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.

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