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Being a saver, you completed your bargain hunting at the back-to-school sales. Maybe you live in a state that has a sales tax holiday and you took advantage of those savings too. Being a savvy saver, you deposited those savings into your child’s 529 plan account. Now, you’re looking for other means to reach your college savings goals.

Here are some ideas to boost the balance in your 529 plan.

1. Build Your Savings With Disappearing Expenses

Add the money from disappearing expenses to your child’s 529 plan. Disappearing expenses are those costs in your budget for a limited time span. For instance, preschool is a large disappearing expense for families. Once your child starts kindergarten, consider rolling over your former preschool or day care costs into regular contributions to your 529 account. You won’t miss it and you are continuing to support your child’s educational needs.

Other disappearing expenses can include paying off a car loan, medical or dental bills, credit card debt, or even your own student loans. Once you have a zero balance on those obligations, you can roll those budgeted dollars into your child’s 529 plan instead. Again, these items have been part of your budget so you aren’t losing any additional income by transferring those dollars to a 529 account. And as you know from paying off those bills, it’s far cheaper to save now than pay off loans later.

Speaking of additional income, many account owners will also contribute a portion of an annual raise, bonus, or even their tax return refund towards a 529 plan.

2. Build Your Savings With Help From Others

Family and friends want to give meaningful gifts for the milestones in your child’s life. You can ask them to consider  contributing to your child’s 529 plan in lieu of gifts for baby showers, birthdays, holidays, graduations, and other special occasions. Most people would rather give the gift of college than another toy, which will be soon forgotten. The gift of college is a legacy that will always be treasured and appreciated.

3. Build Your Savings While Shopping With Upromise

With no cost to join, you can save even more money for college through Upromise. Connected with hundreds of America’s leading companies, your Upromise membership can earn you cash back as you shop as you normally would. By linking your Upromise account to your 529 plan, your earnings can be automatically transferred on a periodic basis, subject to a set minimum dollar amount.

4. Build Your Savings With Automatic Contributions

This is a tried and true savings method. Simplify your life and savings by setting up automatic recurring contributions from your bank account or paycheck. Many 529 plan account owners say the easiest way to save is to automatically transfer the money before you have a chance to spend it elsewhere.

You can align your automated 529 plan deposits with your paydays or set a monthly contribution schedule. Even if you’re putting away a minimum amount, it can add up!

This article originally ran on College Savings Plans Network (CSPN) blog on Aug. 29, 2016. 

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529 Short Course: New Parents

5 things every new parent needs to know about saving for education

  1. Why Ohio 529?
    529s are specifically created for higher education savings. Unlike a traditional banking account, a 529 account benefits from tax-free earnings and tax-free withdrawals. For Ohio residents, there is also a state income tax deduction for those contributions.
  2. It’s simple to start.
    You can open your 529 account online in minutes with as little as $25. With ready-made portfolio options, you don’t have to be a financial expert to feel confident in your savings plan choices.
  3. Set it and forget it with automatic deposits.
    The sooner you start saving, the longer your account benefits from the Ohio 529 tax advantages as well as compound interest. Many new parents take their 529 contributions off their to-do list by setting up small automatic deposits from either their banking accounts or paycheck. Also, with our ReadySave 529 app, it’s also easy to track and adjust your account right on your mobile device.
  4. Save for college, career training, and more.
    Ohio 529 can be used at over 30,000 schools of all kinds, nationwide, including universities; community colleges; trade, technical, and vocational schools; certificate programs; and apprenticeships. Your Ohio 529 account can also pay for K-12 tuition at a public, private, or religious school. And, if it’s not needed for educational expenses, you can now roll over your 529 to a Roth IRA.
  5. Others can help.
    It’s easy for family and friends to contribute to your child’s account and receive tax benefits for themselves. You can share your account’s unique Ugift number with others to contribute online without creating their own 529 accounts. Those who live in Ohio will also receive a state income tax deduction for their contributions. Also, you can sign up to have reminder emails sent to you and loved ones for the big milestones in your child’s life.

Hoping to find gold at the end of the rainbow? If you are saving with Ohio 529 CollegeAdvantage, you have the benefit of Ugift with your account, which is savings gold.

Ugift makes it easy for others to give to your Ohio 529 account. With Ugift, you generate a unique code which allows loved ones to contribute to your Ohio 529 savings plan without needing the actual account number. Once they have the Ugift code, your friends and family can visit Ugift529.com to make their online gifts directly to your 529.

When friends and family ask for gift ideas, share that you are saving for your child’s future education with Ohio 529. Then invite them to join in with gift contributions to your Ohio 529 account with Ugift. After all, a gift for your child’s education will truly last a lifetime.

The quickest and easiest way to pass along your child’s Ugift code is with the ReadySave 529 app, which you can access as an Ohio 529 CollegeAdvantage account owner. At the bottom of every page is an Ugift icon. Click on the gift symbol to view your Ugift code which you can send immediately as an invitation via texts, emails, and Facebook/Instagram chats from your phone.

Or log into your account online to view your child’s Ugift code to send to family and friends who would like to give the gift of education.

The Ugift code doesn’t expire. Which means whenever there is an occasion to celebrate­ like baby showers, holidays, birthdays, graduations, and special achievements, your family and friends can give to your Ohio 529 account. And they can choose to contribute as much as they want whenever they want. It can be a one-time gift or recurring gift; all they need is that Ugift code. Your loved ones’ contributions - whether big or small – will add up over the years. Added to the power of compound interest, these gifts will power your 529 savings to cover even more college and career training costs.

An added bonus for gift givers who live in Ohio: They are also eligible to receive a state income tax deduction for their Ohio 529 gift contributions, up to $4,000 per year, per beneficiary.

To learn more about all of the gifting options with Ohio 529 and order cards for special occasions, visit  529 Gift Central.

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