As moms, our to-do list is literally never-ending. Every week there’s a growing list of important tasks that get pushed to the side because of urgent things, like picking up school project materials or rush-ordering diapers in the next size up (hashtag blowout). 

This year, we decided to get serious about getting these important things DONE and making them a priority. One of the most overwhelming things that keeps me up at night is my children’s future and the skyrocketing cost of education (college tuition is expected to literally double in 10 years). 

My husband and I both paid for our college tuition, and at one point he worked 4 jobs while going to school full time. It is deeply important that our children don’t start their adult lives under a mountain of debt – but we are not financial experts and college investing has been a really daunting task. Plus, we are still saving to buy a home and definitely don’t have a lot of extra cash!

Through lots of research (plus coffee and stressful facepalms), we waded through a lot of ridiculously overcomplicated or expensive options on how to save for kids’ college and landed on CollegeBacker.

Here’s why CollegeBacker is the BEST college savings plan for kids:

(FYI, CollegeBacker sponsored this post so I could share my honest thoughts with you! Hopefully you know me enough to know that Mama doesn’t sell out. You’ve gotta be pretty fantastic to be featured!)

It’s EASY

Life is insane with two little guys. I need something that doesn’t take a business degree to set up and figure out. CollegeBacker really gets parents, because their website is straightforward and not stuffed with fancy industry jargon.

On their “How it Works” page, I learned that a 529 College Savings Plan grows tax-free and you don’t pay tax when you withdraw it for higher education, room and board, textbooks, and even apprenticeships (which is exciting because every child has a different path to follow!). You can also use it for elementary, middle, and high school tuition (what?!). By simply putting in a little money each month, your investment will grow big time (at a much lower risk than the stock market). 

There’s a quick 2 minute video explaining all of this, and there’s also a college savings calculator where you can plug in your child’s age and see how much you will save by college time.

PRICING:

Obviously this is the first and biggest question for many of us. I was pleasantly surprised that the easiest college savings site is also really affordable. It is literally $1 per family per month! Not only that, but their underlying 529 fees are a SIXTH of the average traditional brokerage fees. (There’s no escaping these fees when investing, but theirs are super minimal!)

They have a pretty expansive FAQ section so you can get a deeper understanding.

Everyone Can Pitch In

Birthdays, Christmas, Kindergarten Graduation – there are so many gift-giving opportunities for our kids, but honestly, they do NOT need that much stuff, and many of us are tired of our homes being overrun with battery operated toys! People still want to give your kids something though, so why not ask them to invest in their future? 

This is seriously so genius. You create a custom gifting page (CollegeBacker.com/name) and invite family and friends to contribute. They can send their gift via email, schedule it for later, or even sign up for monthly contributions! Imagine if several people were all investing a few dollars each month into your kids’ future. Your child’s aunt or grandpa could invest one latte a month into their college fund, automatically. This is a giant plus for me!

Cashback Rewards

As the icing on top, CollegeBacker partners with over 125 retailers to put cash back rewards directly into your child’s account. Imagine growing their college fund simply by Christmas shopping! 

Even if you don’t have much to invest monthly (neither do we), the most important thing is to GET STARTED. Time is your best friend for college savings. You’d much rather start today with a small amount, than wait 5-10 years until your family is more established. I’m so grateful for the unique service CollegeBacker is providing parents! Don’t let college savings continue to get pushed off your to-do list, even in the chaos of parenting. Put it at the top of your list and get it done so you can simply set it and forget it (and watch those dollars grow)!

What are the other important things that keep getting pushed off your list? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

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