At a recent lull in this week's T3 Conference here in Dallas I had a chance to read an article by Andy Sutton at FinancialSense.com that had some surprising facts about the drop off in savings into both retirement and education accounts over the last year:
- 529 plan contributions are down an average of 60% from 2007 according to a 529 plan representative who materialized at my office door a few weeks ago.
- According to TD Ameritrade, 63% of people with retirement plans stopped contributing to them in 2008.
- Only 21% of individuals surveyed in the above study had more than $50,000 in investable savings.
- Unemployment (32%) and increases in health care premiums (25) were the leading reasons why people stopped contributing to retirement plans in 2008.
- Nearly 25% of survey respondents in the 35-44 age group said they’d completely stopped contributing to retirement accounts in 2008. This more than any other group.
I know for my own personal situation that I've slowed contributions to the kids' 529 plans as much as feasible because I've lost trust in the limited asset allocation models that the state 529 plans allow and I prefer even a taxable, but fully controlled, strategy for savings. (SKF, KGC, MZZ have more than made up for the tax benefits as the 529 plans which are generally down by at least 35%).
This has to be a challenging situation for financial planners, especially as college cost concerns are almost overriding retirement planning as the foremost objective of families these days, particularly in the education-conscious middle class. On that note, I was lucky enough to attend a technology panel session here at the T3 conference by Ted Buchan who has a education planning-oriented practice in San Diego. It sounds like he has a great practice and really takes a holistic approach to education planning within an overall financial plan. He and his partner also go well beyond just 529 plans and give guidance on financial aid planning and taking advantage of tax breaks most CPAs can't find.
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