Since 529s come up regularly...

maple2 · March 2015

Congress is currently considering a bill to expand the allowable use of 529 money to include computers, software and internet access for the beneficiary. This article also makes it sound like there is bipartisan congressional support for 529 plans, and that it will be politically difficult for the benefits to be reduced or removed anytime soon.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/birth-of-a-tax-loophole/387709/

Xstatic3333 · March 2015

Nice! Yeah I don't think anyone liked the scaling back the benefits idea. It bugged me that it was supposedly only benefitting the wealthy. I'm far from wealthy and still plan to use one.

hoffse · March 2015

That's interesting - makes sense, though. There's no possible way to be a college kid without a computer or internet these days.

I feel like they are here to stay. I also think that they will become more and more popular with upper-middle to middle class folks over the next 10 years. They were brand new when I was in middle school, and these kinds of things take time to catch on. They will only ever benefit people who are determined to set money aside for school. While that probably means they aren't going to help families below a certain socioeconomic level, there is no reason to assume that they will only ever help the wealthy.

Retirement is really no different - you have to make a certain amount before you can afford to contribute to tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

Besides, plenty of people become wealthy by saving their money in tax-advantaged accounts like this. Building wealth does not happen overnight, and there are plenty of closet millionaires who did it in their lifetime and weren't born into money.

cbee817 · March 2015

We got $700 back on our state tax return just for opening the 529 accounts and putting the max amount in for a family. So far, it's given us a 10% return (more than our Roth IRA accounts)- we're planning on another $5,000 for each this year as well. It's a great way to save for their college and the more we can use the $ for when they get there, the better.

aemmert360 · March 2015

I think that is a logical extension of the bill. Let's be honest, you can't really go to college without a computer or complete your work without internet, so while those may not be required by the school, they are necessary.

Since 529s come up regularly...

Re: Since 529s come up regularly...

Choose Another Board

Search Boards