Flexibility

Anyone 18 years of age or older can open a UESP 529 plan account. Parents can save for their children, grandparents can save for grandchildren, and uncles and aunts can save for nieces and nephews. Once you open the account, you can change the beneficiary at any time to another member of the beneficiary’s family. Each beneficiary and each account owner must be a resident of the United States and must have a valid U.S. Social Security or Taxpayer Identification number.1

Choose a College
You can use the money in your child’s account at any eligible educational institution he or she is invited to attend–from the local community college to the Ivy League. Eligible educational institutions generally include any accredited, public or private college, university or applied technology center anywhere in the country, and even at some schools abroad.2

But college is so much more than going to class. That’s why the Utah 529 plan lets you withdraw funds for your child’s qualified higher education expenses including tuition and fees, books, supplies, room and board, and required equipment. For a list of qualified higher education expenses, click here.

Withdraw at Any Time
So what if circumstances change? Did your son or daughter change their mind about attending college? Did a family emergency come up? Or did you just change your mind? You can withdraw your funds at any time. If the money is used for anything but a qualified higher education expense, you’ll be required to pay federal and state income tax on the earnings and an additional 10% federal penalty tax on the earnings portion of the distribution, and recapture any Utah state income tax deduction or credit previously claimed—but the decision is yours to make.3

Maximum Aggregate Contributions
The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) is a valuable tool in any investment strategy. There are no income restrictions on who can contribute, and contributions can be made until all balances for the same beneficiary reach an aggregate $330,000.4

1 Restrictions apply to all account changes. Please see the Program Description for details.

2 Eligible educational institutions can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

3 In cases of death, disability, receipt of a scholarship, or attendance at a military academy, the earnings will be subject to federal and state income tax but you will not have to pay the additional 10% federal penalty. If you previously took a Utah state income tax credit or deduction, you must add the deducted amount to your taxable income for Utah state income tax purposes in the year of the non-qualified disbursement.

4 UESP will accept contributions until the aggregate account balances for the same beneficiary reach $330,000. The account balances may exceed this amount as a result of market performance. This dollar limit can change in the future.

© UESP 2008
The terms Utah Educational Savings Plan and UESP are registered trademarks.

Investors should read the Program Description and consider all investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. The Program Description is available for download on the Web or a hard copy can be mailed to you by requesting it online from this Web site.

Investments are not guaranteed by UESP, the Utah State Board of Regents, the UHEAA, the FDIC, or any other state or federal government agency. Your investment may lose value.

Investors who are not Utah taxpayers should determine whether the state in which they or their beneficiary reside or pay taxes offers a 529 plan, and if so, whether that plan offers state tax or other benefits not available through UESP.

 

"Generally speaking, it's still Utah - which is one of the reasons that it is perenially on top of our list of the best 529 plans."

Morningstar, Inc.
Independent Investment Research
May 10, 2007