529 Savings Clubs

In addition to 529 reward credit cards, 529 loyalty shopping clubs offer another means to leverage everyday purchases into free college savings. Details differ, but the basic operation of all these programs is the same: a network of merchants agrees to rebate a small percentage of the price of products purchased by club members (online through the club website or in-store with credit card or loyalty card registered with the club). Criteria that should be used to evaluate [tag]529 savings clubs[/tag] include:

• Does the club charge a membership fee? If so, is it reasonable to believe the fee can be recouped through reward earnings?
• Does the savings club have other membership requirements such as requiring members to use an affiliated credit card to qualify purchases for rewards?
• How large is the merchant network? Does the network include both in-store and on-line merchants? Do the participating companies include those whose products your family often buys?
• What are the options for directing rewards to a 529 plan? Must you use [tag]529 plans[/tag] offered through the club?
• How timely are rewards deposited to the account? What reports/mechanisms exist for tracking rewards?
• Are other “value-added” services offered and are they worthwhile?

You can expect to earn 4%-5% average rebates from on-line retailers through the “free” savings clubs (Upromise, BabyMint, The Education Plan, and futuretrust) and 6%-7% from the lone club having a membership fee (edexpress). You can get a feel for rebate percents from this comparison of rebates

In terms of dollar rewards, the amount you earn depends mostly on the level of effort made in seeking reward producing opportunities. As discussion in this Fatwallet.com forum illustrates, actual rewards range from trivial to substantial.

529Rewards.com is pleased to present independent reviews of the various 529 savings clubs. We hope you find the information useful and that it helps you select the [tag]college rewards saving program[/tag] best suited for you family.

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