Hi Everyone! I've been mulling this in my head for a while, but It's time to ask the crowd.
We have two kids, and we've been putting money away in 529s for both of them for years. (It's amazing how $100/month grows!) Grandparents unexpectedly set up and funded 529s for them this year and put us over the top of our savings goals for their college funds.
Oldest will be heading to college in the fall, and she will be completely covered and probably have too much in her account. Not really worried about that because I think it will be within the range of Roth conversion OR we can transfer to our other child if we choose to.
The other kiddo is in 8th grade, so 4.5 more years of growth. She currently has about $60K in her combined 529s. To date, we've still been tucking away about $100/month into her accounts.
Due to her personality, I have zero grasp on what after high school will look like. It could be anything from very little higher ed, if any, to wanting to go to a private college and on to grad school. Who knows!
I've been thinking of discontinuing contributions to the 529 and opening a brokerage account for the additional monthly money for flexibility. We can use it for college if needed, and if not, then we can do with it what we want.
So talk me through this.
1) Help me understand my options if I've totally over-saved in the 529. I know I can turn $35k into Roth, or transfer excess to another beneficiary. Anything else I should know?
2) Any cons to opening a brokerage beyond missing out on the tax savings?
