re: 529 and College Savings Plan Compare Workbook

It was REALLY splitting hairs at that point. Low fees, positive growth, ease of both setup and guest contribution were my primary motivators. My final four were AK, OH, NY, and UT.

What might've been the deciding factor was timing, honestly. AK pitched a $250 bonus to each of the first 1,000 new enrollees in a given calendar year. At the time I was applying (late January '23) I thought I might qualify for it. It wasn't a huge boon but just enough to get me to pull the trigger on 'em.

(Side note: I was not convinced that I had qualified for the enrollment bonus after a few months. As it turned out, a few weeks ago I woke up with an extra $700 in the account. $250 apiece for EACH account I had opened (since I opened one for each child), and another $100 apiece for having contributed every month since opening the account. The fine print says you won't find out if you qualified until one year after opening the account, but hell, I'll take it.)

I had a unique circumstance though. This late into the year there's no sure thing that you would qualify for that like I had. OH, NY, and UT would all be fantastic choices during the other 11 months of the year, and if I were doing it in March I probably would've gone in a different direction.

Thanks for the feedback. Happy hunting.