[Updated with the new rate for 2021.]
Most 529 plans offer mutual funds as investment options. After the financial crisis in 2008-2009, many 529 plans added more conservative, principal-guaranteed options offered by banks and insurance companies. Because the money in 529 plans is typically long term, these principal-guaranteed options sometimes offer a higher yield than bond mutual funds. They are especially good for students who are already in college or are about to enter college.
Colorado’s CollegeInvest Stable Value Plus 529 Plan offers a stable value fund by the insurance company Nationwide. The interest rate resets every year on January 1. The rate guaranteed from January 1 through December 31, 2021 is 2.09% after admin fees. By comparison, the 30-day SEC yield on the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is 1.14% as of November 30, 2020.
The stable value fund in the plan is only guaranteed by Nationwide. Nationwide is rated Aa3 by Moody’s and A+ by S&P. Although Nationwide isn’t FDIC, I would be OK with a guarantee by Nationwide.
You don’t have to live in Colorado to use Colorado’s 529 Plan. You can transfer money from one 529 plan to another 529 plan once every rolling 12 months for the same beneficiary, although some states require a claw-back of the previous state income tax deductions when you transfer out. See Rollover a 529 Account From One Plan To Another.
In the current low-yield environment, Colorado’s CollegeInvest Stable Value Plus 529 Plan offers an attractive yield together with a guarantee of the principal value. It’s not the only 529 plan that offers a stable value fund. See other options in 529 Plan For High School Seniors and College Students.
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Sean @ One Smart Dollar says
Great article Harry. I live in Denver and have been starting to think about how I want to invest for our 2 month olds college education. This is definitely something to consider.
JohnInIowa says
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Harry. This fund does appear attractive compared for a parent like me, whose child is already in college or nearly so. That’s because such a parent needs a low-risk place to park substantial funds, and amongst 529 plans my alternative now is a money-market or bank fund that earns nothing.
Two points of correction:
You will net only 2.33%, not 3.04%. That’s because the plan charges a 0.71% fee that reduces your earnings from the interest. If in the future the interest drops to the minimum 2% and the fee increases to the maximum 1%, then you’ll net only 1% — that’s the worst case scenario, aside from default by MetLife. Details are in the Plan Disclosure Statement pp. 8-9.
You are free to invest in the Colorado plan regardless of the state you live in — not just the 21 states listed. Other states like Iowa offer a deduction from state income taxes if you invest in their own states’ plan, but that doesn’t keep you from investing in plans of other states with attractive plans. In fact, it is attractive to do so — after you have after you max out the deduction for your own state. In Iowa, you can deduct up to $3,045 per beneficiary — once I’ve maxed that out, I might as well invest any further amounts in another state’s plan because the tax treatment will be no better or worse. For that reason, I have plans in Illinois and Utah also, because they have low fees and decent funds.
Harry says
JohnInIowa – I research my articles before I publish. I verified with Colorado CollegeInvest that the 3.04% rate is a net rate, *after* the 0.71% expense. The minimum it could go is currently 3% before the 1% maximum expense (2% net). That 3% is Colorado’s “minimum nonforfeiture rate for annuity contracts” which can be changed only through the legislature. I imagine the Colorado legislature has better things to do. Anyway, the net rate is announced each December. If you don’t like the rate for next year, just move your money to somewhere else.
I already said in the article about investors in states other than the 21 listed. After you get the maximum benefit from your own state’s plan, your extra dollars can still go to any other state’s plan, including this one.
JohnInIowa says
My apologies, you are correct. Re-reading the Plan Disclosure Statement, I see that the wording flip-flops in its use of the word “minimum” in such a way that a lesser reader like me will confuse “minimum annual interest rate” and the “annual interest rate”. This led me to mistakenly use the so-called minimum rate instead of the higher one that everyone is likely to actually receive.
My apologies also on the second point. Once again, I must be an inadequate reader. I mistakenly thought that your intent in writing “If you live in these 21 states, you are completely free to use a 529 plan from any state: Alaska, Arizona …” was to imply that if you don’t live in those states you are not similarly free. Sorry about that.
Harry says
No worries. Hope you are comfortable enough with MetLife. I think this is much better than the alternatives paying nothing.
Ben says
Can you evaluate this option in terms of someone using it purely to increase their return on regular money?
Like if I’m not saving for college, how much can I contribute, if I pull out the principal there is no penalty (correct?), but there is a 10% penalty on pulling out earnings for non qualified uses. So does that mean your effective return is something like 3% * .9 before tax but after penalty ? Which is still great in today’s markets.
Whats the upper limit on contributions?
Thanks!
