• 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.

529Reward.com helps you sift through marketing materials, compare alternatives, and find the college credit card reward program that’s best for you. It should be pointed out that the college credit card reviews are done from the vantage point of a user who pays the outstanding credit card balance in full each month. This means, for example, that card features like the APR are not heavily weighted. This follows from our belief that college credit cards are best suited for families that use their credit card as method of payment not as a source of credit.

The keys to using a 529 reward credit card effectively are:

• Select the college credit card reward program best suited for you and make it your card of choice for paying family expenses. – Using one credit card exclusively will help maximize the 529 rewards you earn.
  Try to use the card whenever you can in place of cash or checks. – Look for non-traditional places to use your card (e.g. utilities, insurance companies, government agencies). More and more these organizations are accept plastic payments.
• Avoid altering your buying habits just to earn rewards. – Marketeers who come up with credit card rebates know many people will spend more if they have reason to “feel good” (i.e. saving for their child’s college education). Aim to be smarter than the average bear and not fall into this trap!
• Involve family and friends. – Grandparents, family members and friends who have a college credit card with rewards can direct their rewards to go to your child’s account. This is a powerful program feature that should not be overlooked.
• Avoid carrying credit card balances. – 529 rewards earned at 1% or 2% quickly dissipate when you are paying 10% to 13% interest on even a small balance. For rewards to accumulate effectively, it is essential that you use your 529 reward credit card as simply a substitute for cash payment and not as a source of additional credit. This college credit card rewards calculator will help you better understand the costs and benefits of credit card rewards.

Reward programs can help build college savings. That’s the good news. The bad news is that these programs have grown in number and become very complex. It is very difficult for parents to take time to fully understand, compare and select the program best suited for them. This article aims to cut through the morass and lay out a clear strategy for parents to follow to get the most from college reward programs.

College Savings Reward Program Basics
The various [tag]college savings reward programs[/tag] fall into two broad categories: [tag]credit card reward programs[/tag] and savings clubs. The distinction gets blurry because many of the “savings club” programs also sponsor a credit card reward program under the same name. Nonetheless, you can better understand and optimize your use of the programs if you categorize them in this manner:

• A college savings reward credit card is a regular [tag]MasterCard[/tag] or [tag]Visa[/tag] card that – in lieu of frequent flier miles or cashback bonuses – makes a 1% or 2% contribution to a college savings account based on purchases made with the card.
• A savings club (or loyalty program), on the other hand, is a membership club through which a network of merchants offers members special rebates for buying their products or services. Rebates are directed to the member’s college savings account. Some savings clubs have membership fees or require that you have their affiliated credit card to be a member. Others are free and permit the use of non-affiliated credit cards.

Optimizing College Savings Rewards
A few of the college savings clubs require that you have their branded credit card to participate in the savings club. We suggest you avoid these programs in favor of a “best-of-breed” strategy that lets you pair the best rewards credit card with the best savings clubs. Here’s a five-point strategy that can help you maximize college reward earnings:

1. Select the College Credit Card Reward Program Paying the Highest Rebate on All Purchases – Typically, credit card rewards will generate greater college savings than the savings club programs. This is simply because the rebate (1% or 2%) is paid on the value of all purchases made with the card (subject to the card’s limits). Savings club rebates, on the other hand, are paid only on the value of purchases from specified participating merchants (although often at higher rates than the credit cards). Most of the college reward credit cards – pay a 1% rebate. The sole exception is the Fidelity/MBNA College Rewards MasterCard that pays 2% (up to $1,500 per year). You can find more detailed information about the various college reward credit cards by visiting www.529Rewards.com.

2. Use the College Rewards Credit Card as Your Principal Method of Payment – Your aim should be to keep spending at current levels (i.e. within your income) but to replace checks, cash, and other credit/debit cards with the rewards card as your principal method of payment.

3. Maximize Use of the Credit Card But Always With a Goal of Paying the Balance in Full Each Month – Credit card acceptance is becoming more universal each day. This means new opportunities to earn 529 rewards – e.g. car and homeowners insurance payments, municipal water and tax bills, groceries, tuition, etc. For each $1,000 of monthly costs that you can shift to the rewards card, you’ll earn $10 – $20 of free cash for future college expenses.

