Re: college vs retirement

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
 Banty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Zarah says...
> >
> >On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Elizabeth Gardner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>We have a 529 plan, but it's mostly so that we can collect bits of change
> >>here and there from our uPromise activity.
> >
> >Do you mind if I ask which one you went with?  I haven't opened one of
> >theirs yet because it looks like the fees would eat up the little bit
> >of uPromise earnings we get.
> 
> 
> For me uPromise woudn't add up to a heck of a lot, which is why I never
> bothered.  Only a few merchants I would normally buy from go have uPromise, 
> and
> to try to get more I'd have to actually lose money.  One example - sometimes 
> for
> convenience I use the local Mobil station, and I could add to uPromise that 
> way.
> I'd do better if I were to use the cheaper gas station, and send the savings 
> to
> an ordinary college plan.
> 
> I suppose it doesnt' hurt if one is very aware not to spend more on items 
> just
> for uPromise, and is already budgeting well.  Do it but don't let it fool 
> you. 
> That is - continue to spend frugally, and reap what uPromise benefits one 
> gets
> in the course of that.  But all in all I think it's more of a feel-good 
> thing.
> 
> JMO,
> Banty
> 

I agree--the key is to change your habits as little as possible, and 
never do anything that will lose you money on a net basis.  Actually, 
the big payoff is if you get the uPromise Citicard, which pays in one 
percent of your monthly card bill, up to a yearly maximum of $300.  My 
spouse and I each have one, and my dad recently got one, too, so that's 
a potential $900 a year that we can amass without changing our habits at 
all.  Since we all pay off our balances each month, interest rates are 
irrelevant, and there's no fee for the card.  The way we use credit 
cards is basically to put everything on them and exploit the float for 
our own advantage, while giving the cc company as little as possible.  
But that's our strategy no matter what cards we're using.  

The other potential big payoff is in restaurants, which contribute 10 
percent of the bill in most cases.  I have to admit I don't know how 
they can afford to do that, but the margins in the restaurant business 
must be higher than I thought.  It's not worth it if there aren't any 
decent ones around, but fortunately our favorite Chinese takeout is on 
the program and so are a couple of others that we like to go to.  

The rest of it is just pocket change here and there.  I don't buy things 
I wouldn't buy otherwise, but I do choose my stores, to some degree, on 
whether they do uPromise.  A lot of my faves already do, but if I have 
to choose between, say, Linens n Things and Bed Bath and Beyond, and one 
of them does uPromise and the other doesn't, it's a no-brainer, since 
they're otherwise pretty much indistinguishable.  

As for how we picked the plan, there weren't as many choices when we 
opened it as there are now, so we went with our state plan.  But I may 
revisit that decision at some point.  All investments did so horribly 
there for awhile that it didn't really make too much difference, but 
with the market reviving, it might.  I know there are places on the Web 
that rate the 529 plans on performance and fees, though I don't have 
links at the ready.