Help ... MIL Issue about 529 Plan

Sallioth

Hello,

It's been a while since I posted but we had a healthy and happy baby boy on May 3td. I've just gotten back to work last week so I'm playing catch up but, next week we're heading up to Boston for LO's Baptism.

So my MIL asked us for LO's social security number so that she can start a 529 plan for him, but I really don't like the idea of giving her that info. I just don't feel comfortable with it.

 We're starting one of our own would it be rude to tell her to just contribute to that one?

Mrs. Theobald

I see no problem with you informing her that you are starting your own 529 and you would be happy to make contributions from her in it.  However, I also don't see a problem with giving her the social but I don't know what kind of relationship you have with her.  You may want to look into it and see if you can give her access to the account you set up. 

 

Janimal

Unless your MIL has been known to engage in criminal behavior, identity steal, and/or rack up crazy debts on credit cards, I can't imagine the harm in giving her the number.

That being said, just tell her if she would mind contributing to the one you have set up so there is jusst one plan.  If she still wants to set up her own - heck, say thank you and be grateful! 

andrea922

It would never enter my mind to not give my ILs/parents our kids ss# if they were trying to set up a fund of some sort for them.

ebearwife

Just give it to her.  If she steals it for unsavory purposes it won't be that hard to prove or catch her.  I hate my MIL in all my (and my kids) private business too but since she is paying for college I just have to get over myself.

klvd

If you're uncomfortable for any reason I wouldn't give it to her.  I would just thank her for her generosity and say, "oh that's really amazing!  Let me send you the information for the 529 we have set up in babies name...".  The way our 529 plan works, any family member can make a check out to the fund and deposit it directly - it doesn't have to go through us first.  I would just explain that it's much easier to keep track of everything if it's in one account. 

remote_girl

i agree with klvd, if you don't feel comfortable just blame a desire for simplicity. i had an uncle who was in charge of a trust fund for me (from my great grandma for all the great grandchildren) and 20 years later he was digging around for my ss#. he made bunch of bad investments and turned out to be really shady (former wall street guy we all trusted back in the day) - my mom always told me to never hand out my ss# to anyone and i didn't give it to him. my "trust fund" ended up being pretty much nothing....

DizzyBlonde

I can't remember all of the details about 529 plans, but if I recall correctly, the tax benefits would accrue to the person who "owns" the account, so if she contributes to one you create, she wouldn't be able to get the tax benefit, which is one of the major reasons of using a 529 plan. Plus, if she lives in a different state, each state may have their own plan and offer state tax benefits that aren't available if contributing to another state's plan.  For those reasons, I'd just pony it up. There's not much she can do with just the SS number, and like PP's said, it wouldn't be hard to catch her anyway.