Top University Professors

Top University Professors June 12, 2012 One reason to attend a highly selective university is to learn from top university professors something you typically just cant do at big state schools. And when we write top university professors, thats exactly what we mean. Wouldnt it be cool to learn about healthcare delivery from, say, Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont and chairman of the Democratic National Committee who had a hand in shaping our nations healthcare system? Wouldnt it be cool to learn about filmmaking from, say, Spike Lee, the director behind such films as Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and Inside Man? Wouldnt it be cool to learn about medicine from C. Everett Koop, the Surgeon General under President Ronald Reagan? Spike Lee is a professor at New York University. How cool would it be to learn about filmmaking from a director of his caliber? Photo credit: Angela George. Or how about learning writing from Elie Wiesel, the author of Night? Or James McBride, author of the classic The Color of Water? Or what about taking an economics course with Steven Levitt, the rogue economist whose research is chronicled in Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics? Or learning psychology from B.F. Skinner, the behavioral psychologist who taught us about operant conditioning and so much more? Or Chaim Potok, author of The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev? While Skinner and Potok are no longer alive, Skinner taught for years at Harvard and Potok at the University of Pennsylvania. Dean has taught at Dartmouth as has alumnus C. Everett Koop. Lee and McBride teach at New York University and Wiesel has taught at Yale University. And Steven Levitt is a professor at the University of Chicago in the economics department. Wouldnt it be cool to learn from these most accomplished individuals? Wouldnt it be cool to sit in their classroom? Is this something that you can do at the University of Alabama? Likely not. Its one of the advantages of attending a highly selective university. To learn from these individuals during your undergraduate years is a once in a lifetime experience one youll never forget.

The Magic of Beneficiary Changes

Financial Professional Content Changing the beneficiary on a 529 account works magic in at least three situations: A beneficiary change makes the twice-per-calendar year investment change restriction disappear. A beneficiary change also makes the once-per-12-month rollover restriction disappear. A beneficiary change makes possible what might seem impossible: A 60-day "in-state" rollover. In all three of these situations, an exception is carved out from its respective limitation in Section 529 whenever the designated beneficiary of the account is changed as part of the transaction. Of course, the new beneficiary must be a qualifying member of the existing beneficiary's family. What does this mean? You can always make an investment change in your current 529 account even if you have already made two investment changes in a given year. All you have to do is request a beneficiary change along with your investment change request. You can always roll over the account to another state's 529 plan even if you have rolled over within the past 12 months. All you have to do is designate a different family member as beneficiary on the receiving account. The third magic trick described above, a 60-day "in-state" rollover between 529 plans, is less common but nonetheless important. Occasionally, an account owner makes a withdrawal by mistake and wants to get their funds back into their 529 plan without tax or penalty. This may be the solution to that problem. Your client has 60 days from the date of a 529 withdrawal to make a full or partial rollover of those funds to another 529 plan without tax or penalty. As soon as it becomes apparent that a refund or credit has caused an over-withdrawal, the client should be checking to see if the 60-day window is still open. If it is and they act quickly, they could turn that withdrawal into a rollover to put the money back into a 529 plan, thereby avoiding taxes and penalties. Normally, a trustee-to-trustee rollover or a 60-day rollover must be to "another" state's 529 plan. But when a rollover is accompanied by a beneficiary change, the funds must go to "a" 529 plan, which presumably includes the same 529 plan or another 529 plan within the same state. (There's no such thing as a trustee-to-trustee "in-state" rollover. The IRS would consider this to be an investment change, even if switching between two different plans in the same state.) If the current beneficiary has a sibling, it is a no-brainer. Once the investment change or rollover has been completed, you can simply change the beneficiary back to the original. If there is no sibling, the child's parent could be designated as the new beneficiary. However, a subsequent change back to the child will presumably be treated as a new gift for gift-tax purposes, so be careful with this. The moral of the story is this: Switch the account beneficiary if you are making one of the changes described above so you can forget about the limitations on investment changes and rollovers. The above article does not constitute tax advice. Tax matters can be complicated and uncertain and taxpayers should rely on their own tax adviser for advice. Originally Posted: 2013-12-05 Financial Professional Content Changing the beneficiary on a 529 account works magic in at least three situations: A beneficiary change makes the twice-per-calendar year investment change restriction disappear. A beneficiary change also makes the once-per-12-month rollover restriction disappear. A beneficiary change makes possible what might seem impossible: A 60-day "in-state" rollover. In all three of these situations, an exception is carved out from its respective limitation in Section 529 whenever the designated beneficiary of the account is changed as part of the transaction. Of course, the new beneficiary must be a qualifying member of the existing beneficiary's family. What does this mean? You can always make an investment change in your current 529 account even if you have already made two investment changes in a given year. All you have to do is request a beneficiary change along with your investment change request. You can always roll over the account to another state's 529 plan even if you have rolled over within the past 12 months. All you have to do is designate a different family member as beneficiary on the receiving account. The third magic trick described above, a 60-day "in-state" rollover between 529 plans, is less common but nonetheless important. Occasionally, an account owner makes a withdrawal by mistake and wants to get their funds back into their 529 plan without tax or penalty. This may be the solution to that problem. Your client has 60 days from the date of a 529 withdrawal to make a full or partial rollover of those funds to another 529 plan without tax or penalty. As soon as it becomes apparent that a refund or credit has caused an over-withdrawal, the client should be checking to see if the 60-day window is still open. If it is and they act quickly, they could turn that withdrawal into a rollover to put the money back into a 529 plan, thereby avoiding taxes and penalties. Normally, a trustee-to-trustee rollover or a 60-day rollover must be to "another" state's 529 plan. But when a rollover is accompanied by a beneficiary change, the funds must go to "a" 529 plan, which presumably includes the same 529 plan or another 529 plan within the same state. (There's no such thing as a trustee-to-trustee "in-state" rollover. The IRS would consider this to be an investment change, even if switching between two different plans in the same state.) If the current beneficiary has a sibling, it is a no-brainer. Once the investment change or rollover has been completed, you can simply change the beneficiary back to the original. If there is no sibling, the child's parent could be designated as the new beneficiary. However, a subsequent change back to the child will presumably be treated as a new gift for gift-tax purposes, so be careful with this. The moral of the story is this: Switch the account beneficiary if you are making one of the changes described above so you can forget about the limitations on investment changes and rollovers. The above article does not constitute tax advice. Tax matters can be complicated and uncertain and taxpayers should rely on their own tax adviser for advice. Originally Posted: 2013-12-05