That Old Wonderlust

It seems that I just can't help myself from traveling. We now have three trips planned in the next two months. Next weekend we'll be in Virginia for the wedding of my friends Jim & Pemma and to visit the Leite clan. The last weekend of the month we'll be in sunny San Diego to visit the Pililaau/Ealy clan and as many of Dana's friends as we can fit in, not to mention soaking up some last-minute sunshine before the mercifully brief and moderate Colorado winter sets in. Then the week before Thanksgiving we'll be in the Bay Area for a patent bar review class that Dana has signed up for, where we will also visit my parents.

Okay, granted DC, SD and San Francisco are not the most exotic destinations, but I do love to drop down into a place that is distinctly not home and still find my way around and make things happen. It will be especially challenging with little Alex in tow, but fortunately each destination features a loving grandparent or two to help out. It's good practice for future trips I'm sure we'll undertake to China, South America, Europe and elsewhere. If I'm lucky, maybe my generous employer will even underwrite such adventures, in part.

In other news, I finally signed up for online access to Alex's 529 college savings plan. It looks like we're off to a good start, considering I only set it up in April, and we're only modestly funding it from our bank account. A regular contribution of just a few bucks a month really starts to make a difference when the account is almost as old as the beneficiary. The earlier the contributions, the better, as they have the most significant cumulative impact.

In case you're not familiar with 529 savings plans, here's how they work in a nutshell: Contributions are made from taxed income, and the account grows tax-free for its life, as long as funds are used for educational purposes. The funds can be used by anyone in the family, not just the named beneficiary. Funds are sponsored by each State, often with states providing tax incentives to residents for investing in their particular plan, and plans can be moved annually between different states' 529s with no penalty. The contributions may be invested in a selection of age- and risk-based investment options, or you can elect to put the plan on "autopilot," whereby investments are modified each year automatically to match the beneficiary's age.

It's unlikely that this tool will provide a full ride to Harvard in 2025 (2023 if he does really well), but it will certainly give us a leg up in funding. And in fact "traditional" higher education is not the only option; the funds could go to vocational education, summer camps, or private K-12 schools too if we so desired. Or if he flunks out and ends up playing the sitar on Pearl Street in Boulder or Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, then his Mom and I can spend the money on one of those fancy scientific lecture cruises to Alaska.