12-17-2007, 02:13 PM
The recent donation of money to Maine babie's for college fund by the Dexter Shoe baron reminded me that Upromise is a wonderful way to sock some money away for kids education. AND you do not have to be the parent of the child. I know we have some devoted Aunts and Grandmoms on this site. You have seen the Upromise logo on products in the store.. well, they do donate to your child's fund if you sign up. Lots of huge retailers like Bean, Overstock, Ebay are Upromise partners. The savings really add up fast. Just by shopping Bean this year I have an extra $23 dumped in the account.
The best thing is the Citi card (you do not have to have the card but it really is worth while especially if you do not have a card that "gets" you anything). We get 1 % of every purchase donated to the fund (as do our daughter and son-in-law and his dad). All that money for gas, fuel oil, food, dining out, etc. (AND Taylor related expenses
) gets us a nice amount added to the fund each month.
Once you get a certain amount in the account it can be put in a 529 educational fund (parents set up, totally controlled by parent, not Upromise). Vanguard is a partner and it is easy to go through them, but our kids picked a fund through their financial planner.
You can even start an account before you have kids, as my daughter did, then transfer it to the child later. As long as it is used for education, it is acceptable !
The best thing is the Citi card (you do not have to have the card but it really is worth while especially if you do not have a card that "gets" you anything). We get 1 % of every purchase donated to the fund (as do our daughter and son-in-law and his dad). All that money for gas, fuel oil, food, dining out, etc. (AND Taylor related expenses
) gets us a nice amount added to the fund each month. Once you get a certain amount in the account it can be put in a 529 educational fund (parents set up, totally controlled by parent, not Upromise). Vanguard is a partner and it is easy to go through them, but our kids picked a fund through their financial planner.
You can even start an account before you have kids, as my daughter did, then transfer it to the child later. As long as it is used for education, it is acceptable !