Hey Lexington County, your newborn baby may have a jumpstart on saving

Lexington, SC – Lexington County’s parents may find it surprising their newborn baby already has more than $500 stashed away for just being born on the right day. This is such a great idea, that all babies born on May 29 in South Carolina could have their own savings account by just making their appearance on this very special date!

According to SC State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, the administrator of South Carolina’s Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan, this is done in observance of National 5-2-9 College Savings Day. Loftis is a passionate advocate of the importance of saving for college. For the past eight years, Treasurer Loftis and Future Scholar have partnered with hospitals across the Palmetto State to provide families with babies born on May 29 (5-29) the opportunity to obtain a privately funded $529 grant toward a Future Scholar college savings account.

This is a part of the PalmettoBaby Grant Program. Families receive a gift basket with novelty items and information about the state’s award-winning 529 college savings plan during their hospital stay. “While this year’s 529 Day observance will be a little different than past years, as hospitals adapt to current public health and safety concerns, we are still very committed to providing new and experienced moms and dads alike with an opportunity to boost the savings for their newborn’s future education,” Treasurer Loftis explained. “We appreciate the hospitals’ continued support of our PalmettoBaby campaign as South Carolina parents welcome new babies on Friday, May 29.”

Future Scholar, South Carolina’s 529 College Savings Plan offers families a smart and easy way to save for their children’s future education expenses. It gives mom and dad opportunities for tax-deductible contributions from state income taxes, tax-free growth and tax-free distributions for qualified education expenses.

Loftis continued by saying, “I frequently tell people that it’s never too early – or too late – to start saving for college. May 29 gives us a fun way to remind people of this important message each year,” Treasurer Loftis added. “Even if your baby isn’t born on May 29, we encourage South Carolinians to consider saving through Future Scholar for the benefit of their loved one’s future.”

Parents with babies born in South Carolina on May 29 are eligible to receive a privately funded $529 PalmettoBaby grant for their child’s future education when they open a Future Scholar account. The application deadline to be eligible to receive those grant funds is August 31, 2020. Parents and family members can visit FutureScholar.com to open an account, download the PalmettoBaby grant form and start their child on a path to saving for college from www.futurescholar.com/news-events/palmettobaby/.