ScuttleBugs 529 College Education Funding plan – A US first?

Every week seems special at ScuttleBugs. Well, every week is special. But this week we unveiled something we hope is perhaps extra special. Of course, it’s for our kids! No, not new equipment in our playground. No, not another delicious dish on our in-house menus. Even better. This week we introduced our ScuttleBugs 529 College Contribution Scheme.

As far as we know we are the first childcare center anywhere to offer anything like this. We call it ScuttleBugs 529. You’re right, the name won’t win any prizes in the 2017’ Wish-I’d-Thought-Of-That-Name list. But we’re confident it will win in perhaps more profound and meaningful ways.

ScuttleBugs 529 is a scheme where, although college is still far in the future, we encourage our parents to open 529 College Savings Funds for their kids. Then, as their children progress through ScuttleBugs, we plan, each year, to put some of our own money into those funds thereby accelerating the funds growth. The scheme applies automatically to our full time enrolled kids from infants all the way through to when they are ready to graduate into kindergarten. Many kids will have as much as 5 or even 6 years worth of ScuttleBugs contributions to swell their 529 funds. Feedback from parents has been very gratifying. It is a real partnership.

Why did we do this? Our kids’ future is a serious subject. ScuttleBugs 529 is a rather tangible way we can show our parents our total commitment to their children. We are investing in their kids’ futures. And it’s consistent with our core principles and values. We believe education is king but also believe that education is life-long and something to reap joy from.

In our vibrant Bay Area we see a microcosm of a world of ideas and innovation, a world where the growing opportunities and need for educated and curious minds is clear. But at ScuttleBugs we’re talking about small children here. Young children first need care, love and attention – which we love giving. Kids get older and go up the steps of their formal education and will go where they go. But it is our hope that we can, while introducing them to early education, life skills, emotional and social development and much more, give them a helping hand to start their journey upward by instilling a sense of curiosity and a love of learning. Our hope is that our well-rounded kids, when they move towards college many years later – when ScuttleBugs may be at best a distant memory - that they may find their college fund, including our own bit of it, enables them to broaden and exploit their further education options.

It’s as simple as that. We just want more and better options for our kids lives. We all gain if they do.

You can find out more about a 529 College Education Fund in one of out blogs here.

And of course there is much more on line.