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Rules to Use 529 College Savings Plan to Pay For High School Costs

6/5/2019

Q. What's the rule to use 529 money to pay for high school expenses/

A. While Federal law allows you to withdraw up to $100,000 tax-free from a 529 account each year to pay for tuition for kindergarten through 12th grade, and most states follow the federal law, there are some states have different rules.

CA: it charges 2.5% state penalty tax on earnings used for K-12 tuition.
OR: residents may have to repay any tax deduction they received for 529 plan contributions.

Check your state and plan before making the withdrawal, you can go to Collegesavings.org to get links to your state plans.

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Why Credit Freeze Still Not Enough?

6/4/2019

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Q. I have frozen my credit reports to prevent identity theft, am I completely safe now?

A. Unfortunately the answer is no, because a freeze only prevents new creditors from accessing your credit reports, making it difficult for ID thieves to take out new credit in your name, however, a freeze doesn't prevent someone from using your existing accounts to make fraudulent charges, this is far more common.

So it's still a good idea to check your free copy of your reports from each of the three credit bureaus every 12 months at www.annualcreditreport.com, look for variation in your name spelling, social security number or other identifications.

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How To Easily Sell Your Home?

6/3/2019

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Selling a home is a hassle, you have to spend money and time to clean, fix, and stage it, and the final price is uncertain. Now there is an easy way to sell you home - to corporate buyers.

Here is a list of the major players:

Opendoor: "get an offer for your home with the press of a button"
Offerpad: "we want to buy your home"
Redfin Now: "get an all cash offer for your home"
Zillow Offers: "skip the hassle, sell to Zillow"
Coldwell Banker, ERA, and Keller Williams are also testing similar programs

Convenience comes with a price, the corporate buyers typically charge a service fee of 6% to 13% of the price, but sellers don't have to pay carrying costs and the expense of fixing up the home for sale. You can close for cash within a week.

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Why You Should Exercise As You Age And Why It Could Be As Simple As Walk In the Park

6/2/2019

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Exercise Makes The Aging Heart More Youthful (Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times) –
For people who have become more sedentary as they age, it often takes a health event (or at least a health scare) to find motivation to start exercising again… only to find that it may already be too late, as by our mid-to-late 50s, portions of our heart muscle have already begun to atrophy and weaken, and major cardiac arteries are already stiffening.

However, recent research finds that even at middle age, it’s not too late to “remodel your heart” by starting to get more exercise… with the caveat that as we age, the frequency of exercise needed may be higher as well. In one recent study, middle-aged adults who exercised at least 4X per week were found to have healthier heart muscles, and another recent study found that even amongst 70-year olds, those who exercised regularly (4X or more per week, and not “just” 2-3X per week) had healthier arteries. The best news, though, was that even amongst those who had been sedentary, middle-aged men and women who started to exercise 4-5X per week were able to improve their heart and artery healthover a period of two years… suggesting that while heart muscles and arteries do age and stiffen, increasing levels of engagement really can help to ‘rejuvenate’ them again as well!

And here is even better news ...

10 Years After An Exercise Study, Benefits Persist (Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times) –
A recent study finds that the benefits of exercise may be more persistent than most ever realized, as researchers who followed up on subjects from a prior exercise study found that even 10 years later, the participants still showed positive after-effects of their exercise stints during the study itself. Specifically, researchers followed up on a 1998-2003 study called Strride (Studies Targeting Risk Reduction Interventions through Defined Exercise), that had put hundreds of sedentary overweight volunteers aged 40-60 into either a control group or an exercise group that walked and jogged, and found that even 10 years later at a ‘reunion’ study, the exercisers were still of similar weight and health to 10 years prior (and those who had continued to exercise during the interim were even healthier than they had been 10 years prior), while the control group had continued to gain more weight, had larger waistlines, and were even less fit now. Notably, though, different types of exercise had different lasting effects; those who had exercised more vigorously had retained more of their aerobic capacity, while those who ‘merely’ walked for exercise had decreased aerobic capacity but did still have better metabolic health overall. The key point, though, was still simply that not only had engaging in exercise helped those middle-aged individuals to improve their health, but the effects were remarkably long-lasting for a full decade thereafter as well!

An exercise could be as simple as walk in the park ...

Why Some Doctors Are Prescribing A Day In The Park Or A Walk On The Beach For Good Health (The Conversation) –
According to the Biophilia Hypothesis, human beings have an innate relationship to natural – being outdoors more often can actually help to promote our well-being, prevent disease, and/or speed up recovery. And a growing base of research suggests this really is the case, from one study that four surgery patients with a view of trees out their window reported less pain and faster recoveries than those who only had a view of a wall, other studies have shown a reduction in pain through viewing natural scenes (or even nature videos and pictures!), and those who have more exposure to natural light also seem to experience less pain and stress (and require the use of less pain medication) than those who did not have such exposure. Though it appears that the benefits aren’t solely curative in nature, but also preventative, with recent research founding that taking walks in outdoor natural environments has positive benefits for everything from mental health to mood to blood pressure and heart rate. In turn, the research is now raising new questions, including what exactly constitutes ‘nature’ (e.g., does it have to be a national park, or just an urban park, or can it be a picture of a park?), and what’s the required dose? Thus far, research suggests that at least 150 minutes per week of outdoor time appears to have demonstrable positive effects. Still, though, with Americans spending an average of 90% of their time indoors, arguably there is more need than ever to try to find at least some time to take a walk!

Rules to Use 529 College Savings Plan to Pay For High School Costs

Why Credit Freeze Still Not Enough?

How To Easily Sell Your Home?

Why You Should Exercise As You Age And Why It Could Be As Simple As Walk In the Park

PFwise.com June 2019 Newsletter

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