For those parents that have put money in 529 college saving plan, what is your annualized return so far?
I am especially interested in those plans that have weathered the 2000-2001 downturn and the calamitous 2008 meltdown.
I’m too lazy to figure out the annualized return over the 11 years since I set up my account with the NYS 529 plan, but I will say that the value of the account now is 150% of the principal that I invested over the years.
Mine only gives performance from 2003 and it is up 198% since then. Was 10% higher this time last year. 8.71% annualized.
OP, you can look up the returns of any investment (stock, bonds, CDs, your mattress) over that time period to get your answer.
However, our return is about the same as the two previous posters and investing largely in stocks with some in bonds. Of course in our case, this required having some intestinal fortitude to remain invested in stocks over that time period.
And I believe all the 529 plans will give the return over various periods for each of the investment choices. Ours weathered the crash and all I’m too lazy to do more than say “it was below principal in 2009 and well above principal in 2012” when we started using it. Just like people in the stock market, if you stayed in, you’re fine. I just don’t get people who say their 401k is performing badly. Only if you did stupid stuff in 2008.