<p>Curious why this thread was moved to scholarships and financial aid?</p>
<p>Where was it before?</p>
<p>Maybe because a 529 balance affects financial aid calculations?</p>
<p>It was in “parent” section. Many who utilize 529 plans may be ineligible for financial aid, but perhaps they check in here anyway for financial discussions.</p>
<p>I am glad it got moved since I always read the Financial Aid & Scholarships board and rarely the Parent section.</p>
<p>I suppose there Moderators know which boards are most popular/are accessed most and maybe wanted to move it here so more people could benefit from reading it.</p>
<p>I started very, very late in saving for my D2. Right now I only have about $65K for her in a combination of 529 and Savings Bonds (I and EE). A lot of my savings bond money was “sqaundered” on D1 who went to one state school and flunked out after the first semester $3K of my money gone there. Then she came home and got into a local state branch university (nursing program) with very low tuition…and flunked out of that. Don’t know how much I blew on that. She was academically suspended and had to sit out for a while. Then she went back to study accounting. I kept on asking for her grades but she kept telling me she “couldn’t remember the password.” At this point I cut her off of any of my funding for schooling. She has since married and is living about 2 hours away. She is attending a local CC there and is funding it through loans (I think). </p>
<p>Anyway, I’m socking away $400/month for D2 (who is very ambitious) and wants to do well in college. Unfortunately, our income does not allow us to use the Savings Bonds for college and get the tax benefit, so I guess I’ll cash them in as a last resort.</p>
<p>Kammom, don’t worry about the major insurance companies. Even with the AIG fiasco, none of their life insurance subsidiaries were affected and not one of their customers were harmed. All policies and contracts performed exactly as guaranteed, and they still do. Life insurance companies are the most heavily regulated businesses in the US. No one has ever lost a dime that was guaranteed by a US life insurance company. If MetLife, or any major insurer, has a product that makes sense for you, invest with confidence.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Chardo! That’s good information and makes me feel much better about this decision.</p>
<p>We will begin to make withdrawals from our 529 plan for D next year. The aged-based plan will still have some investments in short-term bond funds (the rest in a FDIC insured savings fund) by then. I’m thinking of just moving the whole thing to the FDIC fund at that time. This year, the small allocations in equities has made up for the bond fund losses, but that won’t continue. We have enough to cover her tuition, so I’m really more interested in protecting it from any losses than in seeing any more growth.</p>
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<p>I agree that you can’t time the market, and for long-range goals buying and holding, in my opinion, is definitely the right strategy. My oldest child will be starting college in less than 8 months, however, and we won’t have time to ride the market back up if there’s a downturn of any significant size.</p>
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<p>Exactly.</p>
<p>Sgs: If there is a tax year during which you would have an adjusted income low enough to qualify for a savings bond federal income tax break, you could transfer those savings bonds proceeds over tax free in that year to a 529, for use for college expenses in a future year.</p>
<p>See the savings bond discussion below.</p>
<p>[529</a> plan account transfers - Bogleheads](<a href=“http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/529_plan_account_transfers]529”>529 plan account transfers - Bogleheads)</p>
<p>Depending upon the current interest rate that is being earned, there are a few years of savings bonds that are probably worth keeping. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for anyone to buy new ones.</p>