Use the credit card as an intermediary payment vehicle for large purchases. For example, if you borrow to make home improvements, pay contractors and suppliers first with the rewards card and then pay the credit card with your home equity loan. This will earn you additional points.

However, it is very important that you pay your statement balance in full each month. Rewards earned at 1% or 2% will quickly dissipate if you are paying 10% to 13% interest on even a small balance. For rewards to accumulate effectively, it is essential that you use your reward credit card as simply a substitute for cash payment and not as a source of additional credit.

4. Use the Free [tag]Upromise[/tag] and [tag]BabyMint[/tag] Savings Clubs – Chances are that you frequent some of the grocery and drugstores included in the Upromise network and that you already buy products offering Upromise rewards. Since participation costs you nothing, there is no reason not to participate and earn additional rewards. Sign-up for “loyalty cards” offered by grocery stores and drug stores you use. Register these cards on Upromise and then use them every time you shop. The amount you earn will depend on your family’s product preferences. As an example, Coke products earn Upromise rewards while Pepsi products do not. Resist becoming too loyal to brands just because of the Upromise rewards. If either Coke or Pepsi can satisfy your palette, and Pepsi is on sale, it may be the better buy despite the lure of Coke’s Upromise rewards.

The BabyMint merchant network is not as extensive as Upromise. Still, the program is free and there may be significant opportunities (especially for on-line shopping) to enhance your rebates. There are other college savings club programs available in addition to Upromise and BabyMint. However, for the most part these are “copycats” and appear to not offer any distinct advantages over the original Upromise or BabyMint plans.

One exception is the edexpress plan which does provide generally higher rebate percentages than the other savings club programs. The trade-off is that edexpress has a $24.95 annual membership fee. It’s a worth taking a look at edexpress to determine if your family’s spending habits are such that the additional earned rewards will offset the annual fee.

5. Recruit Other Family Members and Friends – Following the strategy outlined here, you can earn significant college rewards on your own. But building a network of family and friends willing to direct rewards to your child’s college savings account can greatly accelerate your college savings program. According to Finaid.org, 60% of grandparents say that they would contribute to a section [tag]529 college savings plan[/tag] if asked, especially since they know the money will be spent on the child’s education.

Ideally, grandparents and others will use a college rewards credit card and direct reward earnings to your college savings account. However, with the large number of other credit card reward programs available, you may not feel comfortable asking them to give up frequent flier miles to put additional cash in your child’s account. On the other hand, registering family and friends grocery/drugstore loyalty cards through Upromise will cost them nothing. Typically, the card user will get in-store discounts for buying select items. Behind the scenes, Upromise rebates accrue, but there are no alternative uses for these rewards. Often, the use of loyalty cards also generates rewards for churches or charitable organizations designated by the cardholder. This should be pointed out as encouragement to use the cards.

Following this strategy a savvy, disciplined family can reap sizable rewards from college reward loyalty programs with relatively little effort. As an example, my middle-income family has generated slightly over $1,000 in rewards in the last twelve months. Certainly you cannot expect to pay for a full college education with loyalty rewards alone, but savvy users can build a sizable nest egg to help ease the burden of college costs.

Before we get started there are a few words of caution that need mentioning. Specifically, if you can afford to buy a car with cash, that’s your best option. Any time you use your credit cards you run the risk of getting further into debt. But I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t let you know about yet another way you can save money!

I’m going to discuss five reasons why you need to consider your credit cards when [tag]financing a car[/tag].

First, when you use a [tag]credit card[/tag], the loan is unsecured. That means that if for some reason you have financial problems in the future, your car is not in jeopardy of being repossessed. You own it outright. The bank can’t visit you in the middle of the night and drive it away.

Second, you always have the option of paying less per month. When financing a car people tend to want to pay off the loan within three to four years. Of course, the shorter the loan, the greater the monthly payment. If financing is obtained from a bank, the monthly payments are fixed for the loan term. But what happens if after couple months you a have difficult time coming up with the full monthly payment? If you’re late or don’t pay in full you could potentially damage your credit history. Now if you use a credit card to finance the car, you can make payments that retire the loan in three years but if you have any problems in any given month, you have the option to make the minimum payment, which would be considerably less.

Third, you don’t have to wait for a loan approval. You can just use your credit line like cash anytime you’re ready to buy. No need to go into the back room with the car salesman to start talking about loan rates and loan applications.

