Saving for Your Child’s College Education

If you are like me, you are expecting the cost of a college education to cost more than your house by the time you child reaches school. I am looking about 18 years out and am quite concerned as to what that final cost may be.

Once my child is born I am going to start a 529 College Education Savings plan. If you are unaware of what a 529 plan is, you could think of it like a 401k where the money is used for education rather than retirement.

But asI think about it,  I really don’t think that will be enough any more depending on the amount of money you can set aside each month. My thought is maybe also try to put some money into savings or even bonds. I am also looking at a program called Upromise.

Upromise is a rewards based plan where you get a money back percentage from buying from certain retailers and that money is deposited into an account that you can use later to pay for your children’s college. So inaddition to getting airline miles or cash back from a Rewards credit card you would also get cash that goes toward your child’s college tuition. There are quite a bit of retailers that participate like McDonalds, Exxon Mobil, Barnes&Noble, etc.  You will also get rewards for buying certain items while at the supermarket.

You will get 1% – 25% from buying from participating retailers online and earn 1% to 5% from participating brands from the grocery store. You can have these earnings either go into a 529 plan or just keep in a cash account. Sure this may not sound like a whole lot, but these earnings over time can grow, especially if you have them go into a 529 account. And this is all free. You just keep shopping like normal. Definitely something to look into if you are looking for extra ways to save for that ever increasing college education.

And right now Upromise is giving out a $10 bonus if you sign up for an account by April 30th. If you have used Upromise, please leave a comment and let me know how it goes for you. I might sign up just for the $10 but am curious about others experiences.

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NOTE: For posts that contain bonuses, be sure to read the post for bonus expiration dates. Links may work but the bonus may have expired.

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