The 529 Plan - Saving for College

<p><strong>Josh Tirado: </strong>  A topic that comes up very often. Is college savings? No, specifically, 529 plans. When I look on social media, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, within my neighborhood groups and a lot of affiliate groups that I'm in, that topic comes up  often where people are looking for help with that looking for professionals to work with somebody when it comes to college savings and 529.</p><p>[00:02:05]A couple of key takeaways. I want to mention to that understanding the strategy behind the investment, instead of just saying, Oh, I want to go do that for college, but let's first take a look at what the strategy is and what makes the most sense for you. </p><p>[00:02:17] the reason it's called the 529 plan and most things in the financial universe when you see a combination of numbers or numbers and letters, it's actually referring to the tax code that references that investment. So if five to nine plan is simply referencing the tax code that allows you to save money and I'm doing air quotes for college on a tax-deferred basis.</p><p>[00:02:38] And as long as you pull the money out of your 529 plan, for qualified secondary education expense, any growth in that money is also tax-free. Now when five first came out, it was strictly designed for college. It's now been expanded. It can cover college and cover masters, a doctorate in cover private high school.</p><p>[00:02:54] It can actually cover private kindergarten also technical school culinary school. It will cover any sort of education and related expenses. So you can use it towards books, supplies, room, and board. It will cover anything related And five to nine. Is that part of the tax code that gives you that advantage so far in away over the years, if, when it comes to college savings, 529s are the gold standard.</p><p>[00:03:19] I mean, that's really where it's at. that's the number one tool that we can use, but let's discuss the strategy behind the 529. And if it makes sense to do a 529. For you, when people approached me about do