Disclosure: As of last month, I am officially a brand ambassador for Arkansas 529. I opened an Arkansas 529 account for my son 5 years ago. When I learned that they were looking for brand ambassadors to spread the word about the program, I jumped on board. Any content you see on my blog or social media profiles about Arkansas 529 are my own thoughts and opinions. 🙂
One day, I logged into Yahoo to find an email from Navient. My deferment had just ended, so it was time to start paying them back for the loans I took out during grad school.
I opened the email and was directed to log into my Navient account to see how much I owed.
I was expecting maybe a few hundred dollars a month. Which wasn’t ideal, given my finances, but I figured it’s the cost of education.
But the amount I saw made me want to cry and vomit.
$5,000.
Not per year.
Not overall.
$5,000 per month.
After that initial moment of horror, I was overcome with laughter. The kind of laughter that happens when something is so absolutely ridiculous, you can’t even believe it’s happening.
“Who do they think I am?! Beyonce?”
Beyonce could easily afford a $5,000 per month bill. Me? I’m trying to get to the point where I even EARN that much money in one month.
I felt like Justin Finch-Fletchley when he thought Harry Potter was trying to sic a killer snake on him. “What are you playing at?!”
Y’all, I already have major anxiety. This did NOTHING to improve it.
You guys already know that I’m a single mom. You might also know that I’ve worked from home full-time since 2012 and that I homeschool my son.
I’m. Not. Rich.
I don’t get child support. I don’t receive SSI or any monthly financial assistance.
While I have had some really good months in my business, I’ve also had some really slow ones. Being honest, I’m still one of the freelancers who live in the dreaded “feast-or-famine cycle”.
My point being – “I ain’t got it”. Lol!
Now, don’t let my lol’s and comical writing fool you. That’s just how I tend to deal with stressful situations – laugh to keep from crying. This was stressing me ALL THE WAY OUT.
I’m talking panic attacks out of nowhere, crying fits in the shower, heart racing for no reason, and all kinds of feelings about how I’m failing at life/business. And, honestly, the fact that I don’t even use my very expensive degree just made me all feel that much worse.
The sad thing is, I’m not the only one who deals with this type of thing. There are many people who feel like they will be paying off their student loans until they die – even if they never actually get a job in their field.
In fact, according to the Federal Reserve, 69% of the class of 2018 had to take out loans and graduated with an average debt of $29,800.
Think about that for a minute. From the time you graduate, you have to stress about getting a job to pay off the debt you accrued in your attempt to qualify for a job. And the debt can be so much that even if you handed over every single paycheck for a year, you might STILL owe money.
When I think about the fact that there’s over 1.56 trillion dollars in national student loan debt, I think about the 45,000,000 people like me who are probably stressing out about how to pay it all off.
The stress is real! Whether you owe $1,000, $10,000, or $100,000 – paying off debt is not fun. It’s even worse if you’re struggling financially, as so many of us do at one point or another.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that for my son.
Not only did I start teaching him about financial literacy when he was 4 years old, that’s also around the time that I started thinking about him going to college. I want him to be able to go to college without having to dig himself into a hole that is notoriously hard to crawl out of. Ideally, he would be able to do what I did for undergrad and get a full scholarship. But what if he doesn’t? So, I decided to open an Arkansas 529 College Investing Plan for him so that he will hopefully never have to take out a student loan to pay for college.
What’s an Arkansas 529 College Investing Plan?
The Arkansas 529 College Investing Plan allows you to set up a strategic college savings account that grows with your child. He or she will be able to use the funds for tuition, room and board, books, supplies, study equipment, and other eligible items to help them be successful in college. It’s set up so that someone like me (a single mom and entrepreneur) can actually afford to save for my son’s college education, regardless of my income situation. Even if I don’t end up saving enough to cover everything, having SOMETHING saved up will still help.
Why I Love Arkansas 529
Just $25 to Start
You don’t have to have a ton of money to get started. $25 is all you need and you don’t have to commit to adding a certain amount of money each month/year. It’s totally up to you and what you can afford to set aside.
Not Limited to Arkansas Schools
One thing I worried about when I first considered opening an Arkansas 529 college savings account was that it would mean that if my son decided to go to school outside Arkansas, the money I’d save would just be lost. We live in Arkansas now, but I don’t plan to live here forever. In fact, I’d love to live overseas for a while. And I want Christian to keep an open mind about where he goes to school. So, I was happy to learn that the money I save can be used at schools all over the country and even internationally!
Can Be Used Even if They Don’t Attend College
Although I went to college, I don’t think that college is for everyone. Many people are able to earn a living doing what they love without ever going to college. If my son decides to go that route, would 100% support him. But what about the college savings?! With Arkansas 529, they offer three options if your child decides not to go to college:
Option 1: Keep investing in case they change their mind (no age limit on when they can use the money for school).
Option 2: Change the designated beneficiary to someone who would like to use the money for school. (There are limits on who is considered eligible, though.)
Option 3: Use the money for other uses (this would be eligible to a tax penalty except in special circumstances, such as if your child receives a scholarship (as long as the amount you withdraw doesn’t exceed the scholarship amount), attends a U.S. military academy (again, as long as the amount withdrawn does not exceed the costs of attendance), becomes disabled, or passes away.
Great Idea for Birthday and Christmas Gifts
If you want other people to be able to contribute to your child’s college savings account for their birthday or Christmas (or any time), Arkansas 529 makes it easy with Ugift. They can make contributions directly to your account through check or online transactions – without having back-end access to the account. A lot of families feel like their kids have more than enough toys and games, so this is a cool way to still give a meaningful gift without adding any clutter.
Easy to Open Accounts for Loved Ones
This wasn’t a consideration when I opened an account for my son, but now that I have two nieces, I like the idea that I could open a savings account for each of them as well to help them with college. Also, if anyone else (such as his grandparents, aunts, uncles, or godparents) want to open up separate accounts for my son, they can! And it doesn’t take a long time. In fact, it should only take 15-20 minutes!
Curious about how to open an Arkansas 529 College Investing Plan (or gift one to someone you love)? You can find out everything you need to know on the Arkansas 529 website. You can also call or email Emma Willis, who is the go-to person for Arkansas 529. She’s the one who helped me get started and really knows her stuff!
