Happy Belated 529 Day! Another successful school year has come to a close. We had the juxtaposition of oldest daughter graduating high school and youngest daughter finishing kindergarten. One down, four to go!
Turns out with a bit of dumb luck and years of $250 per month per child 529 contributions, we have enough education money set aside for the oldest two children. Tuition, room & board, fees, books and living expenses will run around $27k per year for oldest daughter at a public in state university. She secured $9k per year in scholarships so far which covers 1/3 of the sticker price. That leaves 2/3 for us to pay out of 529 accounts.
I’m beginning to study 529 qualified and non qualified distributions and the mechanics of paying the university on time. If anything, I saved a bit too much money in the 529 buckets and not enough in UTMA brokerage accounts for medical and spending expenses. Something to optimize further for the youngest three children. I think we can make 529 distributions for the amount of scholarships received and pay income tax on the growth but avoid the 10% penalty. I just need to figure out the tax accounting for 2024 and beyond.
Happy last days of school and first days of summer. No alarm clocks for a few months makes for a happier retired dad.
