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madteaparty
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I have approx 5 minutes of college saved for DS and I realize now, all of a sudden, the time horizon is short. It's kind of ironic I ask for advice here bc my DH does this for a living and is quite good at it, but this little account is sort of my thing and he is not at all involved with it. Anyway, 4 years is not enough time IMO for a Lehman-like implosion to make its way back up, so if you have similar timelines of less than 5 years until $ is needed, are you throwing everything in "income" type investments? Inflation protected? 

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I don't understand the question. What do you mean by "income type investments"?

If the time is short, the 529 won't grow a lot, but in many states you can deduct the contributions from your state taxes, which makes it an attractive vehicle even if you cannot expect a lot of interest.

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52 minutes ago, regentrude said:

I don't understand the question. What do you mean by "income type investments"?

If the time is short, the 529 won't grow a lot, but in many states you can deduct the contributions from your state taxes, which makes it an attractive vehicle even if you cannot expect a lot of interest.

Income type are non growth, ie not as aggressive. 

Yes the state tax benefit is the only reason for us to invest in a 529, the question had to do with the specific investments made with a 4-5 year time horizon and the long-overdue correction that’s coming. 

Edited by madteaparty
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This is kind of an outside-of-the-box idea, but you could look at investing in Groundfloor investments: https://www.groundfloor.us/. Loans are for 9 to 12 months, so your money wouldn't be tied up. I saw stats that everyone who invested in more than 15 properties earned profits, but I can't find that chart now. The average investor earning rate was 10%. Of course, you would want to spread out your investment and consider the rate of return vs risk for each investment.

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42 minutes ago, GoodGrief1 said:

For us, the 529 for the daughter currently in college has been in a less aggressive, more stable fund than the one for whom school was a bit further out. I suppose we need to change that now that the younger one is in high school though and the time is short.

Yeah that’s what happened to me, went to check the YTD contribution and realized DS is in high school. Even I can do that math ?

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3 hours ago, madteaparty said:

Yeah that’s what happened to me, went to check the YTD contribution and realized DS is in high school. Even I can do that math ?

I just said something to my husband about this (I do most financial stuff, but he set up the 529s) and he said our youngest daughter's account was set to automatically change to a more stable fund when she hit high school. So it seems to have been taken care of!

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We use the age-banded option in our 529. While there is more inflation now than in the Obama years, the increase is incredibly small and the Fed always fights inflation before they fight for any other market statistic, I would just do straight income. So, I don't think you necessarily need an inflation-protection investment.

The most important thing is to save as much as you can, as money does give you options. If possible, your child should have an after-school job and sock that money away, too.

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