s/o 529 plan beneficiaries

[af1212]

My daughter was given $$ at her birth and for each holiday/bday for her college fund. We used this $$ to open a 529 plan for her. We just had another baby who was also given $$ for college. We hope to have at least 1 more child later down the line.

The great grandparents who have been giving the $$ are very elderly (upper 90s and early 100s) and may not be able to give equal amounts to each child since they won't be around for as much of the younger kids lives

Does it make sense to put all of the $$ into one 529 plan, and then split it up more equitably when the children are of college age? Are there any problems/legal things that could hang us up? It seems pretty easy to put all of the $$ into one person's name and then change the beneficiary whenever, but maybe I am missing something.

[anna7602]

This post makes no sense to me. Why not just add more to the subsequent accounts out of your own pocket if you're so focused on being "fair"? Why should the oldest child give up some of the money the grandparents gave her because her younger siblings couldn't benefit from the grandparents' presence for as long as she did/will?

[dochas]

How many years are/will there be between children? The only problem I see is their ages because the portfolio should become less aggressive as the beneficiary gets closer to college age.

The post makes perfect sense to me unless you're royalty and subsequent children mean less than the first born.

[cjeanette]

I get what you are saying but if people are gifting money to a specific child I think it is best to open up a new plan for them.

[w2w]

Will they overlap with the time they are in school? Our plan only allows 1 beneficiary at a time, so it couldn't be used for another child's education expenses if they were in school at the same time.

[af1212]

Sorry - I was away from the computer for a bit. Thanks for your responses!

I don't think we will ever be able to contribute the generous amounts that the great grandparents have been able to give. I feel certain that they would want to give all of the children equal amounts, but sadly, they just simply won't have as many "years to give" for each child.

Our first two children are almost 3 years apart. I just had the second one, so no plans for the third this moment but probably within the next few years. Right now I have the portolio set with a target date of the oldest child's anticipated graduation, but that's a good thing to keep in mind. I can split the fund and create different targets.

Also - I didn't realize about the one beneficiary at a time. Thanks for pointing that out. I will have to figure out more about how to make that work.