Fourth, because you’re using a credit line, preferably a check, you have more bargaining power when you’re making the car purchase. From the car dealer standpoint, you’re buying the car with your own money. That means you don’t have to deal with the secondary transaction of getting the loan. You can essentially say, “See this check, give me the deal I want, and I’ll fill in the numbers right now.”

Fifth and most importantly, you can save big money! When you finance anything-car, house, last night’s dinner-you are really making two purchases. The first is the actual object you want to acquire-the car. The second is the money you are using to make the first purchase.

Each of these transactions needs to be carefully considered if you want to ensure that you receive the best deal. Assuming that you did the best possible job at negotiating a reasonable price for the car, we’re going to move on to the purchase of the money, or the financing.

When you considered the value of the car, you had to compare it to other vehicles and their various features-power brakes, air bags, etc. Each car is different and you must weigh those differences carefully when deciding how much you are willing to pay for the car. But when it comes to the purchase of the money (the loan), every banks’ cash is the same.

Here’s a description of the product you get from the bank green paper called money. It’s all the same no matter which bank you borrow it from. It doesn’t matter if the money comes from dealer financing, a bank loan, credit card, a second mortgage, or your neighbor. The only consideration when comparing each loan is its cost. How much will you end up paying for the use of that money today.

Let’s say you’re buying a used car and still need to finance $9,500. Used car loan interest rates range from 6.95% to 16.63% with the average being 9.95%. After visiting many banks, you may discover that your best rate, for whatever reason, is 10%. But you also have an offer from one of your credit cards for 4.9% for six months, and you have more than $9,500 in available credit. Is it worth using the card? You bet! At least for six months.

The bank loan at 10% APR, $9500 for three years gives you a monthly payment of $306.54. After paying the loan for six months, you’ll still owe $8107.02. Now, the correct question to ask yourself is how much would you owe in six months if you use the credit-card offer and make payments of $306.54? The answer is $7877.02. That means you saved $230 by using the credit card for six months.

Some people may say, “So what, 230 bucks, big deal.” Fine then, go straight to the nearest bank and make a donation of $230 to the bank manager doesn’t feel too good does it? What happened to “a penny saved is a penny earned”? If you could have gotten another $230 off the price of the car from the dealer, you’d be very happy with yourself. My point is that you can find better things to do with the $230 saved like pay back other debts.

At the end of the six-month [tag]credit-card offer[/tag], the rate will probably go up, so you’ll need to re-examine your financing at that time. You can always go to the first bank that offered you 10% and ask for a secured loan at that time to pay off the credit-card balance. But the bottom line is that you are locking in the $230 savings.

Don’t finance your car blindly. Consider all your options carefully and you’ll get the best deals and save a lot of money.

About The Author
Scott Bilker is the author of the best-selling book "Credit Card and Debt Management." He is also the Editor and publisher of the FREE DebtSmart® E-mail
Newsletter. Sign up today!

You no longer require loans for heavy purchases; you can simply buy it on your credit card. With unsecured loans you can even buy a car on your credit card and forget the worry of repossession in case you fail to make payments. This way you can also get cheap insurance for your car on the credit card purchase. Opposed to these cheap loans we have secured loans that require pledging a security to the lender. Most common secured loans include home equity loans. You should however be careful about two things when choosing such a loan. Ensure that you book for fixed rate mortgages so that the repayment rates remain constant. Secondly, watch out for foreclosure in case you fail to pay your taxes because then the lender gets authority to sell the property to recover the tax money.

I get several credit card offers each month, but I only accept those that come with no annual fee and pay me at least one percent cash back or credit on my purchases. I don’t care about the interest rate. It could be some exorbitant rate like 50% for all I care, since I never carry a balance and always pay off what I owe at the end of each month. Right now, I probably have about 15 different cards, but I only regularly use three of them.

I have one card that gives me an instant five percent credit on my gasoline purchases. Therefore, I buy all of my gasoline with this card and never use cash to buy it. I have another card that gives me five percent cash back on any purchase I make at a drug store or grocery store. Needless to say, I try to use that card exclusively at those establishments. The third card I regularly use gives me a one percent instant credit on all purchases. I use it for just about everything except purchases of gasoline or purchases at drug stores or grocery stores. The more I use my cards the more credits and cash back I get. The credit card companies are, in effect, paying me to use their cards and I am more than happy to oblige.

