In celebration of our 35th anniversary, Ohio 529, CollegeAdvantage, has asked longtime account owners from across the state, and across the generations, to share their families’ Success Story and how the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority helped them achieve their goals. We are fortunate to have these encouraging stories of how families prioritized their children’s higher education and are sharing them again. If you would like to share your Success Story, please contact Amy Lyle, Communication Coordinator, at alyle@collegeadvantage.com.
Our oldest daughter started college in 1998. We weren't aware of the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority program at that time so her college years consisted of working two jobs at times, driving a 10-year-old car, and basically doing everything we could to get her through college without taking out any loans. It was hard but we did it! We figured there had to be another way.
We happened to pick up a brochure about the Ohio 529 College Savings plan in a doctor’s waiting room one day in 1997 and sent away for an informational packet. After reading through the information in the packet, we knew this was the way for us to start saving for our younger daughter’s college, who was 9 years old at the time. We liked the fact that we could contribute through automatic deductions from our savings account each month and that she could go to any qualified college in the country. There were tax benefits for us as well.
We would increase the contributions whenever our budget allowed. By the time she graduated from high school, we managed to have four years of college savings in her account! She even used funds from this account for post-graduate studies. No student loans for our family!
Both of our daughters now have two children each and we started Ohio 529 CollegeAdvantage accounts for those grandchildren as soon as they were born and had a Social Security number. These accounts are small, but every little bit helps when college time arrives.
We especially like that the grandparent accounts will no longer have an adverse effect on our grandchildren's financial aid eligibility with FAFSA. We also like that if a grandchild decides not to pursue a college education, the funds can be rolled over to a Roth IRA without penalty.
We would like other families to know that college is possible with the help of a good financial tool like The Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Plan.
Jackie and Gregg Steger
Granville Ohio
Disclaimer: The Stegers are the winners of the 2024 Cleveland Browns Training Camp VIP Experience, which was sponsored by Ohio 529.
