When saving for my kids’ college education, I really like 529 savings plans because there are programs that make it easy for others to pitch in to help with our savings efforts. When saving for college, you can have anyone you know participate in your savings program, if you so wish.
Extra Savings For Your 529 College Savings Plan
Now for my two kids, I already have a couple of great Nevada 529 plans in place, which I’ve been funding religiously via Upromise and regular contributions.
Now the extra savings rewards afforded by Upromise are great, but then I caught wind of the CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan from other financial bloggers and found that I could accelerate our savings even further by signing up with this other program as well.
If you’re shopping around for a 529 savings plan (whether or not you already have kids), you may want to consider opening an account with College Advantage. Here’s why:
Ohio College Advantage 529 Savings Plan’s $25 Cash Bonus
Besides the fact that it’s well-rated by SavingForCollege.com, the program also sweetens the pot for us by offering us free money. College Advantage is the only plan I’m aware of that gives you a referral bonus as well as a sign up bonus through their Refer A Friend program. I’ve explained the process a bit in an earlier post on 529 college savings plan rewards, but I’ll restate it here. Here are the steps involved:
- Open a 529 savings account with the Ohio CollegeSavings 529 Plan.
- You’ll need a minimum opening balance of $25 to establish an account.
- Enter the reference code 2445926 so that you and I can both receive a $25 bonus. Don’t forget to supply the code — you’ll need it to be eligible for the bonus.
- Let others know about the plan and if they open an account in this same manner, you and the person you refer will each get $25 per account established. Rinse and repeat.
- The reference code supplied can only accommodate a limited number of sign ups. I’ll let you know when it’s maxed out.
- This referral program will expire on May 31, 2009.
What’s great about this plan is that if you have several kids, you can use the Refer A Friend program on yourself as well. Here’s a snippet from the CollegeAdvantage FAQ:
Q. I currently have two CollegeAdvantage accounts, but have not yet opened an account for my third child. Can I receive a referral bonus for opening a new account for my own child?
A. Yes, you would receive a $25 referral bonus for one of your existing accounts (whichever one you used as the referral code) and a $25 referral bonus for the new account. Simply complete the referral bonus section on either the online or paper application when you open the new account.
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