Congratulations on the birth of your child.
Have you started saving for college, yet? Well, you had better get started soon! Here are some resources to help:
- First step is the Harold Alfond College Challenge grant. Each child born in Maine is eligible for a $500 grant to establish a college fund. Go to www.500forbaby.org for the details. While you are there check out the wealth of information available on topics from finances to education, to health.
- Maine also makes available a tax-advantaged saving plan called the Next Gen Plan – their website can be found at www.nextgenplan.com. The Next Gen Plan makes the hardest part of the process easy – the hardest part is to get in the habit of saving every paycheck, from the child’s birth until they head off to college, community college, or trade school.
Those are not the only resources, either. A Google search of “saving for college” returned 209 million hits. That should keep you busy until your child heads off to school! Good luck.