Several “rewards” programs direct money you spend into 529 college savings plans. Rebates typically range from 1 percent to 5 percent of the purchase price. Examples:
- Supermarket cards. With the Upromise program, members get reward points when buying products from participating companies.
- Coupons. In the BabyMint program, participants can print coupons from its Web site, for use at grocery stores on certain brands.
- Online shopping. EdExpress offers rebates from more than 400 online merchants. When participants buy from specified retailers, rebates are credited to their accounts.
- Credit cards. Fidelity Investments offers a MasterCard that provides investors in Fidelity-managed 529 plans with a 2 percent rebate on their purchases; Capital One’s CollegeOne Visa card offers a 1 percent rebate that can be credited to most state 529 plans.
Money from these various rebates is deposited into designated 529 accounts. If you are using a 529 account anyway, you might as well sign up for a rebate program.
