Which college savings plan investment portfolio is right for me?

Compare Investment Portfolios

When it comes to investing in a 529 plan, we all have the same goal: to help pay for education.

However, everyone’s investment strategy can look quite different depending on aspects of each person’s circumstances (like financial constraints and overall savings goals).

The Bright Start 529 College Savings Plan investment choices

Choose from multiple portfolios to fit your preferences—aligning with your risk tolerance, preferred level of involvement and desired results. The risk tolerance questions can help determine what’s best for you.

Enrollment Year Portfolios

Consider this if:

You’re looking for an all-in-one solution to manage your savings over the long term without extra work on your part.

  • A portfolio customized for your student’s expected enrollment year
  • Risk level automatically becomes more conservative as enrollment year approaches

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Static Allocation Portfolios

Consider this if:

You're are an experienced investor and want investment portfolios with a fixed asset allocation rather than automatically shifting as the beneficiary reaches enrollment year.

  • Prefer added control over diversification and investment strategy
  • Suitable for a variety of risk profiles and asset allocation blends

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Individual Portfolios

Consider this if:

You're an experienced investor and want to design an investment portfolio that meets your needs, risk tolerance, and investing style.

  • Investment Portfolios representing an investment in one single underlying fund
  • Offers a variety of asset classes ranging from equity to cash.

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To determine the right strategy for you, it may be helpful to ask yourself these questions:

  • How much do I want to save?
  • How fast do I want to save?
  • How comfortable am I with risk?
  • How hands-on do I want to be?

Whatever your answers may be, a Bright Start 529 account offers a variety of professionally managed investment portfolios to fit your life situation, risk tolerance and college savings goals. To learn more about your own risk tolerance visit our risk tolerance questionnaire.

Here are some of our most common investment portfolio questions

Here’s where you find performance data for Bright Start 529 Investment Portfolios.

Bright Start 529 offers a variety of investment portfolios to fit your life situation, risk tolerance and savings goals. These vary in investment strategy and degree of risk, allowing you to select a portfolio or combination of portfolios that fit your needs and savings goals.

To compare our Bright Start 529 Investment Portfolios, visit our investment comparison page. For more information on the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses, read the Plan Description.

Yes. Each time you make a contribution, you may select from any of the Bright Start 529 Investment Portfolios. Once invested in a particular portfolio, contributions and earnings may be transferred to another investment portfolio twice per calendar year or upon transfer of funds to a plan account for a different eligible beneficiary (see the Plan Description for more information).

To transfer funds between investments, log in to your account, click “View Details” for your beneficiary, click “Change Investment Options,” then click “Continue” in the Exchange Now section. You may also request and submit by mail the Change of Investment Form.

A Bright Start 529 account can be started with any amount. How much you need to save will depend on what you plan to use the money for and when.

A few helpful tools:

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