{"id":344,"date":"2011-12-11T01:24:42","date_gmt":"2011-12-11T01:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ua-cpas.com\/blog\/?p=344"},"modified":"2011-12-11T01:24:42","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T01:24:42","slug":"great-gift-idea-529-college-savings-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/12\/11\/great-gift-idea-529-college-savings-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Gift Idea: 529 College Savings Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Tis the season of giving, a time of deal-searching, as well as assessing what our loved ones could use.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a gift you may want to consider: a 529 college savings plan. A 529 Plan is an education savings plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs. Every state now has a 529 Plan, and the funds can be used to meet costs of qualified colleges nationwide. Saving for college has never been more important, and a 529 Plan offers several significant perks:<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Earnings on your investments are tax-free<\/li>\n<li>You will continue to have full control over the account, not the beneficiary.\u00a0 Most plans even allow you to reclaim the funds for yourself any time.<\/li>\n<li>If the beneficiary decides not to go to college, you can name another child the beneficiary, or yourself, if you want to go back to school<\/li>\n<li>Investment options have improved. In recognition of the volatile nature of the stock market, many 529 plans have added conservative investments, such as certificates of deposits and stable value funds<\/li>\n<li>You may be eligible for a reduction in your state taxes. There are currently 34 states offering tax deductions or credits to residents who invest in their own state\u2019s plan<\/li>\n<li>Your contribution qualifies for the $13,000 annual gift tax exclusion. If you make a contribution of between $13,000 and $65,000 for a beneficiary, you can elect to treat the contribution as made over a five calendar year period for gift tax purposes. The money (and the growth of your account) is removed from your estate faster than if your made contributions each year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So whether you\u2019re hunting for that flat-screen TV or gaming system, don\u2019t forget about the 529 college savings plan. You\u2019ll be giving your child a gift that will keep on giving<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>College Savings Plans- 529 Plans have many tax benefits- both income tax benefits and gift tax benefits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,22,23],"tags":[73,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-small-business-forum","7":"category-tax-tips-for-individuals","8":"category-taxes","9":"tag-education-savings","10":"tag-gift-taxes","11":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ua-cpas.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}