When it comes to college education, funding is one of the most important considerations you need to make. Unfortunately, for far too many, it is one of the last considerations when it comes to the education of our children. If you're a parent, you owe it to your child and yourself to plan ahead and carefully to meet the costs of your child's education. Luckily, there are a few great ways you can do this. The most common is to start by opening an education savings account for your child (under the age of 18). If you open an education savings account for your child, you can save up to $2,000 per year per child. However, this is a combined total contribution and includes the contributions of grandparents, friends and family in addition to your own personal contributions. Money from these funds can be withdrawn tax-free as long as it is used for educational purposes. Educational expenses in this case include books, tuition, fees, materials, and room and board for college if your child is at least a part-time student. If you are not using all the funds for your child, there are choices as to what to do with the remaining funds in the account. The first option would be to leave the funds in the account and allow the account beneficiary to withdraw them until the age of 30. There is a penalty and the beneficiary must pay income tax on these funds. You can also choose to roll over these funds to the next child under the age of 18 who will have educational expenses in the future The money you put into these accounts to help pay for your child or children's education is not tax-deductible, but it's a great way to save money and invest in your child's future. If you start investing the maximum of $2,000 per year at birth, your child should have a nice nest egg to cover education costs. If your child is lucky enough to qualify for scholarships and other sources of financial assistance, you can give the funds away as graduation gifts or save for the next college student in your family who comes along. In any case, by having this fund set up for your children, you have saved yourself a good deal of the worries that come with supporting your family. You can sign up for programs like promise to subsidize your contributions with corporate sponsor donations to thank you for purchasing their products or using their services on any credit card you, your friends, and your family members are registered with Go to your child's account. Any advantage you gain when it comes to investing in your children's education is an advantage worth taking. College tuition fees are rising at an alarming rate, while corporate expectations for college degrees are rising at the same near-lightning speed. This means that a college degree is more important to our children than it has been in any previous generation, take the time now to consider securing your children's future by setting up an education savings account. Let friends and family know that any gifts you plan to give your children that involve money would be appreciated if instead they invested in your children's future and not the present. You can also ask your friends and family to register their credit cards with promise to provide a small increase in donations to your child's college savings account. These small steps add up to significant savings over the course of 18 years. You may find that the investment you make is enough to fully cover the cost of your child's college tuition
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