Achieve Montana’s improvements will help Montana parents save for their children’s education
May 21, 2020
As families across Montana strive to find balance in this challenging time, anything that can help simplify their lives will be welcome. Achieve Montana, the state’s official 529 plan, understands this and is here to help, announcing several changes that will make it simpler for Montana families to save for their children’s education.
Achieve Montana’s plans already feature generous contribution limits, tax-deferred earning, tax-free qualified withdrawals, and can be opened with as little as $25. The new improvements build on that solid foundation in several key ways:
Investment Options:
- Transitioning the age-based option to a year of enrollment option to allow a smoother progression over time to more conservative investments as your child nears college age
- Providing a more gradual shift in assets allocation away from stocks as a child gets closer to starting their higher education which helps to preserve the assets in the fund
- Two new individual portfolios
- Giving Montana parents (and grandparents) more choices in how they save for their children’s future
Lower fees:
- Reducing both the underlying fund expenses and the service and state administrative fees
- An overall decrease of up to 29%
As always, the assets in a 529 account can help pay for tuition, fees, books, and certain room and board costs at eligible two- and four-year schools, trade, and technical institutions around the country. You do not even need to know what your child wants to be when they grow up or where they want to go to school. An Achieve Montana account provides benefits for a variety of educational needs.
Need a little help setting your savings goals? Achieve Montana’s new website features a handy savings calculator to help you run the numbers and create a realistic savings plan. Remember, Achieve Montana exists to make saving for education simple for Montana families and is here to help no matter the economic situation of the moment.
Disclaimer:
For more information about Achieve Montana, download an Enrollment Kit at achievemontana.com or call 877.486.9271. The Enrollment Kit includes a Program Description that discusses investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information; read and consider it carefully before investing.
If you are not a Montana taxpayer, consider before investing whether your or the beneficiary’s home state offers any state tax or other benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in that state’s qualified tuition program.
Except to the extent of the New York Life Insurance Company guarantee that is available for the Capital Preservation Portfolio and certain Year of Enrollment Portfolios, investment returns are not guaranteed, and you could lose money by investing in Achieve Montana.
Earnings on non-qualified withdrawals may be subject to federal income tax and a 10% federal penalty tax, as well as state and local income taxes. Tax and other benefits are contingent on meeting other requirements and certain withdrawals are subject to federal, state, and local taxes.
