College savings for every future

Understanding 529 plans and their benefits

Give the gift of knowledge, career skills and life-changing opportunities to a loved one—in the form of a tax-advantaged, benefits-oriented college savings account that can be used for a variety of qualified educational expenses.

What is a 529 plan?

Kick-start your college fund with an account that’s flexible and simple to manage, and any earnings are tax-deferred!

A tax-advantaged way to save for college and other educational expenses

Can be used for expenses like tuition, fees, computers, textbooks, and room and board1

A lower impact on financial aid qualification than many other investment options2

Can be opened with only $25 and 15 minutes of your time

What can MNSAVES do for me?

Tax-advantaged growth potential

With a MNSAVES account, you could save more with tax-deferred growth and 100% tax-free earnings for qualified withdrawals. Married Minnesota taxpayers filing jointly can also reduce their state taxable income up to $3,000 per year. When you pay less taxes, you have the ability to earn more and grow your college savings account faster, giving your beneficiary an even bigger head start!3

With tax-deferred growth, you can grow your college savings faster.

Taxable vs. Tax-Deferred growth over 10 years.*

Bar chart showing that $100 invested in a MNSAVES account over an 10-year period could grow to $210.61.
Taxable Investment
$179.64
Tax-Deferred Investment
$210.61

Read about material differences between taxable investments and tax-deferred investments.

Graph Footnotes

Flexible spending

A MNSAVES account can be used to pay for a wide range of qualifying educational expenses. Plus, you can withdraw money as needed for qualified expenses and even transfer funds to eligible beneficiaries at no cost.

  • Use your savings at colleges, universities, technical and community colleges, at graduate or post-graduate schools, professional programs, apprenticeships and more.4
  • Pay for tuition, fees, computers, textbooks, room and board or off-campus rent, and other required expenses.
  • Pay for qualifying K-12 expenses.4
  • Use your funds at eligible institutions in-state or anywhere in the world!
  • Even use for student loan repayment subject to a lifetime limit of $10,000 per individual.4

Low fees and expenses

Saving for college for your child shouldn’t break the bank. That’s why investment expenses for the Minnesota 529 College Saving Plan are less than one-third the average 529 plan and less than a quarter of what you’d pay for an advisor-sold plan.5

When you open an account, you can enjoy a variety of no-cost perks like:

  • NO application fees
  • NO cancellation fees
  • NO change–in–beneficiary fees
  • NO change–in–investment-portfolio fees
  • NO loads or sales charges
  • NO commissions
  • NO transfer fees

Investment options

The Minnesota 529 College Savings Plan offers a variety of professionally managed investment options to fit your life situation, risk tolerance and college savings goals. So, whether you’re a new or experienced investor, prefer to be hands-on or would rather “set it and forget it,” there’s a plan for you!

Investment Options

This 529 plan was created by the State of Minnesota

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education selected TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. (TFI) as the Plan Manager. TFI is a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of TIAA, one of America’s leading financial services organizations for over 100 years.

Who We Are

What’s next?

How does this compare to other savings options?

Compare savings options

What are my investment options?

Explore options

Ready to get started?

Have questions? MNSAVES is here to help!

Read our FAQ

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