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Ok... but there is better. (Reply to this comment)
by jdax
Upromise isn't bad...it is my opinion that this company tries to form your spending and saving patterns for you with a tiny reward. I am registered with them and have made a couple of bucks and would like to know if there are more efficient ways to use it.
I would suggest joining a similar free system with a much greater income potential from on-line shopping called My Power Mall. Go to http://www.mypowermallsystem.info The money comes directly to you and you can use the money however you wish.
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Nov 08 '07
2:49 pm PST
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Re: don't need a 529 to get the money (Reply to this comment)
by modernmarvel
Wow - that is really good to know - I am going to try that myself.
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Jan 08 '07
7:04 am PST
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don't need a 529 to get the money (Reply to this comment)
by agathafroo
i don't have a 529 linked to my upromise account. i send a form letter to withdraw $200 whenever there is that much in the account. I then get a check for $200 to do whatever i want with--invest, spend, whatever.
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Jan 07 '07
10:28 pm PST
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Great Summary of 529 and Upromise Plans (Reply to this comment)
by stactom
An excellent read
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Dec 30 '06
7:07 am PST
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Re: Another important point (Reply to this comment)
by tcoop94
My sisters and I all attended college. My parents made much less than $100,000, and we could not get assistance. Besides a small about of money from athletic scholarship, all money we received was in the form of loans and had to be paid back. $100,000 is not a magic number that will enable you to get assistance. The loans we received were available to everyone. You have to be pretty near poverty level to get free assistance for college. Don't let this be your deciding point.
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Oct 27 '06
7:48 am PDT
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UPromise and Loan Accounts (Reply to this comment)
by crsnglb
For anyone interested,
I am a student who has had UPromise since it first started a couple of years ago. I already had a student account through Ed Financial, one of the approved loaners through UPromise, and you can link your loan to UPromise and not necessarily have to open a 529 (at least, I have link my loan to it; I have not yet made a payment towards it...if anything changes, I'll update my comment!)
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Oct 11 '06
7:52 am PDT
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withdrawing funds (Reply to this comment)
by floosouth
I have just signed up with Upromise. I went searching on the web for critiques of Upromise and found yours. It's been about a year since you posted it, but wanted to send you a note.
In your review, you indicate that funds can only be withdrawn by opening one of Upromise's 529 plans.
Perhaps this is a change since you posted, but I found the following information on their website today (it's a bit lengthy):
"Q: Can I withdraw company contributions from my Upromise account without transferring them to a savings plan, and if so, how?
A: You can withdraw your Upromise contributions at any time during your membership. To withdraw company contributions from your Upromise account, submit a letter in writing to Upromise requesting a withdrawal from your Upromise account. The letter must state your full name and exact amount that you would like to withdraw, up to total amount available in your account, pending contributions are not eligible for withdrawal.
For the protection of our members, we require a Signature Guarantee on all withdrawal requests in excess of $200. A Signature Guarantee is a guarantee you can obtain from a financial institution, such as your bank, that your signature is yours and that it is genuine. It is not the same as a notary, as a notary states that a document was signed in the presence of the Notary Public, it does not validate the signature itself. This Signature Guarantee should be placed next to your signature on the withdrawal letter.
Withdrawal letters should be sent to:
Upromise
ATTN: Customer Care
P.O. Box 55555
Boston, MA 02205-5555
Checks are sent once per calendar quarter, so you should typically receive your check within 12 weeks of your request being received.
To make your savings work for you, you may want to consider transferring your company contributions to an investing plan for a future college student."
So, there you have it. It is a bit of a convoluted process, but not insurmountable to retrieve your money.
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Nov 06 '04
11:45 am PST
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WONDERFUL! (Reply to this comment)
by pantazis5
I am a member of upromise and you explained things to me that I did not know...
WONDERFUL!
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Oct 18 '03
4:22 am PDT
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Re: Another important point (Reply to this comment)
by modernmarvel
Thanks so much for your comment. I agree that 529s are not for everyone. I think Upromise is very misleading in this regard. As I said in my review - we lost money in our 529s for the first two years we had them. Instead of helping us save for college, Upromise promotes an investment vehicle that has, for the most part, been losing money.
Like you, I am letting my money accrue in Upromise without a way to get it out. In the meantime, it does not earn interest. Maybe when my kids get closer to college I will open a 529 for a short time just to get the money or maybe Upromise will come up with a better way to transfer it to us.
Thanks again for reading and leaving a comment!
