You want to help your grandchild or friend’s kid on their path to college — excellent! But it can be difficult to know whether it’s better to contribute to an existing plan or open a new account. You want to know the pros and cons — like how does your grandchild or friend’s child get the money or what happens if they don’t go to school? And what are the tax implications for your estate? The Minnesota College Savings Plan accounts for all this and more.
Why Save with the Minnesota College Savings Plan
With the Minnesota College Savings Plan, you decide how to help. If you want to own the plan, you don’t need to be a parent — anyone can start an account for anyone else. You’ll control how the money’s invested and how it gets spent. Since there’s no age limit attached to a 529 plan, you get more options. Say you opened an account for your grandson but he doesn’t end up going to school. You can let the funds sit till he does, use them yourself to take those community college writing courses you’ve been meaning to, or transfer the funds to another grandchild.
On the other hand, if you just want to support an existing Minnesota College Savings Plan account, anyone can make a gift contribution to anyone else’s plan. Either way, the earnings portion, if any, on that investment can grow free from federal income tax. Qualified withdrawals come untaxed as well, and you can spend the money on a lot more than tuition, including: room and board, computers and related technology expenses, supplies, books, and equipment.
What the Minnesota College Savings Plan Means for Estate & Legacy Planning
You might find you want to make a larger donation to your grandchild’s account but you’re hesitant to commit. What will it mean for you come tax time? What are the implications to your estate? Don’t worry, you can give with confidence and it won’t adversely impact your tax situation. In fact, there’s no federal gift tax on contributions up to $17,000 per year for single filers and $34,000 for married filers.
If you wish to make a larger contribution, there’s an option to gift amounts up to $85,000 for single filers and up to $170,000 for married filers if pro-rated over 5 years. This means you could make a one-time gift equivalent to the 5-year amount and it could all qualify for the federal gift tax exclusion. Consult your tax advisor.
Gifting – Make a Contribution to an Existing Account
Kids grow out of clothes so fast. Toys are lost and discarded. Books may or may not be read. But making a gift contribution to a child’s college education will last a lifetime. There are so many perfect opportunities to give – birthdays, holidays, graduations, and other important occasions. And making a gift contribution is easy. You may gift into a current MNSAVES account by downloading an Additional Contribution form and mailing it in with a check. You may also ask the account owner for a Ugift® code to make online, secure contributions as often as you’d like. Complete your gift by downloading one of our gift of education certificates and presenting it to your loved one for their special occasion.
Please note that if you are not the account owner, our college savings specialists can answer your general questions. Any account-related questions or trouble-shooting must be coordinated with the account owner.
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