529 College Savings Plans....Few Questions

You can buy plans in other states. Most states allow plan transfers...go figure. My suggestion is, buy the plan, the whole plan. Buy the plan outright. You can't beat their projected return, then again, they might do a GM on you... your money is my unions money now.....money. Think some Pink Floyd, 94 concert.

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that Louisiana is one of the poorest performing choices

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Not really...

LINK


Ten-year performance ranking
Rank State Plan Percentile
1 Alaska T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan 17.66
2 Alaska University of Alaska College Savings Plan 25.43
3 Maryland College Savings Plans of Maryland -- College Investment Plan 32.56
4 Louisiana START Saving Program 35.04
5 Virginia Virginia Education Savings Trust (VEST) 39.87
6 Iowa College Savings Iowa 43.63
7 South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold) 55.83
8 Rhode Island CollegeBoundfund (Direct-sold, Alternative RI) 58.52
9 Delaware Delaware College Investment Plan 71.47
10 New Hampshire UNIQUE College Investing Plan 73.28


If you are a La resident, START is your best choice, imo.

I should have been more specific. I'm not a Louisiana resident but will be within a year. I'm going with the Utah plan for now but may roll over into the Louisiana 529 in the future.

I am not familiar with the roll over issue. But to the OP - Louisiana is great for Louisiana citizens. They match a % according to income. You get state income tax deduction. And, over time, the ability to chose different investment vehicles has evolved. It use to be very limited. It's still limited, but there are more options now than 5 years ago when I started my sons.

You can roll any states plan over into another states plan once per year without penalty

I opened a Mississippi 529 plan. We had the option of a traditional 529 or a guaranteed option. We went with the guaranteed option because it locked in tuition rates at today's prices (and with the way tuition is increasingly yearly, that seemed like the best investment).

Whatever plan you go with, I would make sure it's guaranteed by the state. Funny enough, MS has temporarily suspended its program to conduct an actuary audit.

Are you also locked into a certain college with that option?

I'm currently not a Louisiana resident but do plan to send my children to LSU. My parents, however, are residents. Does anyone know if I can just have them set up a 529 plan for my child and just contribute that way?

(Most likely I'll have them contribute directly and I just reimburse them. Not sure if that is legal either...)