Scarier than Public Speaking
You’ve probably heard that most people fear speaking in public even more than death. Well, Money magazine reports that paying for college is what parents of school age children fear the most. To help alleviate that fear, the article recommends one relatively painless action step. Open accounts with Upromise (http://www.upromise.com/) and/or Littlegrad (http://www.littlegrad.com/). Both put a percentage of your day-to-day credit card or debit card spending into a “529” college savings account.
Matt’s View:
While you certainly won’t pay for four years of college this way, hey, if it pays for a semester’s worth of pizzas, it’s found money. While it requires a little bit of effort (registering your credit or debt cards on the sites and, in the case of Upromise, making purchases through the site’s portal), this is about as painless as building savings gets.
On a related note, a reader commented on the last issue of Matt About Money, wondering whether a 529 plan is such a good idea for college funding since the plan offered by his state has not been performing very well. I’m still a believer in 529 plans, but remember, you don’t need to stick to the one offered by your state. A great resource for investigating the plans offered by each state is www.savingforcollege.com . You’ll have to determine the trade offs. With an in-state plan you may be eligible for a state tax break. However, by going out of state you may find a plan with lower fees, more investment options, and a better track record. This site helps you wade through the various offerings and even rates each program.
Managing Money by The Book
- "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
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