A Season of Giving and Sharing
For many families, December is a month of excitement and anticipation that may include gift exchanges and family gatherings. In this guest article, Iowa’s Treasurer of State provides details about a winter giveaway from ISave 529 and suggests a gift-giving opportunity for your family.
As your student looks ahead to the opportunities that college attendance can offer, be sure to share your own college experiences if you attended. Discuss your preparedness and excitement about it, as well as anything you would do differently as you reflect upon it now. College catalogs and websites offer rose-colored glimpses of college life, but your real-life experience, along with others’ perspectives, can build enthusiasm in your student, as well as set some realistic expectations.
Help Your Education Savings Pick Up Speed
Like a snowball rolling downhill, your child’s dreams just need a little push to gain momentum. As a subscriber to SP3 — Student Planning Pointers for Parents, you’re likely planning for the financial aspect of your children’s future education, and ISave 529™ wants to help your education savings pick up speed, no matter the path they choose. Visit ISave529.com/contest to register for the Winter Giveaway by December 31, and you could win a $5,290 ISave 529 contribution. Plus, get bonus entries with specific account activity.
Control
No matter the student’s age, you control when, where and how the funds are used.
Flexibility
Pay for tuition, room and board, fees and other qualified expenses at two- and four-year colleges, graduate school, postsecondary credentials and trade schools. Additionally, money can be used for apprenticeship program expenses, K-12 expenses, student loan repayment or rolled into a Roth IRA.
Gifting with Ease
Each student’s account has a unique Ugift® code family and friends can use to make direct contributions to their ISave 529 account for any occasion. To get the code, log in to your account and click “Share Ugift code” in the right menu, or access your account in the READYSAVE 529 app and click the Ugift icon. Then, friends and family visit ugift529.com, enter the code and securely complete the transaction.
Tax Advantages
There are no annual taxes on the earnings while in the account, and you will not pay federal or state taxes on qualified withdrawals. Iowa taxpayers have the added benefit of deducting up to $5,800 of your contributions per Beneficiary account from your 2025 state income taxes.
Get their future rolling with ISave 529, and don’t forget to register for our giveaway!
Roby Smith
Iowa State Treasurer
About the Author: As State Treasurer, Smith serves as the State’s Banker and Chief Financial Officer, overseeing Iowa’s investment portfolios and various programs that help our state thrive. This includes ISave 529, IAble® and Great Iowa Treasure Hunt. He deposits and invests state monies to ensure Iowa is set up for success today, while also thinking to the future.
For additional details about ISave 529, view the Program Description.
ISave 529 and the ISave 529 logo are trademarks of the Iowa Educational Savings Plan Trust. Ugift is a registered service mark of Ascensus College Savings Recordkeeping Services, LLC. IAble is a registered mark of the Iowa ABLE Savings Plan Trust.
Next Steps
Be sure to complete the survey questions at the end of this article to be entered into the 529 deposit giveaway!
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