I have a 6 months old son and he is my only kid, am planning next year (paying off consumer debts like student loans, medical bills and personal loans at the moment) to start RE investing mainly on rental properties. Thinking my 1st rental to have it as a college account meaning cashflow will reinvested to the property and when he is ready for college 15-17 years from now i sell the property use funds as tuition, i don't want him to have student loans. Good idea or not? Thank you
Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
@Wilfred Mkilindi I don't know where you are located, but if you were say, in NY you could take the cashflow and throw it into a 529 and get the bonus of free growth as well as a limited deduction on your state income takes.
My rental properties fund my children's 529 plans as well as their current educations and fun stuff. I would advise against plowing cashflow back into a property- in 15 years you should have ample equity. It is very important to build reserves and put that money to use- it is one of the motivators for me to stay in this game on tough days.
Rockaway, NJ · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
It sounds like you want to purchase the property with funds from the 529, much like someone would purchase a rental as apart of an independent IRA. I'm not sure if this is possible, but if it is you probably are restricted on what you can do with the cashflow and you're restricted with how much money you put into the property (based on yearly contribution limits).
I think the simpler way would be to purchase the property outright, and put the profit into the 529. Seems cleaner that way, but you probably want to follow up with a tax professional if youre doing something unconventional/complicated.
Thank you all for the replies, not planning to use current 529 account to buy a property but i will put the account on hold meaning i wont be doing any contribution. My thinking was selling the property when he is ready for college but hearing that i can use the cash flow to fund 529 and take advantage of all the benefits 529 comes with sounds like a better way of doing it and that will allow me not to sell the asset 15-17 years from now. Thank you again.