Among the new laws taking effect in 2020 is a program that seeks to give Illinois children a leg up, before they’re even able to crawl.
Every baby born in Illinois would receive $50 in a 529-style investment account to help pay for their future community college, university or trade school expenses.
Given tuition costs, $50 won’t go far.
But the intent is to spur parents and guardians to contribute more to their child’s future education; growth on money invested in 529 accounts, like Illinois’ Bright Start program, can be taken out tax free as long as it’s put toward secondary education.
“If starting that account convinces their parents they want to add to this and they want to add to it regularly, that’s really going to maximize, increase, the number of students going to college and decrease the amount of debt they’re graduating with,” Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs said.
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