Kim Finkle, MBA, Financial Advisor

How Does GET Work? 

As a GET plan subscriber, you can buy units at a price. The number of units corresponds to the benefits you can get. While the unit price can change every year, the unit ratio will stay the same. Below are some examples of how units work: 

• 1 GET Unit = 1 TextBook 
• GET Units = Books + Stationary for the semester. 
• 15 GET Units = Tuition at a community college for 1 quarter

 

Benefits of GET 

• State guarantee - Your child's college education is guaranteed by the Washington state. If you buy 100 GET units today, you'll have one year of public college tuition when your child is ready for college.
• Choice of colleges nationwide - You can use your GET account at nearly any public or private college in the country.
• Tax-free savings and withdrawals - The money you put into your GET account will grow tax-free. The withdrawn will be tax-free as long as you use it for qualified higher education expenses.
• Flexibility and control - You can use your account for tuition, room and board, books, or other qualified higher education expenses. If for some reason your child decided not to attend a college or receives a scholarship, you can transfer your account to another family member or request a refund.
• Easy ways to save - You can set up a monthly payment plan or you can contribute at any time you feel is the right time.

 

Enrollment Requirement  

Either the account owner or student should be a Washington resident at the time of enrollment.

 

How to Enroll 

You can enroll by going to the GET website.

 

Criticism for GET

• A large number of critics believe that that GET is a state-sponsored Ponzi scheme that relies on continuing to recruiter new subscribers to the plan to pay for college tuition at the time of redemption. Others feel that there are better ways to save for college than the GET plan.  
• GET requires you to make the payment upfront. If you need to pay the GET plan over years, you are required to finance the plan at a very high-interest rate.
• GET also has a history of over-collecting from parents and then refunding the money years later. However, since most parents finance the plan they never get the paid interest back. 
• GET guarantees full tuition only at in-state schools. If your child decides to attend a private college or an out-of-state university, then GET will pay only a portion of the tuition that is equivalent to the in-state tuition. 
• If the Washington States goes bankrupt then they might refuse to honor GET.
• If you withdraw funds, the money you will get might be lesser in value than inflation-adjusted.

 

Co-parents and College Savings Plan

College saving plans become even more critical if parents of a future Washington college student are divorced or separated.  

 

It covers full tuition for a 4-year college including:

• University of Washington
• Western Washington University
• Eastern Washington University
• Central Washington University
• Washington State University
• Bellevue College
• Evergreen College
• Other public colleges and universities

 

It covers partial tuition at:

• Seattle University
• PLU
• Gonzaga University
• SPU
• Other private colleges and universities

 

Regardless, it provides a great vehicle for the Washington state co-parents to start saving for their children's college education. Just in case the child decides not to attend college, both parents can get their share of the money back. They can also start a GET plan for themselves if they wish to go back to school. One of the major benefits of a GET plan is that they don't need to hire a financial advisor to estimate the money they need to fund their child's education. The GET sets a price for them. However, if parents think that their child might attent an Ivy League school or another out of state school then exploring a different plan might be worth the effort.

 

Since co-parents have separate finances and only one person can start a GET plan, both parents can start one separately for the same child, and fund half of the credits.  This way, if the child decides not to attend college or they need to withdraw funds for some other reason, or assign a different beneficiary for their portion, they can do so easily.  Alternately, one parent can fund the entire plan and the other one can reimburse them for their half.

 

Comparison With Other 529 Plans

Feature	Washington	California	Alaska
Max Contribution	4 Yr. Tuition	$529,000	$415,000
Full In-state Tuition	Yes	Yes	Yes
Full Out-of-state Tuition	No (Partial)	Yes	Yes
State Tax Exemption	N/A	N/A	Yes
Federal Tax Exemption	Yes	Yes	Yes
Primary Contributors	Anyone	Anyone	Anyone
Student Loan Repayment Option	No	Yes	Yes
Plan Review		Link	Link

 

Related:

What is a 529 College Saving Plan?

 

529 Plans By State

1. Alaska 529 Plan

2. Alabama 529 Plan

3. Arizona 529 Plan

4. Arkansas 529 Plan

5. California 529 Plan

6. Colorado 529 Plan

7. Connecticut 529 Plan

8. Delaware 529 Plan

9. Florida 529 Plan

10. Georgia 529 Plan

11. Hawaii 529 Plan

12. Idaho 529 Plan

13. Illinois 529 Plan

14. Indiana 529 Plan

15. Iowa 529 Plan

16. Kansas 529 Plan

17. Kentucky 529 Plan

18. Louisiana 529 Plan

19. Maine 529 Plan

20. Maryland 529 Plan

21. Massachusetts 529 Plan

22. Michigan 529 Plan

23. Minnesota 529 Plan

24. Mississippi 529 Plan

25. Missouri 529 Plan

26. Montana 529 Plan

27. Nebraska 529 Plan

28. Nevada 529 Plan

29. New Hampshire 529 Plan

30. New Jersey 529 Plan

31. New Mexico 529 Plan

32. New York 529 Plan

33. North Carolina 529 Plan

34. North Dakota 529 Plan

35. Ohio 529 Plan

36. Oklahoma 529 Plan

37. Oregon 529 Plan

38. Pennsylvania 529 Plan

39. Rhode Island 529 Plan

40. South Carolina 529 Plan

41. South Dakota 529 Plan

42. Tennessee 529 Plan

43. Texas 529 Plan

44. Utah 529 Plan

45. Vermont 529 Plan

46. Virginia 529 Plan

47. Washington 529 Plan

48. West Virginia 529 Plan

49. Wisconsin 529 Plan

50. Wyoming 529 Plan

51. DC 529 Plan

Warning:  This post is neither financial, health, legal, or personal advice nor a substitute for the advice offered by a professional. These are serious matters, and the help of a professional is recommended as it can impact your future.