When our first son Bug was born in 2009, I was excited to finally open a college 529 savings plan. Fortunately, the Ohio plan is among the highest rated of all State programs. In addition, as a resident of Ohio, we receive a State tax credit up to $2,000 per beneficiary, per calendar year. So contributing to an Ohio plan is a no brainer for us; however, we also feel it in an excellent plan for all families to consider opening an account for their children.

To begin with, the Ohio 529 plan is rated in the top 6 of all plans according to Morningstar.

Second, there are many great investment vehicles depending on your child’s time frame for college and your risk tolerance. We specifically use a Vanguard Moderate Age-Based Option, which automatically changes the investment vehicles over time to correspond with our children’s ages, and we have been happy with the returns.

Lastly, the State of Ohio has fantastic bonus offers for free money all the time. Looking at our accounts, we have received $200 in bonuses through various promotions including referrals and minimum investment goals. So I keenly watch the program to see if we can take advantage of new offers.

I was happy to see a new offer on the College Advantage site this past weekend. Contribute $3,000 or more to your account by April 30, and earn a $50 bonus. The $50 bonus will be applied on or about June 15, 2012.

Unfortunately, if you did not have an account open prior to March 1, 2012, you can not take advantage of this promotion. Like the weather in Ohio, wait a couple minutes, and surely the bonus will change.

Also, what I do not like about this promotion is the funds can only be attributed to one account. We have two boys, and it would be a lot more beneficial if we could divide the $3,000 between our beneficiaries to get the bonus, but I also understand making the account easy for the State. There is a way around the single beneficiary contribution(s), after the $3,000 has been added to one of your accounts in compliance with the terms of the promotion, and after the bonus is added, one can easily reassign a portion of the funds to another beneficiary.

So if we added $3,000 to Bug’s account, and then received the $50 bonus, we could then take $1,525 and move it over to Shark’s account to even things up. That is a great benefit I see in Ohio’s 529 plan is being able to reassign beneficiaries, especially if in the future one of our boys decides not to attend college.

I think the Ohio College Advantage program is excellent, but this time we have opted not to take partake in this promotion. A $3,000 contribution is a hefty commitment in a 2 month time period, and I think most families will have a hard time doing it too. While $50 in free money would be great, we will our contributions for another day.