Some credit card companies will take things one step further and even pay you to take their cards. These payments will take the form of gift certificates, bonus cash back, and/or bonus credits. There is one minor catch in that most companies will generally require that you use the cards at least once each to get those benefits. That’s never a problem for me as I will use them once to get the benefits and then toss them into my “inactive” drawer.

Having lots of credit cards means I get lots of offers in the mail (and sometimes by phone) from the credit card companies in which I am asked to try out some kind of worthless subscription for 30 days. Most of the time, I just throw these offers in the trash can. However, there are some that I will try because they will “bribe” me adequately to do so. However, they must offer me at least $10 and the offer must have a free trial period. I will then cash their check, put the money in my pocket, and cancel before the free trial period ends. However, I have found that I need to be careful with these offers. Sometimes they’ll offer me $10 to try something that costs $10 (or more) per month, with no free trial period. I avoid those like the plague, since the best I can do is break even.

Speaking of worthless subscription offers, most credit card companies will push some kind of credit card insurance. The way it works that you pay about half of one percent of your monthly purchase totals so that this insurance will make your minimum monthly payment in case your are disabled, laid off, have a death in the family, or suffer some other kind of qualifying malady. This insurance may be a good idea for those who run a monthly balance and only make the minimum payment, but it’s worthless to those of us who pay off our balances each month. However, the credit card companies will never acknowledge this fact and will pay you to try it and will usually give you a free trial period.

I take these subscriptions only for cards that I don’t use, so it never costs me anything. What’s better is that when I try to cancel it, they bribe me again to keep the subscription active! The bribe is usually in the form of rebate tickets of $10 to $25 per month for about six months. When I make a purchase that equals or exceeds the face value of the ticket, I send in the receipt along with the ticket and get a cash rebate about eight weeks later for the face value of the ticket. Then, when the tickets run out and I attempt to cancel my subscription again, they offer me even more tickets to stay subscribed. Sometimes, I have tried to cancel before the six months ran out and got even more tickets for the same card in overlapping months! If you have several cards you don’t use, each with one of these subscriptions, the rebates could really add up!

In addition to the cards issued to me by the credit card companies, I have several cards issued by store chains like Sears, JC Penney, Hecht’s, etc. Most of the store chains that issue credit cards will offer discounts of 10, 15, 20, or even 25 percent at various times for simply using those cards to make purchases at their stores. Some will even offer a bonus discount for just signing up (and being approved, of course) to take one of their cards! They can afford to do this because they know that most people will not pay off their balance each month, but will instead make the minimum payment along with paying an ungodly amount of interest. The stores will more than make up for those discounts right there. Meanwhile, those of us who don’t run monthly balances reap the benefits of discounts that other people are paying for!

What I have just described is not illegal, immoral, or unethical. Credit card companies and store chains are in the business to make money and sometimes they’ll offer things that don’t seem to make sense in order to maintain and/or expand their customer base. Contrary to popular belief, credit card companies do indeed make money off people like me, who never pay a dime in interest or annual fees and take full advantage of all of their offers. The money comes from the businesses that accept those cards by way of the fees they pay each I time I use one of my cards. Those businesses, in turn, are willing to pay these fees in order to attract as many customers as they can. Therefore, everyone in the credit card cycle benefits. Those who use credit cards the way I do are just making sure they are getting their piece of the pie.

About The Author
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Hopewell, VA. He also serves as a political columnist for American Daily. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.

Here’s a newsflash: children are expensive. Never mind diapers, food, clothing, computers, MP2 players, trips to the mall, etc. One of the biggest expenses your child(ren) will incur is college tuition. The cost of further education is ever on the rise, and even with scholarships the costs can be staggering. The amount of federal financial aid granted to undergraduate students in the form of loans is shocking as well: according to one study by the National Center for Education Statistics, 71 to 92% of middle income students attending 4-year schools in one study received some type of financial aid during the academic year 1999-2000.

As they say, the first step is admitting you have a problem! So if you have thought about or have even started a savings mechanism specifically for your children’s college education, you are ahead of the curve. If you haven’t, right now is the time to start.

One of the best methods of saving for education is a 529 College Savings Plan. Named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, 529 College Savings Plans are tuition savings programs exempted from taxation. They were created to encourage families to save money for college and are operated by a state or educational institution. Participants invest after-tax money into the account and the earnings from the money invested are tax exempt.

