Cheapest 529 Plan

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throw123112
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Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by throw123112 »

What is the cheapest 529 plan if I want exposure to the S&P 500 index or a total stock market fund? I live in MO so my $16,000 tax deduction can go to any state 529 plan.
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fetch5482
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by fetch5482 »

California Scholarshare
https://www.scholarshare529.com/research/fees.shtml

Expand the "Single Fund Portfolio" option, you can own the equivalent of VTSAX for 0.06%. The fund is from TIAA-CREF (TIEIX).

Technically the tieix fund tracks Russell 3000, which is approximately 98% of total stock market.
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
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mrpotatoheadsays
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by mrpotatoheadsays »

throw123112 wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:28 pm What is the cheapest 529 plan ...
I've often heard it's Utah's Educational Savings Plan (https://my529.org) but maybe it is the "best" and not the "cheapest".

Single fund Total US Stock Market (UTSTX ) appears to be 0.120%.

But most people go with a enrollment date funds which appear to be ~0.141%.
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fetch5482
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by fetch5482 »

Utah's My529 have been consistently among the cheapest plans for a long, long time.

In the last 3-4 years though, California Scholarshare has become much cheaper. It is one of the "hidden gem" plan that does not get mentioned a lot on forums like these, but is really good.

In general you won't go wrong with either CA, UT or NV plans - they are all great. CA also has a passive age-based plan with 0.12% fees. I think NV is in the same range, and UT is 0.14%. NV and UT plans use Vanguard funds, CA uses TIAA funds. Op mentioned they wanted to go with S&P500 or TSM, in which case CA will be really competitive and difficult to beat in terms of fees.
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
erictiger12
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by erictiger12 »

Illinois 529 has one of the lowest ER, e.g., 0.02% for Vanguard total stock market index fund.
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throw123112
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by throw123112 »

HappyPappy
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by HappyPappy »

https://www.virginia529.com/invest/fees-expenses/

If you scroll down to the Index funds and look at the far right column you’ll see the expense ratio. The index funds all track the similarly named Vanguard ETF. So 0.07% for Vanguard’s Total Stock Market.
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anon_investor
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by anon_investor »

HappyPappy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:38 am https://www.virginia529.com/invest/fees-expenses/

If you scroll down to the Index funds and look at the far right column you’ll see the expense ratio. The index funds all track the similarly named Vanguard ETF. So 0.07% for Vanguard’s Total Stock Market.
Oh nice, the fees dropped, it used to be 0.11%-0.12%.
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mrpotatoheadsays
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by mrpotatoheadsays »

gas_balloon wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:03 pm NV and UT plans use Vanguard funds, CA uses TIAA funds.
Ah, a case for "best". I would not do business with TIAA, just as I would not do business with Wells Fargo.

Reference: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/busi ... -tiaa.html
HappyPappy
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by HappyPappy »

anon_investor wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:11 am
HappyPappy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:38 am https://www.virginia529.com/invest/fees-expenses/

If you scroll down to the Index funds and look at the far right column you’ll see the expense ratio. The index funds all track the similarly named Vanguard ETF. So 0.07% for Vanguard’s Total Stock Market.
Oh nice, the fees dropped, it used to be 0.11%-0.12%.
You might be thinking of the Date Target funds? Those are still high, in my opinion.

It looks like Virginia 529's expense ratios for their funds that track the Vanguard Total International Stock Market, Total Stock Market, and Total Bond Market ETFs equal Vanguard's expense ration plus an additional 0.049%
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anon_investor
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by anon_investor »

HappyPappy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:47 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:11 am
HappyPappy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:38 am https://www.virginia529.com/invest/fees-expenses/

If you scroll down to the Index funds and look at the far right column you’ll see the expense ratio. The index funds all track the similarly named Vanguard ETF. So 0.07% for Vanguard’s Total Stock Market.
Oh nice, the fees dropped, it used to be 0.11%-0.12%.
You might be thinking of the Date Target funds? Those are still high, in my opinion.

It looks like Virginia 529's expense ratios for their funds that track the Vanguard Total International Stock Market, Total Stock Market, and Total Bond Market ETFs equal Vanguard's expense ration plus an additional 0.049%
Well I just view the underlying fund expense ratio plus 529 admin/management fee as the actual Expense Ratio, which was around 0.11% for the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index last year. Glad to see they keep lowering it, as it was 0.12% a few years ago. It may have been even higher when I opened up my Virginia 529 plan accounts 5+ years ago.
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fetch5482
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Re: Cheapest 529 Plan

Post by fetch5482 »

HappyPappy wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:38 am https://www.virginia529.com/invest/fees-expenses/

If you scroll down to the Index funds and look at the far right column you’ll see the expense ratio. The index funds all track the similarly named Vanguard ETF. So 0.07% for Vanguard’s Total Stock Market.
This looks like a pretty good option for op to go with as a total us fund from vanguard. Based on their description I think they're using https://institutional.vanguard.com/inve ... /fund/0855 as the fund.
(AGE minus 23%) Bonds | 5% REITs | Balance 80% US (75/25 TSM/SCV) + 20% International (80/20 Developed/Emerging)
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