This topic is something I know too much about and want to prepare for my sons. My husband and I put ourselves through college partially on scholarships/grants and the remainder on student loans. A combined 14.5 years of college, so you can imagine how much debt we accrued. The average 4-year college graduate leaves with an average of $25,000 in debt. College savings is something we have definitely discussed when planning for our sons’ future. We would like to avoid them being apart of that statistic.
Our future scholar decorating his own piggy bank to start saving for college!
The Arizona College Savings Program #AZ529 is a simple solution. The 529 plan was created in 1996 by the IRS. It was slated to be operated by states and/or educational institutions to help families set aside funds for future education costs.
Benefits:
-Tax exempt from federal and AZ income tax on qualified distributions.
-Special Arizona tax incentives including tax deductions ($750 individual and $1500 joint).
-Variety of college savings offered through multiple providers including CD’s, mutual funds, and age-based portfolios.
-Assets not considered when determining financial need for aid.
-Savings can be used at most major accredited US universities and eligible foreign institutions.
-Option to change plan beneficiaries.
-Anyone can contribute.
-Payroll deductions and automatic transfers available for no-fuss savings.
-Start saving with as little as $15 a month.
#AZ529 is on Facebook
Disclosure: I participate in #AZ529 College Savings Month Blog Tour. I was compensated and provided with a kit to share information about the savings plan.