Many people who are saving money for a child’s college education are familiar with 529 Savings Plans. But what if you want to send a younger child to a private school? A 529 Plan only covers expenses for higher education.
In this article, I’ll tell you about a lesser-known tax-advantaged vehicle that you can use for any level of education—from kindergarten through graduate school—called a Coverdell Education Saving Account.
Table of Contents
- Who Can Have a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
- What Expenses Can You Pay Using a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
- How to Use a Coverdell Education Savings Account for Young Students?
- How Much Can You Contribute to a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
- How to Open a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
- How to Handle Excess Contributions to a Coverdell Education Savings Account
- The Bottom Line – How to Handle Excess Contributions to a Coverdell Education Savings Account
Who Can Have a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
When you open a Coverdell, the account must be for a designated beneficiary who’s under the age of 18. After the student’s 18th birthday, no more contributions can be made unless the account is for a special-needs beneficiary. The funds must generally be used by the time the student reaches age 30 in order to avoid taxes and penalties.
What Expenses Can You Pay Using a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
With a Coverdell, your contributions and earnings always grow tax-free as long as distributions are used to pay for qualified expenses at eligible schools. Coverdell funds can be used to pay for the student’s tuition and all associated fees, books, equipment, and supplies for their attendance at an eligible institution. That could be any postsecondary school such as a university or college that’s eligible to participate in federal student aid.
Coverdell funds can also be used for reasonable room and board for those who are considered at least half-time students.
How to Use a Coverdell Education Savings Account for Young Students?
The unique feature of a Coverdell is that it can also be used to pay for the expenses of younger students. This includes children in kindergarten through grade 12 who attend any eligible public, private, or religious school. There are more qualified expenses for younger students than for those getting post-secondary education.
They include tuition, fees, books, supplies, computer equipment, Internet access, academic tutoring, uniforms, transportation, and room and board. Any school you’re interested in can tell you if they’re eligible to accept Coverdell funds.
How Much Can You Contribute to a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
You can contribute to a Coverdell savings account only if your adjusted gross income is less than $190,000 or less than $220,000 if you file a joint tax return. Companies and trusts are even allowed to make contributions to Coverdells, no matter how much income they earn.
Here’s a Tip:
There’s an annual contribution limit of $2,000 per student. This limit applies even if more than one Coverdell account has been opened or more than one person makes contributions for the same beneficiary.
Consider this scenario: after a lucky child is born, her parents decide to set up a Coverdell for her, and her grandparents also decide to set one up. This is fine as long as the total contributions for the child to all her Coverdell accounts don’t exceed $2,000 per year.
If the parents were to contribute $500 and the grandparents $1500, together they have maxed out the allowable yearly limit for the child.
How to Open a Coverdell Education Savings Account?
Coverdells can be opened with traditional or online brokerages as well as with many banks and mutual fund companies. The deadline for making Coverdell contributions is the due date for filing your tax return for the prior year. So if you want to contribute to a Coverdell for the 2023 tax year, you have until April 15 2024 to do it.
Coverdells are great if you’re saving for a younger child’s elementary or high school education. But when you’re saving only for college expenses, consider the advantages of the 529 plan because they have no limit for annual contributions and offer more flexibility than Coverdells when saving for higher education.
How to Handle Excess Contributions to a Coverdell Education Savings Account
What if you can’t use all the Coverdell funds for the beneficiary’s qualified expenses? Maybe the student graduates with all her education bills paid, but there’s still $1,000 left in the account. If the leftover money is withdrawn, this will generally be considered a taxable distribution, also subject to an additional 10% tax penalty.
Here’s a Tip for Dealing With Excess Coverdell Funds:
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The Bottom Line – How to Handle Excess Contributions to a Coverdell Education Savings Account
A Coverdell Education Savings Account provides a lesser-known but valuable tax-advantaged option for saving towards education costs, be it for private, public, or religious school from kindergarten through to graduate school.
Despite its income and contribution limits, its tax-free growth and distributions for qualified expenses make it a noteworthy option for families planning for education expenses.
While the 529 plan stands out for higher education savings due to its higher contribution limits and flexibility, the Coverdell shines for those looking to cover the full spectrum of educational expenses, especially for younger students.
Furthermore, it offers a solution for handling excess funds by allowing a change of beneficiary to another family member, ensuring the saved funds continue to serve the educational needs of the family.