529 plans are so popular that many incentive programs have been created to help the consumer take advantage of them. Credit cards don’t typically come to mind when it comes to saving money, but just as there are credit cards with cash back incentives or air miles programs, there are some credit cards that have incentive programs geared specifically toward educational savings. These credit cards are commonly known as 529 credit cards or college savings credit cards.

Read further to find out how these programs work and for tips to maximize your savings.

The ABC’s of 529′s

There are two types of 529 plans: savings and pre-paid. Both are managed, meaning that a fund manager invests the funds for the account. 529 Savings Plans are operated by states (and all states have one) with the purpose of saving money for any college, even out-of-state schools, your future student wants to attend (although some state plans do place stipulations that the money can be used only for schools in that state, so you should do your research). Pre-paid accounts are run by institutions and allow participants to save and invest money that will go toward tuition at that institution.

The advantages of opening a 529 plan are obvious: it’s a tax-exempt fund that helps you put money back specifically for future educational goals. As with any investment fund, the sooner you start the more compounded interest you’ll earn. Consumers can research plans nationwide and invest in the one that meets their criteria as far as best return, lowest fees, etc. An excellent resource for conducting research into the various 529 plans available is www.savingforcollege.com.

Spending in Order to Invest

To grow healthy investment accounts, you have to invest in the first place. Start small if you have to, as even a small amount invested each month can build into a good foundation.

If your investment strategies could use a little help, or if you’re the type who loves a good incentive program, there are rebate programs available to add a little more to your fund.

Frequently in the news are two such programs: BabyMint and Upromise. The premise of each revolves around program-affiliated vendors or products who have agreed to rebate a percentage (which range from 1% to 10%) of the purchase cost to program members. The rebates are credited to a member’s account, which can in turn be invested in a 529 savings plan. As an added bonus, each program also offers a credit card that will provide members with additional rebates on all purchases made, not only qualified products.

A similar credit card is affiliated with Fidelity Investments. Rather than join up with a program, cardholders receive a flat 2% rebate on all qualified purchases.

As far as rewards cards go, each of these has reasonable rates and incentive returns. However, when you speak of saving and credit cards in the same sentence, you must use care, otherwise you defeat your purpose by spending more money – either on purchases or interest fees than you save. Therefore, a few tips to using credit cards with the purpose of saving for college.

1. Take a thorough look at each of the incentive plans to ensure that it has the “more bang for your buck” quality. You should choose the one that is affiliated with vendors you already use or products you already buy, otherwise, you’ll most likely spend more money than usual.
2. Take a look at the number of credit cards you already have in your wallet. If you are serious about saving money, think about replacing one of your existing cards with one that works with a 529 College Savings Plan rather than adding an additional card to your collection.
3. If you are using a credit card’s incentive program to save money, be sure that you pay off your balance each month. If you don’t, the money spent on interest fees is money that could have been contributed to savings.
4. Be aware that the card rebates are not meant to replace your individual contributions. Even if you make every effort to max out the amount of rebates added to your 529 account every year for 18 years, at the very most you’ll earn enough for a few semesters. And remember that to achieve rebates, you have to use the card for purchases. Purchase judiciously, and rather than saying to yourself oh, if I buy that, I’ll get a rebate toward our education account, think about the money you can save if you don’t make the purchase. Before signing on, make a commitment to make your own contributions to the 529 account to see maximum growth. This will help you to spend and save wisely.
5. Start early, say when your child is starting to master crawling, if possible! That way you have the advantage of time to help your savings grow. If your child is starting to master calculus and plans to enter college in a year or two, investigate a different method of saving, and fast!

With wise spending habits, you can utilize any of these programs to assist you in your quest to save for education. Investigate each of these cards and their programs to find out if one has a program that will help you start. But always keep in mind that they are meant to assist, not replace, your savings.

• A 529 college savings [tag]reward credit card[/tag] is a regular [tag]Mastercard[/tag] or [tag]Visa[/tag] card that – in lieu of frequent flier miles, cashback bonuses, or other rewards – makes a contribution to a 529 college savings account based on a percent of purchases made with the card. Some “college” savings cards included here (e.g. Savingforcollege, Baby Center) allow rewards to be directed to investments other than 529 plans.
• A 529 savings club (or loyalty program) is a membership club through which a club network of merchants offers members special rebates for buying their products or services. Rebates are directed to the member’s 529 college account. Some 529 savings clubs have membership fees or require that you have a special affiliated credit card to be a member. Others are free and permit the use of non-affiliated credit cards.

