529 Tool Crosses Borders

Need help crossing state borders when it comes to education funding? Joseph Hurley, founder of Savingforcollege.com, has announced an enhancement to the site’s State Tax 529 Calculator. As they have in the past, users supply their state of residence, marital status, and the investment they intend to make in the 529 plan in dollars for the year. The calculator then demonstrates the value of an in-state 529 tax benefit when applied over time, taking into account carryovers for those states that allow them, and considering differences in state tax treatment of withdrawals. In addition, the tool supplies a graph and tables comparing in-state and out-of-state accumulations in both gross dollars and in annualized return equivalent.

The revamped version now compares in-state and out-of-state 529 plans. The override instructions for the calculator’s “expected return” input contain a link to the site’s Portfolio Fee and Performance Lookup tool, making it easy for users to enter actual investment performance in place of hypothetical figures. This feature allows users to determine whether or not the continuation of that investment performance is sufficient to overcome the value of a foregone state tax deduction.