College Savings Apps – Use your smart phone or tablet to help you save money for child’s tuition. These helpful apps make putting college savings within reach this summer easier! These apps, and tips for putting college savings within reach this summer, are brought to you by our friends at Michigan Education Trust (MET), Michigan’s 529 prepaid tuition program.
OAKLAND COUNTY MOMS EDUCATION ARTICLES & RESOURCES
Summer is nearly half over for most students, which might have parents thinking about the next school year. I know I am already anticipating my daughter’s transition to the first grade and with another school year on the horizon, I know my child is one step closer to college. With college tuition costs at an all-time high, there is never a bad time to start saving for college. But with summer expenses – vacations, summer camps, day trips and day care – it can be hard to balance saving and spending. Luckily with the advent of new technologies, there are more money-saving tools than ever before. I have utilized the following apps to keep track of my money in order to make sure I am saving money along the way.
College Savings Apps
College Savings Apps – Mint
Mint is a free app available for Apple and Android devices. It helps users track all their financial activity, including checking, savings and retirement accounts. My daily transactions are automatically categorized and recorded in a log, which in turn makes note of my spending patterns. Mint is a great tool to track my expenditures and has made it easier for me locate areas in which I can save money every month. The app is password protected, and Mint allows users to deactivate phone access from its website in case of lost devices – which in turn gives me peace of mind knowing my accounts will remain secure. I recommend this app as a fantastic tool for keeping tabs on one’s financial health. Mint website.
College Savings Apps – Qapital
In contrast, this app allows me to set saving goals and automates saving actions to meet those goals. For example, Qapital rounds up my daily debit and credit card purchases to the nearest dollar and moves this “spare change” to an account insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). It can also be set up to automatically transfer funds into my FDIC account when I spend less than I had budgeted for a particular expense. Alternatively, the app can be programmed to contribute a certain amount to the savings account on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Qapital is available on Apple and Android devices and requires no additional fees for its usage. However, it is important to note that the FDIC savings account tied to the app does not accumulate interest like traditional savings accounts. Qapital website.
College Savings Apps – Acorns
Similarly, Acorns saves my spare change and places it into a special account. In contrast, this account allows me to invest my spare change in a portfolio based on income and goals, permitting me to reap the return on investment. The app’s investing portfolio is made up of exchange-traded funds ranging from conservative to aggressive. Acorns is not free. It costs users with a balance under $5,000 a dollar per month, and users with a balance above $5,000 pay a fee of 0.25 percent of their total amount. However, college students can use the app for free up to four years. Acorns Website.
Putting College Savings Within Reach
While consciously putting money away in traditional savings accounts is not a thing of the past, the number of college savings options available to consumers is on the rise. I know when I began saving money for my daughter’s eventual college tuition costs, I didn’t exactly know how to get started. After thorough research, I decided to open an account with the Michigan Education Trust (MET).
MET is the state’s 529 prepaid tuition plan, which allows parents, grandparents, businesses and others to pre-purchase undergraduate tuition for any state resident. The prepaid tuition is based on today’s rates and then paid out at the future cost when the student is ready for college. This plan does not restrict a student’s choice in school – they can direct refund payments to any eligible university in the nation, including both private and public schools. In addition, both the total contract price and any monthly payments made are tax deductible on the purchaser’s state income taxes in the year the purchases were made.
Now, in addition to my regular monthly contributions to my MET plan, I can use money saved using my apps – allowing me to maximize my educational investments.
It’s never too early or too late to start saving for your child’s education. Whether you’re a mom to a newborn or a teenager, you can start saving today.
This College Savings Apps / Putting College Savings Within Reach This Summer article is provided by Michigan Education Trust (MET), Michigan’s 529 prepaid tuition plan which allows for easy transfer of undergrad tuition for any child residing in Michigan. For more information, visit www.SetwithMET.com.
For more information about the MET college savings plan, visit SETwithMET.com.
