The 5 Things You Don’t Need to Know Before Starting a College Savings Plan

---

We’ve made saving for college so easy; we can explain how in under a minute.

Forget everything you need to know about saving for college. If you had a dollar for all of the future’s uncertainties, you could probably pay for college with cash. And with so many options and experts telling you what you should do, we know that the whole process can seem daunting. It can be really tough to know where to begin. 

The short, honest and easy answer is this: you can put your child on a path to college success with just a few dollars. By just having a dedicated college savings account (less than $500), your child is already two times more likely to enroll in and graduate from college. Here is your comprehensive list of everything you don’t need to think about before you start a college savings plan. (Spoiler alert: it’s pretty much everything.)

1. You do NOT need to be a financial whiz to “invest” in your child’s future.

   Whether you’re looking for a sure thing or want to invest aggressively, the good news is that we have college savings plans customized for every savings style and budget. Our Prepaid Plans allow you to decide how many years you want to save for, at what type of institution (state college vs. university) and break down the cost with a monthly payment that never changes, making it easy to save for a specific goal.

   Since our Prepaid options are 529 plans—meaning they’re designed specifically for college savings and offer tax advantages – you’re ultimately investing your hard-earned dollars a smarter way.

2. You do NOT need to risk losing any of your investment.

   Speaking of guesswork, one of the scariest parts of saving money is the idea that you could potentially make a bad investment. Prepaid Plans are guaranteed by the state (meaning they’re risk-free), so there’s no way to lose the money you’ve put into it. When you invest in a Prepaid Plan, you’re locking in the future cost of college today – for less! You don’t have to worry about stock market fluctuations or tuition increases, as that’s on us to manage. We’ve put together a helpful pricing tool to show you what each plan will cost and what it includes.

3. You do NOT need to know where your child is going to college.

   Simple and safe investments, like Prepaid Plans, sound great, but what happens if you decide to start saving with Florida Prepaid and your child starts thinking about going out of state? A notion no parent wants to think about before it becomes a reality, of course, and fortunately you don’t need to when saving for college with Florida Prepaid. Though our plans are designed for use at Florida schools, you can pack them right up with all of those dorm essentials and send them with your student to any qualified institution across the country. We will pay the same amount to an out-of-state or private school that we would pay to a Florida College or State University.

4. In fact, you do NOT even need to know IF your child is going to college.

   Remember those uncertainties we were talking about before? Perhaps the time will come for college and your child will decide to go a different direction altogether. Yet another thing you don’t have to think about while saving for their future. Your child has up to 10 years after high school graduation to use a Prepaid Plan. Prepaid Plans can also be transferred to another child or family member, or you can receive a full refund for the amount you paid into it.

5. You do NOT need to know how you’re going to pay for it all.

   One thing parents learn early on is that there is tremendous pressure to “do it all.” A couple of years of sleepless nights and changing dirty diapers later, you realize that you simply can’t. But you can do your best, and that’s always enough when it comes to your children. The same is true when saving for college. The cost for a public university in Florida is currently about $21,000 per year, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, room and board. Financial experts agree that it’s good to focus on saving about one-third of the total. Scholarships, financial aid, student loans, and good ol’ fashioned hard work can often supplement the rest. And, yes, Florida Prepaid Plans work alongside scholarships for your student.

   Since the beginning, Florida Prepaid has had one goal: to make college affordable for Florida families. We know there isn’t a lot about the future that we can predict, which is why we provide Prepaid college plans that you can count on to be there for you and for your children.

Have questions? We’ve got answers. Explore our Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about our Prepaid Plans and Savings Plan. And click here to start your savings now!