In addition to being the program manager for the District of Columbia's 529 College Savings Plan, Calvert offers a variety of college-savings resources to individuals, financial advisors, and institutional investors.
The DC College Savings Plan: A Top 5 Advisor-Sold 529 Plan*
The DC College Savings Plan is ranked the #3 Advisor-sold Plan for One-Year and Three-Year Performance (including sales charges) by Savingforcollege.com, a private company which tracks 529 plans, as of 9/30/12. The DC College Savings Plan can help your clients prepare for the cost of college with earnings that grow free of federal income taxes. In addition, withdrawals remain tax free when used for qualified expenses, such as tuition, books, room and board.
Saving for higher education may be the most valuable investment you make for the future. When you start saving may be even more important than how much you save, because even small sums can grow over time. Depending on your school choice, you may be able to save enough to pay for all of the tuition, or you may use this account to supplement financial aid and loans. Either way, the DC College Savings Plan makes your job easier because of these advantages:
- Convenience—The program lets you contribute automatically through payroll deduction or automatic deposit.
- Tax breaks—You can take a generous tax deduction. You pay no tax on the account's earnings. You pay no tax when you withdraw from the account if the money is used for qualifying education expenses.
- Choice—Select among three easy-to-use kinds of investments.
- Affordability—You can open an account with as little as:
- $15 per pay period of you select payroll deductions from your paycheck
- $25 per month if you choose automatic contributions from your bank
- $100 if you send a check
Click here to visit the Web site of the DC College Savings Plan. (external link)
Click here to learn more about saving for college.
Free Sales Tools
Helping clients save for their children's future can be a great way to build and strengthen your relationships, add value, and increase assets under management. Specific times and events throughout the year can naturally open the door to important discussions about preparing for the cost of college. Calvert has created two free sales tools to help you make the most of those opportunities.
The College Number Cruncherprovides an effective hands-on tool that demonstrates to your clients why they should start saving now to prepare for the rising cost of college. This calculator is an effective way to demonstrate to clients the importance of investing for the future, today. |
Client Conversation Starterhelps you identify milestones in every child's life that can be used as starting points for discussing the DC College Savings Plan with your clients. |
To receive these free tools, please call the Calvert Sales Desk: 800.368.2750.
Institutional Investors
For states seeking investment options for a College Savings Plan, Calvert offers a broad range of equity and fixed-income strategies. Our extensive resources include a dedicated Institutional Group to help meet almost any client need.
Earnings on contributions, as well as qualified distributions, are exempt from federal income tax, and exempt from D.C. income tax for D.C. residents. For non-D.C. residents, state tax treatment of your investments in the D.C. College Savings Plan may differ from the federal tax treatment based on your state of residence. Account owners should consult a tax advisor for more information.
*Savingforcollege.com’s 529 Performance Ranking Methodology
Asset Allocation Category Rankings: First, portfolios from all direct-sold and advisor-sold 529 plans are assigned to a specific asset-allocation category. SFC utilizes seven (7) asset-allocation categories in the rankings. Then, within each category, portfolios are compared and ranked based on published investment returns. Composite 529 Plan Performance Rankings: An overall (or “composite”) performance score is calculated for each 529 plan for a given performance period based on the plan’s performance rankings for each asset allocation category as described above. To calculate the composite ranking for the plans, SFC recomputes the asset allocation category rankings based on a standard normal distribution of the returns included within each category. Rankings are based on investment performance as of September 30, 2012. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. For more information on SFC ranking methodology, go to http://www.savingforcollege.com/529-plan-composite-rankings/file/white_paper.pdf
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