Ohio 529 plan explorer
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Build Your Ohio 529 Savings Plan With Upromise

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Have you ever stopped to consider how many things you do daily with your finances? Spend a few minutes paying bills online before the kids are up. Turn off the lights in a room to not waste electricity. Wash laundry in cold water. Keep the thermostat a little higher, even when it’s hot outside. Do your grocery shopping with electronic store coupons or on days where you can buy the specials from last week’s flyer as well as the new week. Buy gently used items from local online groups. Plot a course to run all your errands so you don’t waste gas. Decide against that treat at the drive-through. 

You do all of this to be smart with your money and to save what you have. Another smart money decision you’ve made was opening an account with Ohio’s 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage. It’s the tax-free way to save for your children’s education expenses with tax-free earnings, tax-free withdrawals for qualified higher education expenses, and a deduction of up to $4,000 deduction from your State of Ohio income taxes for contributions to Ohio’s 529 Plan as an Ohio resident.  Upromise

To help you to continue with your smart money decisions, Ohio’s 529 Plan, has teamed up with Upromise to help you save more without any extra effort. You just keep shopping smart like you are already doing.

Upromise is a free loyalty program that offers its members cash back for their purchases from a wide variety of businesses. When you connect your debit and/or credit card to your Upromise account, you can start earning rewards with your everyday shopping. You can then link your Upromise account to your Ohio CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Plan account to deposit these rebates.

Participating businesses include online retail stores through Upromise.com and 10,000 restaurants nationwide at which Upromise members can earn cash back. If you decide to apply for the Upromise Mastercard, you can also earn cash back rewards on every purchase made with this card.

In 2023, families saving with Ohio’s 529 Plan and Upromise earned almost $850,000 in cash back. These added funds will take you closer to your higher education savings goals.

Currently, when you open a free account, Upromise will add a $5.29 bonus to the account for email verification. Additionally, you can earn another $25 in bonus rewards when you link your first account with Ohio Direct 529 Plan within 30 days of signing up with Upromise and keep it active through the first cash back rewards redemption cycle.

A member’s cash back rewards account balance must meet the minimum transfer amount, which is $50, to be eligible for transferring cash back rewards into a linked account. Upromise rewards are transferred once per month.

Would you like to see how Upromise can help build your Ohio 529 college savings account? A long-time CollegeAdvantage family shared their Saving Story on how they used Upromise to add to their Ohio 529.

Interested in joining? Visit Upromise to sign up for free. Already an Upromise member? Log in to your account and link it to your CollegeAdvantage Direct Plan and watch your account grow with automatic transfers of your rewards. If you have any questions as a Upromise Reward client, visit  https://www.upromise.com for answers. 

For more than 34 years, Ohio’s 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage, has been helping families across the nation save for their children’s higher education. Ohio’s 529 Plan covers qualified costs at any four-year college or university, two-year community college, trade or vocational school, apprenticeship approved by the U.S. Labor Department, or certificate program nationwide that accepts federal financial aid. Learn, plan, and start for as little as $25 today at CollegeAdvantage.com.

This blog was originally posted in June 2022 and has been updated with new information in January 2024.

Disclosure

* Upromise is an optional program offered by Upromise, LLC, is separate from Ohio’s 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage, and is not affiliated with the Ohio’s 529 Plan, CollegeAdvantage. Terms and conditions apply to the Upromise program. Participating companies, contribution levels, and terms and conditions are subject to change at any time without notice. Transfers from Upromise to an Ohio’s 529 Plan account are subject to a $50 minimum.

The Upromise Mastercard is issued by Barclays Bank Delaware (Barclays) pursuant to a license from Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard, World Mastercard and World Elite Mastercard are registered trademarks, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.

© 2021 Barclays Bank Delaware, PO Box 8801, Wilmington, DE 19801, Member FDIC.

Upromise and the Upromise logo are registered service marks of Upromise, LLC.


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529 Short Course: New Parents

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529 Short Course: New Parents

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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.
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A mother watches her daughter open a gift

Ugift Is Savings Gold

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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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  • 1 Thumbnail image for WATCH: Understand the cost of delaying
  • 2 Thumbnail image for WATCH: Compare the two most common ways to save
  • 3 Thumbnail image for READ: The 5 things every new parent needs to know about saving for education
  • 4 Thumbnail image for WATCH: Wondering about flexibility?
  • 5 Thumbnail image for WATCH: Here's help figuring out how much to save.
  • 6 Thumbnail image for READ: Why a Ugift code is savings gold
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