of Illinois because of the flexibility it provides but have found out recently that the pre-paid plan can be used for out-of-state colleges. Still they are not accepted at all institutions. The savings plan is more like a retirement plan where funds can be used for any qualifying educational expense. Not knowing where my kids will go to school (in-state, out-of-state, vocational, etc.), the savings plan provides the flexibility I want them to have.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:05:59 +0000

That’s a good question and it’ll be the topic for a post I’ll publish this afternoon. In short though, I don’t think my decision would’ve been different.

By: sandycheeks

sandycheeks — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:09:40 +0000

How did you decide between the prepaid and the investment plan? Do you think your choice may have been different if you already had children? For whom do you believe the prepaid is a good choice?

I’m trying to figure out the answers to these for myself