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Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan (Direct-sold)
South Carolina
This 529 savings program, available on a direct basis only to those who meet certain South Carolina residency requirements, features a menu of age-based and static portfolio options utilizing Columbia Funds, along with a stable value option.
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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.
Program type:
Savings
How to enroll:
Enroll directly with the program.
Initial year of operation:
2002
State agency(ies):
Office of the State Treasurer
Program manager:
Columbia Management Distributors, Inc.
Program distributor:
Columbia Management Distributors, Inc.
Manager contract term:
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Eligibility
State residency requirements:
The account owner or beneficiary must be a resident of South Carolina, or an employee of the State of South Carolina or the Bank of America, at the time of program enrollment.
Who can be a participant/owner in the program?
U.S. citizens and resident aliens and UGMA/UTMA custodians; the Treasurer and Program Manager may permit other persons and legal entities to open accounts
Significant time or age restrictions imposed by the program:
None
Contributions
Maximum contributions:
Accepts contributions until all account balances in South Carolina's 529 plans for the same beneficiary reach $318,000.
Minimum contributions:
With lump-sum contributions, the minimum initial contribution is $250, and the minimum subsequent contribution is $50. With the automatic investment plan, the minimum contribution level is $50 per month.
Investment Options
Age-based investment options:
The Automatic Allocation Choice contains six portfolios of underlying mutual funds. Contributions are placed into the portfolio corresponding to the beneficiary’s age or number of years to expected enrollment, and later reassigned to more conservative portfolios as the beneficiary approaches college age.
Static investment options:
Select among six multi-fund portfolios (Aggressive Growth, Growth, Balanced Growth, Balanced, Income and Growth, and Income), a stable value portfolio, and three individual-fund index portfolios.
Underlying investments:
Columbia mutual funds; the stable value portfolio consists of a funding agreement issued by Transamerica Life
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:
0.20% manager fee
Expenses of the underlying investments:
Approximate range is 0.31% to 0.42% (portfolio weighted average) in the aged-based portfolios, and 0.14% to 0.20% in the individual-fund portfolios, and 0.10% in the Stable Capital portfolio.
Total asset-based expense ratio:
0.30% - 0.62%
Taxes and other Benefits
Program match on contributions:
None
State tax deduction or credit for contributions:
Contributions to any of South Carolina's 529 plans are fully deductible in computing South Carolina taxable income. Contribution deadline: April 15 of the following year.
Value of in-state tax benefits:
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State tax recapture provisions:
The principal portion of nonqualified withdrawals from this plan are included in South Carolina taxable income to the extent of prior South Carolina tax deductions. Rollovers apparently are not subject to recapture.
State tax treatment of qualified distributions:
South Carolina law exempts qualified distributions from a South Carolina 529 plan (via specific exclusion) and from non-South Carolina 529 plans (via conformity to the federal tax exclusion).
State tax treatment of rollovers:
South Carolina follows federal tax-free treatment.
Does the sponsoring state exclude the value of an account for state financial aid purposes?
No
Does participation in the program provide beneficiaries with any advantages in qualifying for resident tuition status at state institutions?
No
Does the program have a formal agreement with a rewards program or outside scholarship program?
Yes, with the Upromise rewards service
Statutory protection of an account from creditors:
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Distributions & Terminations
To whom are distributions made payable:
Eligible educational institution, beneficiary, beneficiary and institution jointly, or account owner, as directed by the account owner.
Account Changes
Policy regarding participant/owner changes:
Accepts requests to transfer account ownership.
Documents, Access & Reporting
Does participant have online password-protected access to account?
Yes
Can the complete enrollment process including funding be done online?
No
Documents and other services accessible or downloadable on the program's public Web site:
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Contact
Telephone:
1-888-244-5674
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