Using 529 Funds to Start a Business
What if you were allowed to use your 529 fund money to start a business instead of going to college?
This is an idea I have been thinking about for the last day or so. It was sparked by a conversation I had where I was told that a local private university costs $56,000 a year to attend. I can’t understand how an undergraduate degree is worth $224,000 ( that is assuming tuition stays flat for four years, which of course it does not ). Even the local state universities cost $15-20,000 a year.
If the goal of the 529 fund is to equip your child for their next stage of life, it seems to me that there is an opportunity to use this money to start a company if the child is so inclined. Maybe there is a two-year requirement to learn the basics of business ownership and management in a different kind of concentrated program.
What do you think? Could it be done, and if so what should be the requirements or prerequisites to getting access to 529 funds for a business?