-Ben
Harry says
Ben – You are allowed to name yourself as the beneficiary, say when you are saving money for your aspiration for a Harvard MBA one day. Years down the road if your plan changes and you make a nonqualified withdrawal of the whole thing, there’s nothing wrong with it; you pay 10% penalty on the earnings. But if you make frequent nonqualified withdrawals year in year out, it’s probably against the spirit of the law. The net tax equivalent return after paying 10% penalty on earnings goes like this:
gross return * (1 – tax bracket – 0.1) / (1 – tax bracket)
For example if your tax bracket is 30% (federal + state) and the gross return is 3%, the tax equivalent return would be
3% * (1 – 0.3 – 0.1) / (1 – 0.3) = 2.57%
This plan allows contributions until your balance reaches $350,000. After that you can accrue earnings but you can’t contribute new money. It’s in the plan disclosure link below the rate graph.
Ben says
Thanks Harry for the follow up explination. I already went back and got my fancy MBA, so maybe it will have to be for further higher education !
David says
Harry, I wonder if you might share your current thoughts on this plan now that the rate has been reduced to 2.64% for 2014. Thanks.
Harry says
The basic premise for investing in this plan didn’t change: a competitive yield without interest rate risk. Typical bond funds lost money in 2013. Here you are up 3% and you don’t have to worry about where interest rates will go.
I just updated the rates for the TIAA options in those other plans. The TIAA guaranteed rates are down too. If I have a large amount of money in 529, I would keep the fixed income money in this plan and use another account for stocks.
Frank says
Harry, I currently have funds in California’s 529 Plan, but not in a sufficient amount to fund my son’s final two years in college. Two sets of questions for you:
1. Can I transfer the existing funds in California’s 529 Plan to the Colorado Plan without tax consequences? Would it be like an IRA rollover? How complicated is it to do so?
2. Can I fund a contribution to the Colorado 529 Plan for my son as the beneficiary using money from a CUTMA account in his name, for which I am the custodian? I had been thinking of funding the remaining “gap” in his college tuition with the CUTMA funds, but it might be better if I can invest those funds into a 529 Plan at this guaranteed rate if the law allows it.
Thanks for all your articles and insights.
Harry says
The application form has a special box to check if the money is from UGMA/UTMA.
https://www.collegeinvest.org/images/pdfs/svpapplicationform.aspx
JohnInIowa says
Frank, I’m not Harry, but you can transfer funds from one state’s 529 plan to another. I’ve done it several times.
The gotcha to avoid is that if you live in state X and you contributed to the plan in state X and you receive a tax deduction in state X, then state X will likely expect you to pay them tax after you transfer those funds to the 529 plan for state Y. So, if your son’s college years will be done soon and you have 529 funds that resulted in a deduction in your state, you will want to leave those funds there until you withdraw them for an eligible expense.
re. your question regarding a uniform gift to minors account, some 529 plans can accommodate that type of account. You would have to ask them. For example, I had UGMA funds at a brokerage that I transferred (essentially, rolled over) to the Illinois BrightStart 529 plan, where those funds continue to have UGMA status.
Harry says
California doesn’t give a deduction. So nothing to repay there.
Harry says
You can transfer from one 529 to another 529, once every rolling 12 months for the same beneficiary. It works like a rollover. Take a look at Colorado’s form here: https://www.collegeinvest.org/images/pdfs/svprolloverform.aspx
You can also move UGMA/UTMA money into a 529 for the same beneficiary. Of course if you sell whatever is currently invested in the UGMA/UTMA account, you may trigger a capital gains tax, subject to the normal rules for that UGMA/UTMA account.
Frank says
Thanks for the replies, Harry and JohninIowa. I guess I should have looked at the application forms myself first!
Having done so now, however, it does leave me with another question: I see that I can rollover the CA 529 funds, and I see that I can open an account using UGMA/UTMA funds. But it appears from the application form that Harry linked to that if I use UGMA/UTMA funds, then my son would be the “owner” of that account, not me. Is that correct, and if so, can I rollover the funds from the existing CA 529 account into that new account, or must I actually open a separate account for the rollover funds in which I am the owner (since I am the owner of the existing CA 529 fund)?
Harry says
That’s correct. You son is already the owner of the UTMA account (you are the custodian). When it’s transferred to a 529 plan, he stays as the owner. You are the owner of the California 529 plan account. You stay as the owner when the 529 account is transferred. They are already two accounts now. I don’t see a problem with keeping two accounts separate. I heard having you as the owner counts the money as parent assets which gives him more financial aid than having the money under his name. So just keep them separate.
