Online Resources for Saving for College

by Lee Hudspeth
(This article appears in The Naked PC #5.23, November 14, 2002)

** 02. Online Resources for Saving for College (by Lee Hudspeth)

If you have--or are planning to have--children or grandchildren 
and want to see to it that they have an opportunity to attend 
college, here are some helpful online resources to further that 
goal.

One site you'll want to study early in your search is 
Savingforcollege.com. Here you can learn all about 529 plans, 
defined by the site's author/founder Joe Hurley as follows, "It's 
an investment plan operated by a state designed to help families 
save for future college costs. As long as the plan satisfies a 
few basic requirements, the federal tax law provides special tax 
benefits to you, the plan participant (Section 529 of the 
Internal Revenue Code)." The site's FAQs explain the benefits in 
detail, clarify some misconceptions about state (public) 
universities and 529s, financial aid issues, refund issues, tax 
issues, transfer issues, and more. Other powerful features on 
this site include a tool for comparing 529s, college savings and 
financial aid calculators, info on Coverdell Education Savings 
Accounts (formerly known as Education IRAs or EdIRAs), a 529 
"consultant finder," and a message board.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/523/tr.cgi?lee1

Click here for more information on the latest edition of Hurley's 
book "The Best Way to Save for College: A Complete Guide to 529 
Plans, 2002/2003."
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/523/tr.cgi?lee2

If you're a Quicken user, and upgrade to (or buy) Quicken 
Financial Planner 2, that module includes costs on 1,700+ 
colleges and universities nationwide; Intuit states that these 
costs include tuition, room, and board as well as other costs. (I 
am not currently running Quicken for personal or evaluation 
purposes, so I can only report what the Intuit Web site has to 
say about Financial Planner 2 and college savings.)
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/523/tr.cgi?lee3

My Dad ran across this particular Web site that includes, among 
many other tools, a college tuition calculator and several dozen 
other financial calculators.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/523/tr.cgi?lee4

Here's another helpful site that has college-related financial 
calculators.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/523/tr.cgi?lee5

This next site offers a CollegeQuest search engine that includes 
the ability to search by tuition, as well as other criteria like 
location, major, size, GPA, sports, and so on.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/523/tr.cgi?lee6

If you have any favorite tools or resources you use when 
evaluating college savings plans or strategies, drop me a line.

(c) 2002, Lee Hudspeth
You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
leehudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

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