Not About The Money Not About The Money

Colorado 529 Savings Plan (but didn't know, or were too afraid to ask)



Please join me with Brennan Hannon, Advisor Relations Manager at CollegeInvest, as we talk about all things Colorado 529, and 529s in general.



 




 



This was very fun, and Brennan was an amazing first guest.



We'd talked about shooting this since January (originally doing a YouTube video), and he still pulled the trigger, and held his breath for our first episode as a guest on our podcast.



If you are a CPA, or another advisor, call Brennan if you need any help with our Colorado 529 plan.



 



Conversation highlight(s): 

"It costs about half as much to save for college, then it does to borrow for college."



"All you need to open a Colorado 529 plan is a name, a social security number, and $15."



"About 70% of people expect a merit scholarship, and about 11% end up with one. When they do it's about $6k on average."



"Athletic scholarships pay more, but only about 2% of all students end up with them."



"There are no student loans for retirement, if you don't save, you're in trouble."



"If you had an infant today, and you wanted to pay for all their college education...At a public in-state school you'd have to put away $650 a month....If a kid is 10, it goes up to a 1,000 per month."



 

Before we get rolling, three things:



(1) Brennan and I tip-toe across things that could be interpreted as advice. We are only providing education.



Advice is personal.



Ask a qualified professional about your personal situation please don't get yourself into trouble, and then blame us.



Please.



Thank you.



Please.



(2) I know we have out of state listeners. Though we are going to talk about the Colorado 529 plan, we also cover the basic structures of all 529 plans; be sure to research your own states plan with a professional before looking outside the state.



(3) Also, I provide a teaser in the episode about free money, and then Brennan and I get so excited, I skip right over it.



Let's knock that out now:



Grants: https://www.collegeinvest.org/matching-grant-program/



Please check this out!



Dollar-Dollar matching up to $500 dollars!



You must be a Colorado resident.

Your Beneficiary (child, grandchild, etc.) must be 12 years old or younger at the time of the initial application.

You can get the grant for 5 years per child.

You must be able to claim the Beneficiary as a dependent for federal income tax purposes.

Your 2017 Family Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your tax return, as described in CollegeInvest Matching Grant Program TERMS & CONDITIONS, needs to be at or below the figures in the income eligibility chart below:






Scholarships: https://www.collegeinvest.org/collegeinvest-529-scholarship-colorado/



 



UPDATE,