Had anyone used the Private College 529 tuition certificates? Please explain.
Don’t have a private 529 but the website has a in-depth explanation of the plan, details on redeeming your tuition credits etc.
Not surprisingly, their financial analysis neglects to mention the tax free opportunity cost of the money in an alternative 529 investment.
Yes, if tuition increases 4% a year for 10 years, you’ve covered the cost - the equivalent of earning 4% a year on an investment.
Long-term stock returns are a lot higher. Bond returns are similar. Cash returns are lower.
So it looks to be an additional investment risk/return trade-off alternative.
I didn’t look at the list of schools - it had better be large because you appear to be locked into your child attending one of them.
Edit: just checked. One of my D’s 7 schools she applied to is on the list. NCES has about 4300 institutions. This list looks to have fewer than 350. I really don’t see an attractive proposition. Maybe I’m missing something.
Unless I misread their info…you can’t withdraw money for college costs within 36 months of deposit.
So @2021MomNYC how old is your kiddo?
I also don’t think this plan is as flexible as. Regular 529. You are counting on you kid getting accepted to one of their schools. What if they don’t? Change beneficiary…
I’d rather have an account I could use at ANY college.
@thumper1 My daughter is 16 yo and a senior in HS. I started the account 4 years ago. I wanted to hear from other parents who used this service.