Typically, 529 credit cards will generate greater rewards than 529 savings club programs. This is because the rebate (1% or 2%) is paid on the value of all purchases made with the card (subject to the card’s limits). 529 savings club rebates, on the other hand, are paid only on the value of purchases from merchants who participate in the program (although typically at higher rates than the credit cards).

1. Select the 529 Rewards Card Paying the Highest Rebate on All Purchases
For most families the clear choice at this time is the Fidelity/MBNA card which, with a 2% rebate level, will likely be the main rewards generator in your program. Second choice is the BabyMint credit card which carries just a 1% rebate, but has no limit on reward earnings and provides more flexibility for investing rewards. BabyMint may also be the better choice for very high-spending users (e.g. over $150,000 per year) since there is no rewards cap.

2. Use the 529 Rewards Card as Your Principal Method of Payment
Your aim should be to keep spending at current levels (i.e. within your income) but to replace checks, cash, and other credit/debit cards with the 529 rewards card as your principal method of payment.

3. Maximize Use of the Credit Card But Always With a Goal of Paying the Balance in Full Each Month
Credit card acceptance is more universal each day. This means new opportunities to earn 529 rewards – e.g. car and homeowners insurance payments, municipal water and tax bills, groceries, tuition, etc.
For each $1,000 of monthly costs that you can shift to the 529 rewards card, you’ll earn $20 of free cash for future college expenses.

Use the credit card as an intermediary payment vehicle for large purchases. For example, if you borrow to make home improvements, pay contractors first with the 529 rewards card and then pay the credit card with your home equity loan. This will earn you additional points.

4. Use the Free Upromise and BabyMint 529 Savings Clubs
Chances are that you frequent some of the grocery and drugstores included in the Upromise network and that you already buy products offering Upromise rewards. Since participation costs you nothing, there is no reason not to participate and earn additional 529 rewards.

Sign-up for “loyalty cards” offered by grocery stores and drug stores you use. Register these cards on Upromise and then use them every time you shop!

The amount you earn will depend on your family’s product preferences. As an example, Coke products earn Upromise rewards while Pepsi products do not. Resist becoming too loyal to brands just because of the Upromise rewards. If either Coke or Pepsi can satisfy your tastes, and Pepsi is on sale, it may be the better buy despite the lure of Coke’s Upromise rewards.

The BabyMint merchant network is not as extensive as Upromise. Still, the program is free and there may be significant opportunities (especially for on-line shopping) to enhance your 529 savings.

5. Recruit Other Family Members and Friends
Following a strategy like the one outlined here, you can earn significant 529 rewards on your own. But building a network of family and friends willing to direct 529 rewards to your child’s account can greatly accelerate your college savings program.

According to Finaid.org, 60% of grandparents say that they would contribute to a section 529 plan if asked, especially since they know the money will be spent on the child’s education.

Ideally, grandparents and others will also use a 529 rewards credit card and direct reward earnings to your 529 account. However, with the large number of other credit card reward programs available, you may not feel comfortable asking them to give up frequent flier miles to put additional cash in your child’s account.

On the other hand, registering family and friends grocery/drugstore loyalty cards through Upromise will cost them nothing. Typically, the card user will get in-store discounts for buying select items. Behind the scenes, Upromise rebates accrue, but there are no alternative uses for these rewards. Often, the use of loyalty cards also generates rewards for churches or charitable organizations designated by the cardholder. This should be pointed out as encouragement to use the cards.

6. Assess Whether the Edexpress Program is Right for Your Family
Unlike Upromise and BabyMint, the Edexpress savings club charges an annual fee of $24.95 to access their merchant network and earn 529 rewards. Edexpress claims its members receive larger rewards since 100% of the merchant reward is passed on to the member with the annual fee going to cover Edexpress’ operating costs. Edexpress does not currently offer a free-trial to let prospective members try for themselves. Still, the Edexpress network of (mostly on-line) merchants is impressive. It is worth researching their website to determine whether your family would use the network merchants enough to offset the annual fee.