Chang says
Harry – Rollover “every year” probably could be further clarified as “every rolling 12 months”. I happened to make a rollover recently to Colorado stable value plan, and the customer service explained that is every 12 months.
Harry says
Agreed. I will edit the post and comments. Thank you.
Me says
Harry, while you’re updating, you can add a 22nd state to your list. Effective Jan 1, 2014 North Carolina no longer allows a state income tax deduction for in-state 529 contributions.
Harry says
Thank you. Added North Carolina to the list.
Elise says
I live in Illinois which offers a state tax deduction for in state 529 contributions. (5% tax rate) I contribute, but do not max it out, in part because as my child gets closer to college I have grown more unhappy with the money losing fixed income choices. We have saved up enough that I would like to be able to guarantee it will be there with perhaps modest appreciation. However, the fixed income funds in Illinois have lost money plus have management fees and the money market choice is 0%, although the management fees are currently waived (but with the warning they could be imposed at any time). Would this Colorado plan make sense for me for any NEW contributions I add? I think the clawback provision makes it a bad idea to try to roll existing funds anywhere else. I realize I am giving up the 5% guaranteed return from IL but if the money then sits in the 0% money market for the next few years, at what point does the 5% deduction become not worth it?
Harry says
Actually it’s better to rollover old money than to contribute new money if you are going to forego or pay back the deduction (not saying that you should). If you rollover $1,000, say $300 of the $1,000 is from earnings, you only pay back the deduction on $700, whereas if you contribute $1,000 new money to an out-of-state plan, you forego the deduction on $1,000.
Between earning 2.64% and losing 5%, assuming you would otherwise be in money market, it takes two years to break even (shorter if your existing balance has more earnings than original contributions). If you are going to stay in bond funds, it’s tough to say because we don’t know whether bond funds will lose money again or earn a little.
Elise says
Thank you for the analysis. Good issues to ponder.
JohnInIowa says
Would it be possible to work around the 12 month limit for rollovers by changing the beneficiary?
I recall that for the separate issue of the once-per-calendar-year limit for reallocating the funds within an account, there is a workaround where you change the beneficiary (for example from the child to yourself), make the change, then (if desired) reverse the change in the beneficiary. That’s what I’ve read, but I’ve never tried it.
Harry says
I’ve never tried it either. It appears it will work. You rollover into an account with a different beneficiary (must be a member of the current beneficiary’s family, ideally of the same generation). No limit there. You then change the beneficiary. Changing the beneficiary from parent to child counts as a gift, subject to annual gift limit, 5-year election, etc.
H says
not sure if Pennsylvania should be on the list….
http://www.pa529.com/faqs/benefits-and-features/income-tax-benefits/
Harry Sit says
The emphasis is on special benefit for using an in-state 529 plan. I rewrote the sentence to make it more clear. Pennsylvania, Arizona, Maine, Missouri and Kansas give the same tax benefit whether you use an in-state plan or an out-of-state plan. I see pa529.com only says you get the tax deduction if you use PA 529, which is true, but it doesn’t tell you that you get it anyway if you contribute to a different 529 plan sponsored by another state. What would you call it? Misleading?
JeffHall says
I gave this some thought because the nominal yield is attractive, but from a credit/default risk perspective it is similar to holding a single MetLife bond. Since I wouldn’t concentrate 529 investments in any one issuer, I don’t think the 84 basis point spread over the FDIC insured Va CollegeWealth Plan is sufficient risk premium, at least where the beneficiary is approaching college age. If investing a large sum (perhaps if you have several kids approaching or in college), one might split the investment between the Colorado Plan backed by MetLife for yield and the FDIC insured Va CollegeWealth program. YMMV
joe says
I guess as ther other poster mentioned is the 84 basis points difference between Virginia and Colorodo. Is that worth it not having FDIC insurance? My feeling is to just max Virginia at 250,000 and then focus on funding Colorodo. Is there a way to know if MetLife is ever going under?
joe says
I just fund this account with a 401k loan. I can’t get a safe return like that with my 401k options
joe says
Harry, one question. Is there a limit to how much you can transfer into this account with each transaction? I can’t find that info on their website.
Harry Sit says
Joe – I don’t know. Customer service can probably tell you.
Arun says
I don’t think this alternative has been mentioned yet. The District of Columbia has a similar option, offered through Ameritas. It has a somewhat higher return at present, around 2.85%. See
http://www.dccollegesavings.com/fund-profile.aspx?fund=56
The investment strategy is: “Conservative market risk level. Focuses on protecting the principal you invest. Provides for a guarantee of principal and a minimum contractual interest rate of 3.0% to the Trust.” The expense ratio is 0.15%.
