529 Plan Ouch!

[graylocks]

just checked my son's 529 plan. it's down 23% and less than $1800 away from the original contributions. college is 4 years away. putting this year's small contribution in was an act, or leap, of faith.

ho boy...

[rgG]

All I can say is thank goodness for the Georgia HOPE scholarship. I hope the economy doesn't mess that up, since my daughter will be starting college next fall.

[graylocks]

rgG wrote:
All I can say is thank goodness for the Georgia HOPE scholarship. I hope the economy doesn't mess that up, since my daughter will be starting college next fall.

i buy 2 lottery tickets a week so I'm doing my part for HOPE! actually, i wonder if the downturn in the economy has caused lottery sales to go up or down?

[pRICE cUBE]

I just stopped looking all together.

[rgG]

graylocks wrote:
[quote=rgG]
All I can say is thank goodness for the Georgia HOPE scholarship. I hope the economy doesn't mess that up, since my daughter will be starting college next fall.

i buy 2 lottery tickets a week so I'm doing my part for HOPE! actually, i wonder if the downturn in the economy has caused lottery sales to go up or down?
I heard something on the news in the last few days that said lottery revenue was down, but I wasn't paying close attention, so I didn't get the whole story.

[Michael]

Overall GA lottery sales are higher, but lower sales for Mega Millions. Apparently lots of scratch-off tickets still being sold:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/s...sales.html

[rgG]

Michael wrote:
Overall GA lottery sales are higher, but lower sales for Mega Millions. Apparently lots of scratch-off tickets still being sold:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/s...sales.html

Thanks for the info.

[Gutenberg]

graylocks, even though college is four years away, it's not too early to start looking for aid. Get yourself a FAFSA and start looking for a workshop on filling it out. It's a daunting application. The state of Maryland has lots of financial aid workshops--many of them are in libraries. Ask the librarians what they know--I bet you will get a lot of information. Don't depend on the school's guidance counselor--many of them are undertrained and overwhelmed. Good luck! I know your son will make it through.

[mattkime]

four years is a decent amount of time for market rebound. further, i think that 529 money was pre-tax so you're still ahead

[Ombligo]

I worry about the state run prepaid plan we are in. It is the largest in the country and I'm betting earnings are way off which will have an impact on what they can pay out, tie that to record tuition increases (more thanks to the republican state legislature) and I can see it getting cancelled on those more than two years out which is what the contract allows for.