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 College Savings Iowa’s year-end giveaway 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.
Give the Gift of Education
Holidays are about creating lasting memories of the joy, love and magic of the season. This November and December, share a lasting gift that will continue giving in the years to come. 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 the College Savings Iowa 529 plan can help. To share the magic of the holiday season, College Savings Iowa is offering two $5,290 account contributions for our Year-End Giveaway! Iowa families can visit Iowa529Contest.com to register the children in their lives until Sunday, December 31, 2023.
Flexibility
College Savings Iowa gives families flexibility with when, where and how account funds are used. The child you’re saving for can attend any eligible education institution in the U.S. or abroad, including two- and four-year colleges, apprenticeship programs and trade schools. Funds can be used to pay for tuition, room and board, books, computers, supplies and other qualified education-related expenses. Additionally, up to $10,000 per student per year can be used for K-12 tuition.
Tax Advantages
Opening a College Savings Iowa account or making a contribution to an existing account is the gift that keeps giving, not only for your student, but for you as well. If you are an Iowa taxpayer, you have the added benefit of deducting up to $3,785 of your contributions per Beneficiary account from your 2023 state income taxes.
Gifting with Ease
No need to worry about what size sweater or socks to get – a contribution to a College Savings Iowa account is a meaningful gift that always fits! Each Beneficiary’s account has a unique Ugift® code friends and family can use to send gift contributions directly to their College Savings Iowa account. To get started, after logging in to your account, click “Share Ugift code” in the left navigation list to see your Beneficiary’s unique code. Friends and family can visit ugift.com, enter the code and securely complete the transaction.
As you gather with friends and family this holiday season, share the magic of investing in your child’s education dreams, and don’t forget to register for our Year-End Giveaway! For additional details about the Plan, view our Program Description.
Roby Smith
Iowa State Treasurer
About the Author: Iowa State Treasurer Roby Smith is the State’s banker, invests Iowa’s money, coordinates bonding, returns millions through Great Iowa Treasure Hunt, helps families save for education through the College Savings Iowa 529 plan, assists people with disabilities and their families in saving for disability-related expenses through IAble and promotes financial education and empowerment throughout the state.
Ugift and the Ugift logo are registered service marks of Ascensus College Savings Recordkeeping Services, LLC.
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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