McRae: Gifts That Keep on Giving
By Treasurer David McRae
The holiday gift-giving season has arrived! As parents skim through their children’s wish list, I’m well aware that a college savings plan through College Savings Mississippi will be scribbled on very few. Nonetheless, if you’re a parent, grandparent, family friend, or acquaintance, I want to invite you to consider adding it to your shopping list.
In just a few months’ time, hundreds of Mississippi students will be receiving their college diplomas. For most, the calligraphy-filled document will be accompanied by something else: a bill worth an average of $33,000. For most, it will take a decade or more to pay back what they owe. That burden, however, can be lightened – if not altogether eliminated – by investing in a college savings plan.
College Savings Mississippi offers families two options. The first is a Mississippi Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (MPACT) plan, which lets families lock in today’s tuition rates and prepay college altogether. The other is a Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) plan, which is similar to a savings account that draws interest – except there are some great tax advantages for many families that come along with a MACS account! Regardless of your choice, giving the gift of an education will certainly be a gift that will keep giving for years to come.
We’ve heard from many families who find fun and creative ways to deliver a MACS or MPACT contribution as a gift. Some will slip a note into a book for the child. Others will wrap up a stuffed animal whose head has been topped with a graduation cap. And others will send the child on a scavenger hunt until they find the “treasure.”
However you choose to present it, the gift of a college degree is one of the most meaningful things you can offer a child. For more information about our plans, please visit treasury.ms.gov/collegesavings.
Have a warm and blessed Christmas!
Mississippi Treasurer David McRae is the 55th Treasurer for the State of Mississippi. In this role, he helps manage the state’s cash flow, oversees College Savings Mississippi, and has returned more than $80 million in unclaimed money to Mississippians. For more information, visit Treasury.MS.gov.
