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Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan

Vermont

The Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan features age-based and static options using TIAA-CREF mutual funds and a principal-protected account.

5-Cap Rating

Resident:
Non-Resident:

Savingforcollege.com's 5-Cap Ratings provides an evaluation and comparison of 529 plans, utilizing a formula that examines dozens of factors grouped into the following categories. (Scale 0 to 5; 5 is highest)

Performance	Costs	Features	Reliability	Resident Upgrade
3.59	3.03	2.50	4.20	0.30

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Access enrollment materials and open an account with Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan in just a few easy steps.

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General

Did you know?

Residents are not limited to investing in their own state's plan. Another state may offer a plan that performs better and has lower fees. If there is no tax break offered for in-state investors ... shop around!

Also, the plan chosen does not affect which state the student enrolls in. An investor can live in NY, invest in a plan from NV and send a student to college in FL.

Research other state plans
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Program type:

Savings

Telephone:

1-800-637-5860

Web site:

Click here to visit

How to enroll:

Enroll directly with the program.

Initial year of operation:

1999

State agency(ies):

Vermont Student Assistance Corp. (VSAC)

Program manager:

TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc.

Program distributor:

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC

Manager contract term:

Premium subscription required for this data.

Eligibility

State residency requirements:

None

Who can be a participant/owner in the program?

U.S. citizens and resident aliens, UGMA/UTMA custodians, and legal entities.

Significant time or age restrictions imposed by the program:

None

Contributions

Maximum contributions:

Accepts contributions until all account balances in Vermont's 529 plan for the same beneficiary reach $352,800.

Minimum contributions:

$25, or $15 per pay period via payroll deduction.

Investment Options

Age-based investment options:

The Managed Allocation Option contains 6 portfolios of underlying mutual funds. Contributions are placed into the portfolio corresponding to the beneficiary’s age and later reassigned to more conservative portfolios as the beneficiary approaches college age.

Static investment options:

Choose from among 4 multi-fund options (the Diversified Equity Option, the Equity Index Option, the Balanced Option, and the Fixed Income Option), and the Principal Plus Interest Option which guarantees principal and a stated rate of interest.

Underlying investments:

TIAA-CREF institutional mutual funds; the Principal Plus Interest Option is issued by TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Company.

Underlying fund allocations:

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Investment performance link:

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Portfolio Fees & Performance Lookup

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Fees & Expenses

Enrollment or application fee:

None.

Account maintenance fee:

None.

Program management fees:

0.50% manager fee for the age-based option includes underlying mutual fund expenses, and will be reduced to 0.45% when the plan reaches $225 million in assets; 0.45% manager fee for static fund options does not include underlying fund expenses; no fee for the Principal Plus Interest Option.

Expenses of the underlying investments:

Included in the program manager fee for the age-based option. For the static fund options, underlying expenses range from 0.09% to 0.39%.

Total asset-based expense ratio:

0.50% - 0.84%. None for the Principal Plus Interest Option.

Taxes and other Benefits

Program match on contributions:

None.

State tax deduction or credit for contributions:

Contributions to the Vermont 529 plan of up to $2,500 per beneficiary per year by an individual, and up to $5,000 per beneficiary per year by married taxpayers who each make their own contributions, are eligible for a 10% tax credit against Vermont income tax. Only contributions made by the account owner, and by a non-account owner who files a joint return with the account owner, are eligible for the credit. The principal portion of a rollover from another 529 plan is eligible for the credit, provided the funds remain in the account for the remainder of the taxable year. Contribution deadline is December 31.