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Sep 29 '03
5:20 am PDT
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Another important point (Reply to this comment)
by jadzia66
They were discussing Upromise on our local news the other night under their "money matters" segment. They were saying that a 529 account is really not a good thing to do for those making less than $100,000 a year because you won't get the same amount of financial aid that you would have gotten had you not opened a 529 account. They said that if you make over $100,000 a year, then go ahead and open a 529 account because you proabably won't be eligible for any financial aid. That sucks because I have signed up for Upromise but haven't bit the bullet and opened a 529 account. We do not make more than $100,000 a year so we would need all the financial aid we could get for our daughter, so I probably won't open a 529 account and instead just let my Upromise account accumilate in the hopes that someday in the future, a better open will be made available for those funds.
Cherie
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Sep 28 '03
10:30 pm PDT
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Re: Re: Re: Hi, (Reply to this comment)
by modernmarvel
You sound much more expert than me in these matters. I don't want to come across as an expert in 529s because I am not. It does look like you can contribute $250 as a lump sum in lieu of monthly payments but I am not sure that if you got all the fine print that would still be the case. To me, the fees are high and they are per child because you need one account for each kid getting contributions from Upromise. For my two kids, I would be paying $40 per year plus any other fees on the actual funds. If you are not collecting a lot in Upromise, you may not make up for these fees.
Additionally, if you simply added $250 in an account and forgot about it, the fees could erode the account down to zero before the child ever got to college.
The point I am trying to make is that the first choice should be to determine which investment option is right and, if it turns out to be a 529, then sign up for Upromise. Don't let Upromise make the decision for you. There are many other options for saving for college besides 529s.
I believe the only banks Upromise will transfer funds to are Vanguard and Strong. Fidelity was a choice but they dropped it several months ago. At least with Fidelity, there are no annual fees but you must make a monthly contribution. Also, it important to know that you have a very limited selection of funds to choose from. With Fidelity, most or maybe even all of these funds lost money over the last two years. Both of my kids' portfolios were in the red almost from the day I opened the accounts. They have since become profitable with the recent market uptick, but it was depressing during the down market.
In any case, I am not an investment expert and do not want to give investment advice in this review. I will make a change to say maybe a lump sum payment is possible BUT it is important to get the fine print and understand everything about the account because it is difficult to withdraw the money unless it is for college.
Thanks again for your comment. It is too bad your fund is not available with Upromise because it sounds like a better deal that others I have seen.
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Sep 28 '03
10:29 am PDT
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Re: Re: Hi, (Reply to this comment)
by leveleth
We set up plans with NJBest.
This is the plan set up by the state of New Jersey. It is managed by Franklin Templeton. While residents of any state may open a 529 here, it is not necessarily the best option if you do not live in NJ. The advantage for NJ residents is that the earnings are both federal and state tax free. (www.njbest.com)I do not believe that Upromise works with NJbest.
The way I read the Upromise website, the only plan choices are Vanguard and Strong. Is that correct? Either on of these let's you set up an account with either a $250 lump sum (and no monthly contribution requirement), or a $50 monthly contribution.
While the combination of the $20 annual fee and the asset-based fee charged by Vanguard may sound high, it is important to factor in that there are no front-end loads. Fidelity's funds also charge front-end loads that can be quite steep.
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Sep 28 '03
8:22 am PDT
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Re: Hi, (Reply to this comment)
by modernmarvel
Hi,
Which bank do you have your 529 with? I have been shopping around because I would like to continue to get Upromise money and all of the ones I have seen do require minimum monthly deposits and/or charge significant fees. Obviously, I do not have the universe of experience but I have probably looked at over 20 plans. It would probably help a lot of people if you could recommend your bank.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
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Sep 28 '03
6:59 am PDT
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Hi, (Reply to this comment)
by leveleth
Your information on the Upromise program is very helpful.
Regarding the 529's, you state that "most '529 Plans' require you to deposit a certain amount monthly". This has not been our experience. We set these up when they first became available. We initially contributed a lump some. At most, we have put additional monies in once very two years.
Thanks,
Laura
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Sep 28 '03
5:21 am PDT
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thanks (Reply to this comment)
by jankp
Been using upromise for some months and a citicard, but it's so confusing. You helped a lot!
Jan
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Sep 27 '03
6:45 pm PDT
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Re: Always wondered how this worked... (Reply to this comment)
by modernmarvel
You should look into the 529 plans. I think the only investments are stock and you probably don't want to do that if your kids are already in college. It is too bad you can't get the money deposited into some other type of account.
Thanks for rating and leaving a comment!
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Sep 27 '03
3:18 pm PDT
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Always wondered how this worked... (Reply to this comment)
by michiman1
Thanks, great information to have, I guess any amount helps. I have one finishing up this year, one started this year and a senior in high school. I need all the Income Share from Epinions I can get because it's probably too late for Upromise as far as I go.
Mark
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Sep 27 '03
2:49 pm PDT
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