One thing my parents instilled in all of us was to save early and often- for college, and for our future. Obviously for parents, saving for college is a big one, and we’ve been working hard to add to our kids’ 529 accounts each year since they were born. When you are looking at finding a 529 plan in Connecticut, you’ll find CHET-the Connecticut Higher Education Trust. This post about the Connecticut 529 plan and giving the gift of saving with CHET is sponsored. Opinions are my own.
Connecticut 529 Plan: Give the Gift of Saving with CHET
With CHET, my husband and I make contributions regularly, from our paychecks, or when finances allow. But there are two great options for starting or adding to a Connecticut 529 plan, in CHET Baby Scholars and CHET Gift of College Gift Cards.
CHET Baby Scholars
While you are enjoying the amazing – and at times overwhelming – first year of your child’s life, let CHET help you get started saving for college. Open a CHET account and receive up to $250. This is one of the first things I said to my nephew last February after his daughter was born. I remember telling him that hey you get free money when you do, because if you have put in $150 or more before the baby is four, you could get up to $250 free for her account. I was happy to hear he’d opened an account for my little grand niece, and I know when she’s a big sister down the road, they’ll open an account for that baby as well. It kind of seems silly not to take advantage of free money- you do need to make a deposit, but you’re going to want to do that anyway so the money has time to grow as your baby goes through childhood. It’s never too late to start saving for college, but it’s also never too early…and the earlier you start saving, the less you have to borrow down the road. For more details visit www.aboutchet.com/babyscholars.
Specifics: The CHET Baby Scholars program provides up to $250 toward a newborn’s future college costs. Babies born in Connecticut, who are less than a year old, and adopted children, not later than the first anniversary of the adoption, are eligible for a CHET Baby Scholars grant in the amount of $100. The grant is given as a contribution into the child’s CHET account. Then, if an additional $150 is saved in the account by the time the child is four (or in the case of an adoption, by the fourth anniversary of the adoption), the account may be eligible for a second grant of $150.
CHET Gift of College Gift Cards
As a mom, I hear from parents almost daily how their kids have “every toy” and want for nothing. Or, the holidays just passed, and we don’t have room for more things…the message is the same over and over, it’s appreciated that others want to give the kids a gift, but I’d rather it be something that offers something MORE. So why not suggest to those who want to do a gift that it be a contribution to a 529? Why not share a link to buy a CHET Gift of College Gift Card?
A CHET gift card is one size fits all and perfect for many occasions – baby showers, birthdays, graduations and holidays. I can tell you there are gifts I have purchased even for my own kids (and others) that I will tell you outright, I wish I’d just done a gift card or bank deposit. Make saving for college a family affair – instead of toys or clothes, ask family and friends to contribute to your child’s college savings account.
You can purchase CHET Gift of College gift cards online at www.aboutchet.com/gift. You can choose for the CHET gift cards to be delivered via email or physical “snail” mail. Pretty sweet, right?
529 Day
I’m excited about this last bit. CHET is offering a great promotion for 529 day- May 29th- it’s an exciting day because it means your kids will have some money saved for higher education!
Offer: Anyone who opens a new CHET account between May 29 and June 1 with $100 and signs up for an automatic contribution plan will receive $50 after 6 months!www.aboutchet.com/529
Wildish Jess says
Programs like this are so important to have! My boys all have college funds set up like this!
Up Run for Life Healthy Lifestyle Blog says
College is so expensive and this is a great way to help your child get through college without the mounting debt. I am regretting going to college because I ended up not using my degree at all.
Leah says
This sounds like a really great program. I wish we would have started this when my kids were born.
Rachel says
We are definitely considering opening up 529s for our kids. We just recently found out that we can use it for private elementary education and we do send our kids to private school.
Esther Irish says
Love this! We started saving for college when my kids were born, but now that my eldest is almost seventeen I’m realizing we didn’t save nearly enough. lo
Ruth I. says
This sounds great! It is not easy to save up if you are holding all the money. Saving a specific amount every paycheck is a great wat.
Joely Smith says
How smart! Saving is hard but it looks like CHET makes it a world easier! So glad to know about it now!
Trina says
Sounds like an amazing plan, we have a similar plan down here in Florida and it gives us so much peace of mind for the future.
Bonnie G says
This sounds like a really great program. I may start doing this for the kiddos.
Marysa says
I really need to start saving for college. It is so expensive, and I don’t know how we are going to manage saving enough. I feel like we will always be in debt! Thanks for the tips and the info about this program.
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes says
This seems like the most useful gift you can give! I’m having my first baby in a few weeks so I am glad to learn more about this!
Heather says
This kind of savings plan is a great idea. I wish I could get my husband on board with saving for our kids’ college, but he’s insistence that they do it themselves like we did.
Stacie says
That IS a gift! College is so expensive. If we can give our kids a head start so that both we and our kids aren’t saddled with a huge debt.