529 Plans

I recently sold Savingforcollege.com to College Savings Holdings, LLC, which also owns GradSave. GradSave (www.gradsave.com) is a college savings registry--the country's largest--that provides a service allowing friends and family to make gifts into a child's 529 college savings account.

One thing I like about the GradSave "crowdfunding" concept is that if you use the service, it is NOT because of the tax benefits associated with 529 plans, but simply because you want to help a friend or relative afford college for their child. It is a way, that might not otherwise be possible, for families of every income level to use 529 plans in building their college savings. This is especially relevant in the face of recent headlines screaming that 529 plans are being used primarily by the wealthy.

So of course I wanted to try GradSave for our own Christmas gifting. And the best validation of the service comes from these notes my wife and I received from our two young nieces Reilly (age 9) and Harley (age 6, who refers to "colig muny"). Try it yourself.