College Resources & News from CFNC
With rising tuition costs, North Carolina families are seeking convenient and affordable options to pay for college. College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC), a free college assistance service of the State of North Carolina, is committed to raising awareness about college savings plans in the workplace that can help secure a student’s future.
Starting kindergarten is a big life event for both students and parents. Like with most big changes, the key to a successful transition into a new environment is preparation. Upon entering kindergarten, students should be on their way to mastering skills like spelling their name, memorizing their address, reciting the alphabet and more.
When it comes to saving money to pay for college, many parents are doing it the old-fashioned way: that is to say, they’re hoping for a miracle! A survey conducted in January of this year found that 57 percent of the parents polled had saved less than $10,000. But the survey found that parents do have high savings hopes.
When Kate opened an NC 529 Account for the first of her four children, she was still paying off her own school loans from undergraduate and law school. She had been the first in her family to go to college and she scrimped, saved, and worked all the way through school and still came out with a sizable 10-year loan that she eventually refinanced into a 20-year loan.
There are optimists and there are pessimists. There are leaders and there are followers. And in the world of economics, there are savers and there are spenders.
Picture this. Your child strides confidently across the stage at their high school graduation, shakes the principal’s hand, and receives their much-anticipated diploma. Now, imagine being able to celebrate your graduate’s success by handing them money to put towards higher education expenses.
State Employee’s Credit Union (SECU) is increasing the rate paid on the Federally-Insured Deposit Account (FIDA) from 1.5% to 1.75%. This is one of the best rates on a federally insured investment option in a 529 we have seen thus far!
The bottom line is: If you’re a North Carolina taxpayer, check with a qualified tax advisor before using your NC 529 funds for K-12 tuition expenses or before rolling over to a 529 ABLE account. North Carolina has not yet expanded state tax law to correspond to the recent federal changes.
How do you picture your little one’s future? Bustling around a hospital saving lives? Reporting on the nightly news? Being a professional athlete?
Crawlers raced to the finish line during the pre-game show at the UNC vs. N.C. State men’s basketball game on January 27th. Six babies went head-to-head during the second Diapers to Dorms Dash in hopes of winning some college cash. As Ramses cheered on the babies, it was one-year-old Austin Tillman who was first to cross the finish line.