Thinksnow says
It looks like the DC plan was updated 3/24/2017 and the stable value plan doesn’t appear as good. It lists a rate of return of 2.4% 3/24/2017-7/1/2017. It’s not clear if this is net of fees.
https://www.dccollegesavings.com/home/invest/principal-protected-portfolios.html
I guess I will keep pushing money into the Colorado plan.
Scott R says
Worth noting that a couple of states (e.g., CT) do not have a clawback provision on the state income tax deduction. Here in CT, as a married couple, I can contribute up to $10K/year and enjoy a state tax deduction.
CT’s official CHET plan also has a guaranteed-rate fund called the “Principal Plus Interest” fund which has no fees and currently earns 1.6%. That’s not bad. But because of the lack of the clawback provision in CT, I’ve been wondering if it might be beneficial to open/fund the CHET plan and then quickly roll it over to something like the Colorado fund, and repeat this every year.
Taking it a step further…what’s to stop someone from using something like this Colorado 2.54% fund as an alternative to a CD or High-Yield Savings account? If you take non-qualified withdrawals, you will pay income tax and a 10% penalty on only the earnings portion. So that 2.54% would effectively be earning 2.54 – 0.254 (10% penalty) = 2.286%.
JohnInIowa says
I’m wondering whether other investors in the CollegeInvest Stable Value Plus fund have an error their “Account Details” webpage like the one I think I’m seeing.
My total account value appears to be correct, but the breakdown of that sum into principal vs earnings seems to be way off. In particular, the figure it shows for cumulative earnings is way too big, more than double what it should be. The principal is too small, much smaller than the sum of all the contributions I’ve made.
I’m seeing this error in both of my accounts. It’s easier to spot in the account for my younger child because that account has never had a distribution. But the error also shows up in my other account which has had a distribution.
Thinksnow says
The 2017 rate is out with a very minor bump: “The annual rate of return for calendar year 2017 will be 2.59% net of all fees.”
Harry Sit says
Thank you. Updated with the new rate for 2017.
Thinksnow says
Also, Massachusetts has a tax deduction for the first $2000 (married couple) contributed to the Mass 529 starting 2017 and currently scheduled to expire in 2021. This is currently worth $102 per year. This just cracks the effort/return threshold for me and I will likely start making the annual $2000 contribution to the Mass plan in addition to the CO stable value plan where the bulk on my funds are. It does have reasonable funds, like Fidelity total stock market for .11% expense ratio total. There are a bunch of stinker 1% “Fidelity Funds”.
jim says
Are there any other 529s with a high rate like colorodo for the 529s? Even with the 10% penalty it’s a nice place to store cash for a return
Elise says
Arun in #22 mentions an additional 529 stable value plan with an even higher rate than Colorado’s. It doesn’t seem to get the same attention as Colorado’s, not sure why?
Arun says
The return on DC’s stable value plan (now called Ameritas Principal Protected) has dropped to 2.4% gross of fees, which are 0.15% so the net return is now 2.25%, quite a bit lower than the Colorado plan’s 2.59% return net of fees.
The Colorado plan is now managed by Brighthouse Life Insurance, which is an offspring of MetLife.
Elise says
2018 rate will be 2.29%
Harry Sit says
That’s disappointing.
Joe DeFuria says
Indeed disappointing. I was wondering if Brighthouse Financials “separation” from Met Life might lead to a lowering of the rate. I was cautiously optimistic that in a rising interest rate environment that the stable value interest rate would tick up slightly next year.
Oh well.
That being said, as far as I know there is still no higher “stable value” or fixed rate available in 529 plans (is there?)
Joe DeFuria says
To be clear, CollegeInvest has not yet posted the breakdown of the 2018 rate. All we know (via email blast) is that the overall annual rate is set to 2.29% .
In 2017, Brighthouse Financial’s rate was 3.3%…then CollegeInvest reduced that by 0.71 percentage points (for their fees) yielding the final rate to the consumer of 2.59%
So we don’t know (yet) how much of new 2018 rate is due to Brighthouse Financial decreasing their rate…or if CollegeInvest increased their fees (or both).
theo says
One more change for 2018: new contributions can be made until the total account value of each beneficiary reaches 400k (bumped up from 350k).
Harry Sit says
The new rate for 2019 will be 2.49% (net after fees). This is the second year of disappointment especially after interest rate in general came up quite a bit in 2018. Account holders should look elsewhere.
Arun says
A new offering by Utah’s 529 plan might be worth considering:
https://my529.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/PIMCO-Interest-Income-Fund-Fact-Sheet.pdf