Flexibility

Anyone 18 years of age or older can open a UESP 529 plan account. Parents can save for their children, grandparents can save for grandchildren, and uncles and aunts can save for nieces and nephews, you can even save for yourself or a spouse. Once you open the account, you can change the beneficiary at anytime to another member of the beneficiary’s family. Each beneficiary and each account owner must be a resident of the United States and must have a valid U.S. Social Security or Taxpayer Identification number.1

Choose a College
You can use the money in your child’s account at any eligible educational institution he or she is invited to attend—from the local community college to the Ivy League. Eligible educational institutions generally include any accredited public or private college, university, or applied technology center anywhere in the country, and even at some schools abroad.2

But college is so much more than going to class. That’s why the Utah 529 plan lets you withdraw funds for your child’s qualified higher education expenses including tuition and fees, books, supplies, room and board, and required equipment. For a list of qualified higher education expenses, click here.

Withdraw Funds at Anytime
So what if circumstances change? Did your son or daughter change their mind about attending college? Did a family emergency come up? Or did you just change your mind? You can withdraw your funds at any time. If the money is used for anything but a qualified higher education expense, you’ll be required to pay federal and state income tax on the earnings, an additional 10% federal penalty tax on the earnings portion of the distribution, and recapture any Utah state income tax credit or deduction previously claimed—but the decision is yours to make.3

Maximum Aggregate Contributions
UESP is a valuable tool in any investment strategy. There are no income restrictions on who can contribute, and contributions can be made until all balances for the same beneficiary reach an aggregate $346,500.4

1 Restrictions apply to all account changes. Please see the Program Description for details.

2 Eligible educational institutions can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

3 In cases of death, disability, receipt of a scholarship, or attendance at a military academy, the earnings will be subject to federal and state income tax but you will not have to pay the additional 10% federal penalty. If you previously took a Utah state income tax credit or deduction, you must add the deducted amount to your taxable income for Utah state income tax purposes in the year of the non-qualified withdrawal.

4 UESP will accept contributions until the aggregate account balances for the same beneficiary reach $346,500. The account balances may exceed this amount as a result of market performance. This dollar limit can change in the future.

© 2009 Utah State Board of Regents, all rights reserved.
The terms Utah Educational Savings Plan and UESP are registered service marks.

Investors should read the Program Description and consider all investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. The Program Description is available for download on the Web or a hard copy can be mailed to you by requesting it online from this Web site.

FDIC Insurance. Except for the underlying investment specified below, investments in UESP are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). FDIC insurance is provided for the FDIC-insured savings account held in trust by UESP at Zions First National Bank (Bank). Funds in the savings account are insured by the FDIC on a pass-through basis to each account owner up to the maximum amount set by federal law—currently $250,000 through December 31, 2013, and $100,000 thereafter. The amount of FDIC insurance provided to an account owner is based on the total of (1) the value of an account owner’s investment in UESP’s FDIC-insured savings account plus (2) the value of other accounts held (if any) at the Bank, as determined by the Bank and by FDIC regulations.

No Other Insurance and No Guarantees. Investments in UESP are not insured nor guaranteed by the State of Utah, UESP, the Utah State Board of Regents, the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority, other state agencies, federal government agencies (except to the extent noted above regarding FDIC insurance ), or any employees or directors of any such entities. Units in UESP have not been registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or with any state securities commission.

Account Value. The value of your UESP account may vary depending on market conditions and the performance of the investment option you select. It could be more or less than the amount you contribute; in short, your investment could lose value. However, subject to the application of Bank and FDIC rules and regulations to each account owner, funds in UESP’s FDIC-insured savings account will retain their value, whether in Option 11 or when allocated to portions of Options 2, 7, 8, and 9.

Non-Utah taxpayers and residents: You should determine whether the state in which you or your beneficiary pay taxes or live offers a 529 plan that provides state tax or other benefits not otherwise available to you by investing in UESP. You should consider such state tax treatment and benefits, if any, before investing in UESP.

 

"Generally speaking, it's still Utah— which is one of the reasons that it is perennially on top of our list of the best 529 plans."

Morningstar, Inc.
Independent Investment Research
May 10, 2007