Bright Directions College Fund

I invest in Bright Start Illinois 529 plan. You get a nice tax break if you are an Illinois resident. I started with the Upromise fund and when I had my taxes done this year, my accountant asked me why I was not enrolled in my states 529 plan because of tax reasons.

Hi K.. My husband and I have our 20 month old son enrolled in a college savings plan. We went through a very helpful person who aided us in exploring all of the options available. His name is Aaron Vasil and he is located in Orland Park. The number to his office is ###-###-####. Hope this helps! L. O

Brightstart of Illinois was the best option we could find. There are different levels you can pick, safe to risky, and you can also transfer it to another child or adult if you want and you can put in as little as 25 dollars each time. It is the best bang for your buck! The website is really easy to follow and signing up is easy.

The Illinois Bright Starts one is considered one of the best in the country. It has lots of investment options, shows good returns (remember the market is awful at present). Whatever you do you need to start now and the moment #2 is born. The website has a great calculator where you can plug in a certain school and calculate how much you need to invest now and each year to be able to afford it when baby is ready. I plugged in Duke which is not quite ivy league but close and got a figure of 450,000 needed by time sweetie is 18 ahhh. So I started investing the month she was born - with 10k upfront and 10k invested per year, I should make it. Also, you get an Illinois tax break for up to $10k investment per year.

Hi K.,
We invested in the Illinois 529 Plan called Bright Start. We went through other options with our financial adviser, but this seemed to be the best option for us.
The more money you can put into these up front, the better off you will be. Keep in mind, though, that if you take it out early you will have to pay some serious taxes...be sure that what you put in can STAY in until college time :)
Also, I believe that these plans are "transferable" Lets say that your son becomes a super famous something-or-other and makes millions of dollars before his college years...or just chooses not to go ;-) ...you can use the money for continuing education for yourself or your husband, pass the money on to another child, or even a godson/goddaughter etc.
I also believe that money put into the 529 can be used for things other than tuition as long as it is school related like room and board, books, meal plans etc.
I would suggest that you call a financial representative to discuss: we use one from Northwestern Mutual (you can look up someone in your area on their website: www.nmfn.com). An important thing to note is that these advisers are free of charge to you--there are no fees to use them because they are paid on commission by whomever you buy the policies from. They can give you advice on college, but also any other financial concerns you might have (life insurance, estate planning, retirement planning etc).
Good luck!

We are also using the Bright Start. In Illinois it is hard to find another 529 better than the Bright Start, since you get a tax break when you put your money in. I also think that if your child goes to an Illinois school and you use another state's 529 plan Illinois will tax them on it. I waited until they switched out of Legg Mason for the 529 since I didn't like th funds. Now that they are with Oppenheimer the choices are much better, in my opinion.

I am not sure what Bright Horizons is. Bright Directions is the Illinois 529 plan that is sold through brokers (thus more fees). College Illinois is the prepaid college tuition program.

Good Luck with your choice.

D.