Where to park my money for Med School (if I get in)?

[saira.123]

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Seeking advice on options. I know I want to go to med school, but don't know if it will actually happen. I'm 34 and already have a career with more than half saved for tuition and other expenses

Just wondering resources and/or specific ideas on where to park my money till then, if it can grow, even better.

I'm looking at the following options:

-529 Savings
-Prepaid Tuition Plan
-Investing in Dividend Investments with a return of approximately 4K
-Putting all of it in various safe investments at less than 2%

All have their own levels of pros and cons. 529 affects your ability to get financial aid, but the investment would be taxed. prepaid tuition I've read, while locking in a rate, doesn't necessarily give you an advantage as much as a 529.

Looking for advice, including websites, books, and online progammmes.

 

[HCManagement]

Seeking advice on options. I know I want to go to med school, but don't know if it will actually happen. I'm 34 and already have a career with more than half saved for tuition and other expenses

Just wondering resources and/or specific ideas on where to park my money till then, if it can grow, even better.

I'm looking at the following options:

-529 Savings
-Prepaid Tuition Plan
-Investing in Dividend Investments with a return of approximately 4K
-Putting all of it in various safe investments at less than 2%

All have their own levels of pros and cons. 529 affects your ability to get financial aid, but the investment would be taxed. prepaid tuition I've read, while locking in a rate, doesn't necessarily give you an advantage as much as a 529.

Looking for advice, including websites, books, and online progammmes.

Hi Saira.123, I know you asked this a while ago, but since there were no responses I thought maybe an answer could still help (or help someone else looking for similar advice).

A few questions/comments come to mind right away:

- What state do you live in? Depending on the state you live in, there may be tax benefits for using a 529 plan. Your state will also affect whether the prepaid option is better or not. If you state offers a tax benefit, you should be using it throughout your time in school.

- On prepaid plan vs. normal 529, I would compare the returns of your 529 plans safe options with the implied return with the prepaid plan.

- What is your time frame? Do you think you will be going to school in the next year? a few years? Where you save your money will depend on your timeline. But in general, I would avoid stocks, even dividend stocks, for any money that will be used in the short term. Stocks are just too volatile for short term periods. For example as I type this, a very "safe" dividend stock - Proctor and Gamble, is down ~20%. If you had saved $100,000 in tuition money 6 months ago in P&G stock, you would have just $80,000 today.

- What school are you looking at? Just so we can get an estimate for future expenses...

Without a little more specifics it is tough to give too detailed of an answer, but in general I would not overlook a 529 account for the tax benefits.