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Quicken is a personal finance management tool that can be used to track transactions and manage loan and investment accounts, including 529 college savings plans. Quicken can also help manage student loan debt.
Tools for Managing Investments
Quicken includes several tools that can be used with 529 plans, although none are specifically tailored to 529 plans.
These tools include a Portfolio Analyzer that provides information about your investment performance, holdings, asset allocation and risk profile and the Morningstar portfolio instant x-ray tool.
These tools work only if the stock market symbols for the investments are specified within the account in Quicken.
There’s also an Asset Allocation Guide that explains how different asset allocations can affect investment risk and return.
Managing College Savings Plan Accounts Manually
You can add your 529 plan accounts to Quicken manually, using the “Add Account…” menu item and selecting “Offline Account.” You can specify the type of account as a 529 Plan, which is listed in the Investing & Retirement column.
After you’ve created the 529 Plan account, you can add transactions and holdings to the account, just like any other investment account.
Some 529 plan portfolios are publicly traded, so you can add the appropriate symbol to the account.
Quicken does not implement automatic age-based or enrollment date investment glide paths for 529 plans, so you’ll need to record changes in your asset allocation manually.
Linking Quicken to 529 College Savings Plans
It may be possible to link Quicken to specific 529 college savings plans, depending on the plan manager.
This list of 529 plans was extracted from the FIDIR file in the Quicken configuration. However, inclusion of a 529 plan in this file does not necessarily mean that the 529 plan currently supports transaction download. For example, I was unable to connect to the PA 529 Investment Plan. The only way to be certain whether 529 plan supports Quicken is to try to configure the 529 plan for One Step Update in Quicken or to contact the 529 plan manager.
These 529 plans are included in the FIDIR file.
- College Advantage (Direct) – Ohio
- CollegeAccess 529 (Advisors) – South Dakota
- CollegeBound 529 Plan (Invesco) – Rhode Island
- CollegeCounts529.com – Alabama
- Fidelity Investments Mac (Massachusetts 529) – Massachusetts
- Michigan Education Savings Program – Michigan
- My529 (UESP) – Utah
- Pennsylvania College Savings Progr – Pennsylvania
- ScholarsEdge 529 Plan – New Mexico
- South Carolina 529 Future Scholar – South Carolina
- TD Ameritrade 529 – Nebraska
The following 529 plans are included in the FIDIR file but have indicated on their web sites that they do not support linking the 529 plan to Quicken.
- Path2College 529 Plan – Georgia
- Virginia 529 – Virginia
- If you have any trouble or questions, Quicken offers free phone and chat assistance. To learn more about Quicken or sign up, visit their website.
Bottom Line
Quicken can help you get your finances organized, keep an eye on your 529 college savings plan loan debt, and reach your other financial goals. You can try Quicken for a 30-day risk-free trial.
