BeamaLife College Savings Plan
All parents want the best for their children. They invest time building their child's character and integrity, teaching them the core values that will hopefully carry them successfully through life. Many parents believe that if they spend the time preparing their children to face the world, it will be enough to make them successful. Unfortunately, without a college education, many of these intuitive, gifted young people will never fully reach their potential. Business leaders today place a value on education unlike never before. In the 80's and 90's having a college degree may have helped you get promoted, in today's business environment, you need a degree just to get into the building!
All college savings strategies aren't created equal. Some of the best savings vehicles offer special tax advantages to pay for college. Structuring a tax-efficient plan is important; it can increase the potential of accumulating more money over time as compared to a taxable investment. There few college saving plans available to help you secure your children's future, yet there is only one, life insurance based plan that is self-completing in the event that something should happen to breadwinner parent.
The average annual cost of a four-year public college for the 2007/2008 academic year is $17,336 and the average annual cost of a four-year private college is $35,374. The total figures include five expense categories: tuition & fees, room & board, books & supplies, transportation, and personal expenses. If historical trends remain consistent; educational costs could potentially rise by 5 to 8 percent annually; bearing in mind that those increases could vary between public and private colleges.
The right College Savings Plan; structured in a tax efficient manner, implemented during a child's younger years will allow your children's educational choices to be determined by their grades and SAT scores as opposed to which tuition costs they can afford or qualify for.
Popular College Savings Options
- 529 Plans
- Cash Value Life Insurance
- Bank CD or Money Market Account
College Savings Options Comparison
College Savings through Whole Life insurance or "Cash Value" based plan work best for younger age children due to the fact that Life Insurance policies require twelve to fifteen years to grow in cash value. Cash Value Life Insurance, in particular Whole Life plans provide almost all of the advantages of 529 plans while eliminating their disadvantages. Section 529 plans are viable for children of all ages up until 12/13 years old because of the stock market investment component. If there are only a couple of years before your child goes to college then a Bank CD would be the best option even though there are no tax advantages, death or disability protection.
| 529 Plan | Cash Value Life Insurance (Whole Life Policy) | |
| Tax advantages | Funded with after-federal-income-tax dollars. Grows tax-deferred and tax-free for qualified tuition expenses. | Funded with after-federal-income tax dollars. Grows tax-deferred and taken out tax-free as policy loans as long as the policy remains in force. |
| Investment risk | 529 plans are investment-based, providing opportunities to invest in predetermined funds or portfolios. There is no guarantee of return or principal unless it is invested in low- return, fixed-income funds. | Comes with guaranteed cash value and non- guaranteed dividends. |
| Financial aid | 529 plans are efficient for financial aid purposes, but are included in the calculation of a parent's assets of expected family contributions. | Life insurance values are NOT included in the federal methodology for calculating financial aid, so you will not be penalized for saving for college. |
| Nonqualified penalty | If not used for qualified tuition expenses, there is a 10% federal excise penalty over and above any income tax. | There are no such restrictions. Cash value can be used for any purpose whatsoever. |
| Provides for the Death and/or Disability of Parent | 529 plans do not have any insurance feature, so if the person providing the contribution dies, the plan may be incomplete. | It is a life insurance policy, covering the life of the primary income provider. If waiver of premium rider is added, it will be self-completing in case of total disability as well. |
| Can be used for Colleges outside of USA | Only if the college is accredited by the US Department of Education. |
Many parents today completely underestimate the huge financial commitment a four year degree from a top educational institution requires. If you add in a Law or Medical degree it becomes the second largest investment in a parents' lifetime, only buying a home will require a larger investment. That's why planning for your children's education has to start when they are very young, maybe even still in a crib! Request now a personalized college savings proposal for your children/child.
