– 529 Insiders Article of the Week
– News
– Research
– Data
– ABLE Act Column
– Events
– Quote of the Week

529 Dash, Required Reading for Your 529 Education: The goal of the 529 Dash is to address the specific needs and concerns of advisers, accountants and estate planners who sell and service families and institutions in the college financial planning process by providing industry relevant news, product training and best practices.

Please Read, Engage and Share.

Paul Curley, CFA
Editor-in-Chief of 529 Dash
Director of College Savings Research
paul.curley@strategic-i.com
Twitter: @PaulCurleyBC
LinkedIn: Strategic Insight 529 Dash LinkedIn Group

Reader’s Perspective: Question and Answer with Peter D’Arruda, President and Founding Principal of Capital Financial & Insurance LLC

How does this financial firm founder approach college financial planning with his clients?

Here is what you need to know from stories released this week.

– FINRA, “Gain control of your student loan payments with these 3 questions.” Editor’s Take: Useful triage of how to handle student loans by source and type. Learn how to block and tackle the client questions on the topic of repaying the cost of higher education as well.
– Solutions at Work Blog by Bright Horizons, “Employees’ $250 Billion problem.” Editor’s Take: Advisors have an opportunity to add value to their corporate clients by helping them to understand that providing college financial planning employer benefits can drive revenue for the firm. The article provides a number to quantify the corporate impact, and several recommendations to help the retail channel.

Last Week’s Most Read Article:
– Journal of Accountancy, “What the tax reform bill means for individuals.” Editor’s Take: Good round-up of the impact of H.R. 1 for individuals. Has details, but not too granular. Review it to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

– 75% of advisers recommend clients to use direct-sold 529 plans (12% always, 63% sometimes), while 25% only use adviser-sold 529 plans.

Here is the latest 529 and ABLE market data by Strategic Insight that can be used by the media and other organizations.

This week’s top news, resources, legislative updates and product announcements relating to ABLE accounts, which are tax-advantaged savings accounts for certain individuals with disabilities and their families.

News, Research, Data & Resources:
– ABC 6, “Union County company to make ‘groundbreaking’ contribution to disabled workers.” Editor’s Take: UCO Industries became the first employer to offer ABLE matching contributions as an employee benefit. A YouTube video on the announcement can be found here as well.
– 529 Insiders, “529 & ABLE 3Q 2017 529 Data Highlights.” Editor’s Take: ABLE is successfully helping a growing number of families to save for qualified expenses.

Events:
– Strategic Insight ABLE Summit 2018 will be held on September 26, 2018, at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes.
– Strategic Insight ABLE Summit 2019 will be held on September 25, 2019, at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island

Save the Date:
– 529 Conference 2018: September 24-26, 2018 – JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes
– 529 Conference 2019: September 23-25, 2019 – Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island

Sessions:
– 529 Conference: A highly interactive and educational industry gathering with the entire college financial planning ecosystem.
– 529 Essentials: A pre-conference session to train professionals on 529 plans in a constantly evolving market.
– ABLE Summit: A post-conference session to deliver insight and networking opportunities to support the successful implementation and growth of ABLE accounts.

Please email Paul at paul.curley@strategic-i.com to inquire about having him provide a 529 continuing education or industry landscape update presentation.

“For everyday clients, there is no better tool than a properly funded and allocated 529.”

– Peter D’Arruda, President and Founding Principal of Capital Financial & Insurance LLC

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