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.
I decided I wanted to start a savings account for each of my granddaughters for college. College costs are high, and I wanted to assist in financially planning for both girls’ post high school. Originally, I put money into bank savings accounts, but they were not earning very much interest. I then opened up an Ohio 529 Plan account for each of my granddaughters four years ago when they were two and four. And I have no regrets.
When I decided to open up Ohio 529 Plans for my granddaughters, I did research on the various options in which to invest money for college. I decided on a 529 plan and the Ohio 529 was ranked at the top nationally of 529 plans. (They are still highly ranked). Although the Ohio 529 Plan has a variety of investments from which to choose, in my case I was interested in the Vanguard Funds which are low fee funds and have the potential to do well. I am able to transfer funds from one fund to another in the 529 Plan twice a year if I choose to. At first, I had monthly contributions taken out automatically on the first of the month from my checking account and then I changed to manually make payments from my checking account to my 529s. Ohio 529 makes it very easy to make payments from my checking account either automatically or manually using direct deposit. Taxpayers of Ohio also get a tax deduction on their taxable state income up to $4,000 per contribution per beneficiary per year with unlimited carryover.
It was a bonus when I found out recently that if the funds are not used for schooling, they can be converted to a Roth IRA. Either way it works to help the beneficiary. I really see no downsides in opening up and contributing to an Ohio 529 Plan.
Diane Young
Lyndhurst Village
