The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

529 plan
September 21, 2011

Last-Minute Investing in a 529 College Plan

Are 529 plans only for younger children? Not by a long shot. Many parents with college-bound teenagers, however, assume that their days of contributing to a 529 plan is over. By this time, parents are beginning to drain their 529 plan. You could save a bundle in taxes, however, if you continue to contribute to a 529 savings plan —...
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January 30, 2011

529 College Plan: A Dirty Little Secret

Ever hear about college taxes? No this isn’t a joke. If you aren’t careful you could owe college taxes on your 529 plan. Nobody tells you that you could ultimately owe taxes on a 529 college plan, but plenty of people discover this nightmare during tax season. Before I get to the bad news, let me review why parents gravitate...
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November 10, 2010

Will Saving For College Hurt Your Odds for Financial Aid?

Is your family going to qualify for financial aid? Many families that I talk to assume that they won’t qualify for financial aid. Many believe that the money that they’ve stashed in their college savings accounts will kill their chances. Stressed Out Dads It’s been my experience that it’s usually dads who get stressed out about how colleges will treat...
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April 20, 2010

Financial Advice for College Graduates: 6 Financial Tips

I banged out an email full of financial advice this week to a soon-to-be college graduate, who luckily has already lined up a job. She wanted to know if she should start saving for retirement as soon as she graduates. Here’s what I told her: Absolutely! I was thrilled that this young woman was already thinking about retirement. As a...
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March 15, 2010

College Taxes: Beware of 529 Plan Taxes

Ever hear about college taxes? No this isn’t a joke. If you aren’t careful you could owe college taxes on your 529 plan. Nobody tells you that you could ultimately owe taxes on a 529 college plan, but plenty of people discover this nightmare during tax season. Before I get to the bad news, let me review why parents gravitate...
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February 16, 2010

Saving for College with a Roth IRA: 8 Things You Need To Know

There’s been tons of media attention over the years on the best places to save for college. The 529 savings plan has grabbed the most attention. I’ve used 529 plans for both of my kids through Vanguard, but today, I want to suggest another potential way to save for college:  a Roth IRA for your child. A Roth IRA won’t...
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November 15, 2009

The Horrors of Student Loan Defaults, 529 Plan Tax Deductions and More

Here are links to my college blog posts for CBSMoneyWatch for the past week: The Horrors of Defaulting on a Student Loan In some respects, the college admission process can be fun. It’s fun to visit colleges and it’s fun to  receive acceptance letters in the mail. What’s not fun is paying for college. Sometimes that turns into a nightmare...
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October 6, 2009

Fixing 529 College Savings Plans

Changes may be coming to  529 college savings plans. I think most parents will like the proposed college savings changes, which could lead to lower costs and more plentiful tax benefits. As a financial journalist, I’ve been writing about 529 plans since states began rolling them out in the late 1990s. During that time I’ve seen too many mediocre 529...
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December 26, 2008

A More Flexible College 529 Plan

One of the rules that I always disliked about 529 plans was this one: You can only change the mix of investments within a 529 plan once a year. It’s always struck me as an unfair rule since other investments accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s don’t impose this restriction. In light of the stock market turmoil, the Internal Revenue...
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