Year: 2012

College Advantage Ohio 529 Plan $50 Bonus with $3,000 Contribution

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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.

March 2012 College Advantage

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

March 2012 College Advantage 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.

Go!Mokulele $69 Hawaiian Inter-Island Airfare Sale

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Thanks to my number one, and maybe only reader, my sister, we saved quite a bundle of money on inter-island airfare in Hawaii later this summer. Go!Mokulele Airlines is offering $69 each way fares (taxes included!) between the islands of Hawaii from now through June 30, 2012. Tickets must be purchased by March 10, 2012.

go! Hawaii

Details of the sale can be found on the Go!Mokulele website.

I have been pricing out tickets to get our family from Honolulu (HNL) to Kona (KOA) on the Big Island of Hawaii, and was getting tickets at $172.60 (taxes and fees included). So we were looking to spend well over $500 just to get between islands. Ouch. It was very frustrating because ticket prices between islands do not really fluctuate until a sale comes along. In addition, just a few short years ago, I had paid less than $80 RT with taxes and fees. I have a hard time justifying paying any more than $100 roundtrip for a less than hour flight between the islands when I am used to paying about double for a trip across the Continental U.S. on a good sale. However, what is one to do?

So I was excited when my sister sent me a deal with Go!Mokulele. I was able to score three (3) tickets for $414, which I still think is high, but better than what I previously was finding. Over a hundred dollars saved will surely be used towards other expenses while on the islands.

Cleveland Children’s Museum Review: The Kids Have Sand Between Their Toes

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120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Front

Recently we were invited to a birthday party at the Cleveland Children’s Museum located in University Circle. We had been there a couple of times about a year ago when Bug was a lot smaller, but what a difference a year makes.

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Peace Pole

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Peace Pole

Shortly after arriving, we all went to a dedicated room to celebrate the birthday party. When my boys finally had enough of the cake, presents, and other kids, Bug could hardly contain himself any longer, and I could not refrain him from heading into the museum to play. The first stop…a room filled with nothing but sand.

The Cleveland Children’s Museum has a room dedicated to seasonal exhibits, and this is the second time we have been there that the room was filled with sand for kids to play in. The current is exhibit is Galapagos Sands, Exploring the Centuries.

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Galapagos Sands

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Galapagos Sands

The Museum typically brings someone in to sculpt incredible sand monuments, and this years was really impressive. The sculpture featured two huge iguanas and a baby. The sculpture was really detailed down to the finest scales and skin crevices.

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Sand Room

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Sand Room

We spent a good deal of time just letting the boys play barefoot in the sand, they both loved it! We never know exactly how Bug (2-year old) will react to a new situation as he quickly will become shy, but he loved it, as did Lan-Shark (1-year old).

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Sandy Toes

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Sandy Toes

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Sandy Hands

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Sandy Hands

After the sand room we headed downstairs to the first level to play in the village area. In a large room there are several building, a bus mock-up, and train table. Bug and I spent a good deal of time in the grocery store. At first he got a kick out of pushing around a cart and grabbing items off of the shelves. However, when he learned he could run the cash register and ring up everyone’s items, I think I saw a part of his future. He loved when other kids brought up their items and handed him money to place in the cash register. It was a great experience to not only learn how a grocery store works but also to interaction with other kids. I literally had to work my hardest to convince Bug to leave the area and check out other locations.

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Town House

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Town House

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Town Hospital

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Town Hospital

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Town Grocery

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Town Grocery

Being fiscal savvy dad, I enjoyed the small bank area with tips for teaching youngsters about money.

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Bank Lessons

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Bank Lessons

Next, we headed to the bottom level for the water table, as what kid can resist playing with running aqua? I unfortunately did not get the best picture as it is always one of the more popular rooms of the museum. Dad of course likes building damns and letting the water build up to fill the canal lock system. Unfortunately, the Cleveland Children’s Museum water table area was not as interesting and educational as that at the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA. The other danger of going to the water table is that your children can potentially get wet, which is not ideal during the winter months. The museum has smocks for the children though to try and minimize some of the effects of water.

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Water Table

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Water Table

We finally rounded out our adventure back upstairs in the farm room. The museum does an excellent job with details and interactions of exhibits for kids. I specifically enjoyed that kids could climb up to the top of the silo and slide corn and vegetables to the bottom. Very cool!

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Farm Room

120204 Cleveland Children's Museum Farm Room

Overall, I think we spent the most time ever at the museum, over 2 hours, because we just relaxed and let the boys really enjoy themselves without the need to rush and see everything or head somewhere else. Now if I only I can figure out why I am still finding sand between their toes.

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