The State Treasurer is encouraging Missourians to consider a college savings plan called MOST 529.
State Treasurer Eric Schmitt (R)
Eric Schmitt (R) tells Missourinet it’s aimed at helping people save for a child’s higher education, adding that it offers federal and state tax benefits.
“You’re able to deduct those contributions that you make to your MOST account, and then the gains that you realize over a period of years, hopefully well in advance of your child going to college, they aren’t taxed either,” Schmitt says.
Schmitt recently launched a campaign to raise awareness of the MOST 529 college savings plan.
“So room and board, books, computers, all those things that we know go into an individual getting through four or maybe sometimes a little more than four years of college, or sometimes less,” says Schmitt.
There are currently about 150,000 active MOST accounts, with $2.8 billion in total assets.
Noting that the number one thing site selectors look for is an educated workforce, Schmitt is also working with business leaders to encourage employees to participate in the MOST 529 plan.
Schmitt says St. Louis County, Marion and Platte counties are the top three Missouri counties for college savings.
Those rankings are determined by county participation rates in the MOST 529 plan.
St. Charles, Cole, Boone, Clay, Osage, Jackson and Franklin counties round out the top ten list.
