Today is 529 Day (5/29). Does Anyone Care?

In case it isn’t marked on your calendar, Saturday is 529 College Savings Day (5/29)… a day most states have designated as a day to promote 529 college savings plans and raise awareness levels. For example, Iowa, Missouri, and Nevada are among the states giving away $529 to put towards saving for college; Virginia and Pennsylvania are offering free enrollment for certain 529 programs during the month of May, and Upromise is offering a 529 College Savings Day toolkit on its website (www.529.com) for anyone interested in advertisements, posters, fact sheets and the like. But for an industry that suffers from rock bottom levels of public awareness, which is especially frustrating given the huge tax benefits 529 plans offer, it’s disappointing to see that there is still no coordinated, nationwide marketing or advertising campaign to promote the benefits of 529 college savings plans or 529 College Savings Day among the investing public. To be fair, the College Savings Foundation (www.collegesavingsfoundation.org) and the College Savings Plan Network (www.collegesavings.org) are both working diligently to educate the media, legislators, and the public about 529 plans. The CSF is even working on radio spots for members (predominantly investment management firms). And CSPN says it has been working with each of its members to promote 529 Day in their states for the past three years. But so far, program managers and state administrators have been unwilling to contribute to a single, cohesive nationwide marketing campaign. So, state-specific marketing messages are haphazard and disjointed, at best. With such a lack of unity and such a steep learning curve, it’s no wonder 60% of the financial advisors FRC surveyed for FRC’s Evaluating the College Savings Market Opportunity Consumer Survey last September said they would rather tell their clients to sign up for a direct-sold 529 program on the Web than spend the time and energy it would take to incorporate an advisor-sold plan into their portfolio.