Utah Releases Federally Insured 529 Plan Option
The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) is launching an FDIC-insured savings account investment option today. The new investment option helps protect funds earmarked for future college expenses.
UESP’s savings account is the first 529 FDIC-insured investment that account owners can open with no required minimum contribution.
The FDIC-insured savings account is held in trust by UESP at Zions First National Bank. Funds in the savings account are insured by the FDIC on a pass-through basis to each UESP account owner up to the maximum amount set by federal law—currently $250,000 through December 31, 2009, and $100,000 thereafter.
The earnings in UESP accounts are tax free (federal and Utah state) when used for qualified higher education expenses. Also, Utah taxpayers can claim a Utah state income tax credit of 5% on their contributions of up to $1,740 per beneficiary ($3,480 for married couples filing jointly). This means the UESP tax credit is worth up to $87 per beneficiary ($174 for married couples filing jointly). You can take advantage of these tax savings each year you contribute—for the life of the beneficiary’s account—if the beneficiary was under 19 when the account was opened.
Read more about Utah 529 Plans.