Community Spotlight: Edward Jones Celebrates "Save for Education Day

PALMETTO – Edward Jones Financial Advisor Jessica Hart-Howard is celebrating Save for Education Day on May 29 in a variety of ways, including wearing her favorite collegiate attire to her branch office in Palmetto, Florida and speaking with a few AVID students at Braden River Middle School about college.    
   
In fact, in Edward Jones branch offices across Manatee and Sarasota Counties and nationwide, Edward Jones associates will be dressed in attire from their favorite colleges or their college alma maters to celebrate the firm-wide "holiday."    
   
Edward Jones is recognizing May 29 (5/29) as Save for Education Day, a firm-wide holiday that's name is derived from a popular college saving tool called a 529 Plan.    
   
"At Edward Jones, we know that seven out of 10 families do not have 529 college savings plans for their children's future education expenses*, so we are hoping to build awareness of the many options families have to help pay for college expenses," Hart-Howard said.    
   
One option is the tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan, which gets its name from Section 529 in the Internal Revenue Services tax code.    
   
Features of a 529 college savings plan include:

• Tax Advantages - Withdrawals are federally tax-free when used for qualified higher-education expenses, such as tuition, room and board, books and more. However, withdrawals used for non-qualified expenses   will be subject to taxes and a tax penalty.

• Flexibility - Withdrawals can be used for qualified expenses at any eligible college or university in any state and even some schools abroad.

• Control - The account owner, not the beneficiary (student in most cases), retains control over the account. By retaining this control, one can ensure that the proceeds are used as intended.   

   
Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. The firm's 12,000-plus financial advisors work directly with nearly 7 million clients to understand their personal goals -- from college savings to retirement -- and create long-term investment solutions that emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment options available today.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Edward Jones ranked No. 4 overall in FORTUNE magazine's 2014 100 Best Companies to Work For ranking. Visit our website at www.edwardjones.com and our recruiting website at www.careers.edwardjones.com. Follow us on Twitter @EdwardJones. Member SIPC. FORTUNE and Time Inc. are not affiliated with and do not endorse Edward Jones products or services.