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To: All ACRE Members
From: Paul Holland, Sec. Local 1
What better way to honor your family than
establishing a college savings account. Metro North
allows automatic payroll deduction into two
college investment programs. Anyone who is
interested in building a college savings
fund can establish an account. In addition
to parents, accounts can be established by
grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends, etc.
on behalf of a child.
One program is based in New York and is
called "New York's College Savings Program".
The second program is called the
"Connecticut Higher Education Trust"
(CHET).
Here's a simplified overview of the
programs. You should contact your tax
preparer regarding the tax ramifications and
take into account your personal financial
situation prior to investing in the
programs. It is also imperative that you
study the material available from Metro
North so as to understand the risks and
benefits of the programs.
Both programs offer low minimum
contributions that can be payroll deducted
on a weekly basis. The minimum weekly
contribution to each account is $15.00.
Each child who you include in the program
requires a separate account.
Both accounts are professionally managed and
allow for different investment philosophies
based on your needs and risk tolerance.
Investment earnings build free of federal
and state income taxes until the money is
withdrawn for college. At that point the
money can be taxed at your child's rate
which is often less than yours.
In New York, account
contributions are directly subtracted from
your yearly gross income for the purpose of
paying NY State income tax. This deduction due to
investment in the NY program may apply to
residents of other States as well, if they
pay NY State taxes. Effective January
1, 2006
Connecticut joined New York in allowing a
State income tax deduction of up to
$10,000.00 for joint filers or $5,000.00 for
single filers.
You must pick up an informational packet
from Metro North so as to verify no changes
have been made to the above information as
well as to determine whether one of the
two programs are right for you and your
family. Both programs can be tailored to
the needs of your family.
Informational packets are available from
Debbie D'Amore who is located on the 4th
floor of 347 Madison Avenue.
Connecticut Higher Education Trust can be
contacted at
New York's College Saving's Program can be
contacted at
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