"Wake up with a smile and go after life...Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it."
- Joe Knapp
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"Wake up with a smile and go after life...Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it." - Joe Knapp
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Get Involved
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December 1, 2008 | |||||||
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 A Promise Worth Keeping by Allison Ezell Posted June 6, 2002 It's that time of year again. With caps flying and commencement addresses forgotten, the next generation of college graduates is heading out into the world. But with no end in sight to rising costs of education, is there any reasonable way to keep college dreams alive for the youngest among us? NEW Reader Responses are a goodthing! Join the conversation! Fellow GoodLetter readers, I am standing now at the very beginning of a road, and I am the lucky witness to the start of a marvelous journey. I am a new parent. My husband and I have helped start this journey for our daughter, Emily, by welcoming her into the world. Over the next several years, we will be intimately involved with every step she takes on this road, but as she gets older, she will need us less and less as she grows stronger and more independent, and becomes her own person. At that point, she must find her own way. I find myself thinking all the time about how we can best help Emily prepare for this journey of hers. How can we help prepare her for her trip and give her all the things she will need further down the road? We certainly can't do everything for her, but we can help her pack the right things in her suitcase. We can certainly work to help her develop the characteristics that we value: self-confidence, respect for others, respect for nature, generosity, and unconditional love (to name a few). But in addition to these, the one thing we feel most strongly about is education. We hope she will one day be an eager learner and will always seek to broaden her mind and horizons. To that end, we, like many parents, started a college-savings account for Emily as soon as she was born. It is our goal to save enough money over the next 18 years so that she will be free to choose the educational journey she desires without financial constraints. In addition to squirreling away our paychecks and Christmas bonuses, though, we have found a very cool way to help save for college. It's a program called Upromise that's definitely worth checking out. It is essentially like most membership or rewards programs, but instead of earning airline miles or free hotel nights, you earn cash for college. Why didn't they think of this earlier? Here's how it works. By creating a Upromise account, you enroll your credit cards with the Upromise contributing companies. Then, whenever you use that credit card with these companies, a percentage of your purchase is directly deposited into your Upromise college savings account. Your account can then earn tax-deferred interest when it becomes a 529 account (that's another long explanation [see sidebar]). Every time I buy diapers at a Kroger supermarket, stock up on baby lotion at a CVS drug store, buy a cute swimsuit at Land's End, find the perfect bedtime book at Borders Books, invest in a jogging stroller at Babies R Us, or fill up the tank on my new mom-mobile station wagon at Exxon, I am earning money for Emily's college tuition. It may sound corny, but it makes me happy to shop at the Upromise partners, knowing they are helping me in a small way save for college. The Upromise college savings calculator projects that based on my spending patterns, I could earn $45,000 for Emily's college education over the next 18 years. That's $45,000 just for buying the things I am already buying! You can earn even more if you sign up family and friends to also contribute to your child's account. What grandparent wouldn't want to help out? This is one of the best ideas I have heard of in a long time. There are so many ways parents can help prepare their children for their journeys. We can love them, teach them, and set good examples for them. But in a more practical sense, we can also start a nest egg for them. And for Jeff and me, that nest egg is best spent on education. Upromise is a small way to help you build that nest. :: Allison Ezell Atlanta, Georgia Allison and her husband Jeff are the very proud parents of Emily, now 18 months old. Emily's favorite goodthings? "Carrots from a pot roast. Standing on her head. Soap bubbles on a wash cloth. Tickling. Hearing Dad's car pull into the driveway. Graham-cracker cookies set on a windowsill at her height. Frog puppets. Playing dress up with plastic beads. Belly kisses." (Thoughts on Allison's GoodLetter? Inspired by what you've read? E-mail us -- don't forget to tell us your name, where you're from, and if we can use your words in a future GoodLetter or on our Web site.) |
TALK ABOUT IT Upromise is helping families everywhere with one of life's toughest challenges. What other big, constructive ideas do you know about? Share your stories and ideas. LEARN ABOUT IT Launched just over a year ago, Upromise now has well over a million members, all of whom have signed up to help their own child, grandchild, niece or nephew, or even the child of a close personal friend actively begin saving money for college. According to Jim Doyle of Upromise, the program is increasingly easy to use and is adding new partners all the time. Once you've registered, you never have to think about it again. The savings simply begin to add up as you spend. For Doyle -- like Allison -- the benefits of Upromise are personal: "My grandmother, who's 94, used Upromise to finally sell the house she'd been living in for 60 years, and was able to put away a few thousand dollars for college for my daughter." Founded by Michael Bronner, who himself had to drop out of college because he couldn't afford tuition, Upromise is currently in the process of launching the Upromise Education Foundation. Using the same savings approach as Upromise, the foundation will help low-income students make it to college. :: Learn more about Upromise :: Learn more about the Upromise Education Foundation :: Learn more from Upromise about 529 accelerated gifting plans Learn more about 529 plans and saving for a child's college education from: SavingForCollege.com College Savings Plans Network College Savings Bank Motley Fool USA Today CNN Money DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT :: Begin making a difference in the life of a child you love today and consider starting a Upromise savings program. Readers Respond Want to share your thoughts or ideas with other people who care about good things? Send 'em our way.
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