(September 5, 2024) - To most families with school-aged children, the arrival of September means back-to-school and diving into school year routines. The first week of September is often a flurry of last-minute back-to-school shopping, signing students up for extra-curricular activities or after-school care, and coordinating schedules to prepare for the year ahead. However, September takes on a whole new meaning when you send your kids off to another city, state, or country to continue their education after high school. It is a surreal experience for sure!

Did you know that September is nationally recognized as College Savings Month? It is the perfect time to take steps to prepare for the first “back-to-school” day of college or trade school. One of the most important steps you can take early on is to set up a savings account dedicated to their higher education. When it comes to preparing for higher education, the sooner you start, the more time you have to save!

Washington Education Savings Plans offers two 529 savings plan options, GET Prepaid Tuition Plan and WA529 Invest. 529 prepaid plans, like GET, allow you to purchase tuition units at a set price today and use them in the future to avoid long-term tuition inflation and stock market risk. 529 savings plans, like WA529 Invest, allow you to pick an investment option and save money based on the market’s performance. No matter which type of 529 plan you prefer, they are designed to encourage families to save for future education expenses in a tax-advantaged way. For example, contributions are made with after-tax dollars, growth is tax-free, and it remains tax-free when used for qualified education expenses.

Once you’ve researched 529 plans and decided which one is best for you, you may ask yourself, when is the best time to get started? The answer: Yesterday! The second-best time? Today! Start as early as you can and save what you can, when you can. It truly makes a huge difference and it “takes a village”, so get grandparents, aunts, uncles, other family members, and friends involved. Any gift-giving time is a great time to add a contribution to a student’s education savings, and it will last them a lifetime.

Most families, including my own, use a combination of finance options for their child’s higher education. Grants, scholarships, campus jobs, savings, and loans all play a part. My children used all of those resources. Three years ago, my oldest child graduated from college and is already debt-free! Recently, we drove our youngest child to Arizona for his last semester of college. Soon, he will graduate with minimal debt, in part due to his hard work earning scholarships, working as an RA, and summer jobs, but also due to family efforts to save as much as we could ahead of time.

As I reflect on our last “back-to-school” moment, I have an enormous sense of peace. It is a fantastic feeling knowing that every dollar we saved helped them achieve their education goals and made a significant difference in their financial futures.

Compare Washington's 529 Plans and start saving today!