Update 9/2/23: Deal is back for 2023
Update 9/8/22: Deal is back for 2022 (see this comment for eligible states)
The Offer
- ScholarShare is offering a bonus of $100 when you open a new 529 Plan account with $1,000+
The Fine Print
- The ScholarShare 529 College Savings Plan (“ScholarShare 529”) is a 529 college savings plan administered by the ScholarShare Investment Board (“SIB”), an instrumentality of the state of California, and managed by TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. (“TFI”).
- To receive a $100 matching deposit (“the Matching Deposit”), eligible individuals must open a new ScholarShare 529 account (for a new beneficiary) online at www.ScholarShare529.com between September 1, 2019 at 12:01 AM Pacific Time (PT) and September 30, 2019 at 11:59 PM PT with an initial deposit of at least $1,000 to be contributed and invested at the time the new ScholarShare 529 account is opened.
- The initial $1,000 deposit must be received within 10 business days after the account is established.
- The Matching Deposit will be made to the eligible ScholarShare 529 account on or before 11:59 PM PT on January 15, 2020. Limit: one (1) Matching Deposit per new ScholarShare 529 account per unique accountholder/beneficiary combination.
- Offer open to legal residents of the 50 states of the United States who are at least 18 years of age or older as of September 1, 2019 and have a social security number or federal taxpayer
identification number and excludes the following: (a) members, officers, and employees of SIB; TFI and its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, owners, members, directors, managers, officers, employees, trustees, agents; and their respective immediate family members (spouse, domestic partner, parents, legal guardians, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, children and “step” of each) and those individuals living in their same household; and (b) FINRA affiliated customers. - All taxes and other costs associated with this promotion are solely the responsibility of the recipient and/or beneficiary. Beneficiary for the new ScholarShare 529 account cannot be a beneficiary of an existing ScholarShare 529 account for that account owner.
Our Verdict
We’ve seen a similar deal before, but that was for $50. Upside was that only required a $50 deposit. This is a bigger bonus but requires a much larger deposit. Chuck & I aren’t the people to ask when it comes to these college plans, so make sure you do your own research first.
https://www.scholarshare529.com/program/holidayoffer-2023
Received $100 11/17. What are the rules/tax terms in terms of withdrawing the bonus?Better to just leave bonus in account?
I didn’t expect payout until 2024 but got an alert today and in both accts I see $100 (went in on 11/16):
Contribution – Promotion
Passive Conservative Portfolio
Contribution Year: 2023
I also received the $100 Bonus today. It was an early payout definitely.
When did you create & fund? I set up and invested $1,000 on 9-7-2023 but no bonus yet.
Going to try to open 3 accounts for me (Self/Me, Child, P2), and 3 accounts for P2 (P2, Child, P1/Me), and then roll all of them to my local state 529 once bonus posts, hopefully within 2023 to get contribution deduction on state taxes
Be careful with the rollovers. I think you can only roll 1 acccount/beneficiary in a 12 month period
This seems to be correct, however at a minimum I could roll one for me, one for p2, and one for child. I am looking into whether it’s possible to roll more tax-free if they’re all managed by the same company
Did anyone get any form of bonus confirmation? By email?
You don’t get any email confirming the bonus and no mention of the bonus during account opening.
I just opened one for my kid 1. Can someone more knowledgeable tell me if I need to create a new login for my kid 2 or just open a new account within the same login? TIA!
same question!
Best play:
1) 9/X/23 Open w/ $1000
2) After deposit hits, Withdraw $999
3) 1/1/24 Received $100 bonus
4) 1/24/23 a) Withdraw $101 taxable or b) let $101 invest
Could even reuse the $1000 several times during the month for multiple account openings for different Parent/Kid combos
Just opened for C1, seeing if it works using rollover I set up for myself last year
Wouldn’t withdrawing the $999 cause a taxable event/penalty each time?
5/29 day deal is better, total of $600 invested for $100 bonus
Is this offer once per lifetime for each account owner and beneficiary combination?
The terms say: “Beneficiary for the new ScholarShare 529 account cannot be a beneficiary of an existing ScholarShare 529 account for that account owner.”
Yes, it is effectively once per lifetime because if you close the account, you can’t open a new one for the same beneficiary online, you can only reopen the old account, and you have to call for that.
“Must be contributed and invested.”