UPromise college savings account :)

[heathrow42]

Well after much hemming and hawing I finally signed up for a UPromise account. Funny thing is I don't even have kids! I signed up because you can start it in your name and then change it to your kids later on.. plus if we never have kids, then we will have some $$ for ourselves if we ever want to go back.

So, anyone else have an account? How much have you saved so far? How do you like it.. and have you had any trouble getting your rewards listed.

--Heather

 

[TZMOM]

I registered, but to tell you the truth, I haven't checked my account for over 6 mos. Suppose I should look into that huh? I was a little apprehensive with all the personal info on the net, but took a chance anyway. Hope it works out for all of us.

 

[summerrluvv]

You don't need to invest the money into a college savings program. They will send you a check in the mail. I'm not sure of the process, but several people on the coupon board I frequent have done it. I have about $50 in my account right now. I will probably just withdraw it when I get to $100 and put it into my son's bank account.

 

[dandave]

I just registered a little while ago. I don't know why I've never registered before.
I had no idea that you could withdraw the money as a check. Thanks for the info! I better go back and read all the fine print that I seem to have only skimmed.

 

[SamSam]

How do you withdraw money? I signed up thinking of grandkids,but an option of withdrawing money is attractive.

 

[MinnieGi]

We also use Upromise. It is very effortless once you register your cards. And while the money does seem to just trickle its nice to have the little extra. DD has a 529 plan with Fidelity and they are connected to Upromise. So I just move over chunks of the Upromise money into her 529 plan. I do this in $50.00 amounts. Its at least a little extra that we didn't have to directly put in. BTW - Disney Store is by far one of the most generous donators. They give 4% of the purchase amount!! Thanks Disney Store!

 

[sarahsmom73]

We have an account.. We have it liked with DD's 529 plan (She's 2)... I have done almost all of my holiday shopping through upromise and we have gotten a good chunk back!!! We also save a good amount by buying mobil gas... I just keep thinking.. Every little bit helps!

 

[dmensing]

I just withdrew money in the form of a check from our Upromise account since our 529 plan didn't renew their agreement with Upromise.

You just send a letter stating whether it is a full or partial withdraw, the amount of $, your account number and SSN. It took a while, but we received a check about 6-8 weeks after sending the letter. I believe the Upromise terms said you can withdraw once per quarter.

HTH,
Dan.

 

[disneysteve]

The most generous contribution we've gotten so far was from dining at Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD. 10% of our bill went into our Upromise account!

Steve

 

[dandave]

I found the "fine print" about withdrawing funds. It's always nice to know about the options. Thanks, again, for the heads up!

Under the help section:

Can I withdraw company contributions from my Upromise account without transferring them to a savings plan, and if so, how?
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.

In accordance with the USA Patriot Act (a federal law), all withdrawal requests must include your full name, social security number, and date of birth. The letter must also state the 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.

 

[Shelly]

I'm wondering about the taxes for withdrawing this money for non-college purposes.

 

[pjlla]

My husband signed us up for Upromise several months ago. When we get updated listed through the e-mail, I do check to see if there is stuff I would buy anyhow, but I don't buy anything special "just because" it is linked with Upromise. Anyhow.... I didn't notice that TDS was also linked. Hope we got a percentage of our recent Park Hopper purchase back!! Guess I will have to check!

Let me know if anyone has any other great Upromise tips!!

 

[pjlla]

we did get a recent e-mail about restaurants that contribute to Upromise.... there was a multi-page list of restaurants in the Orlando/Kissimmee area that participate. Worth a look if you are going to eat outside of WDW any how!!...P

 

[disneyatl]

I've been purchasing gift certificates from disney.com thru upromise. I get 4% back and it helps me save for my vacation. I'm using the gift certificates to purchase my tickets at the Disney Store.

Another one I use is magazines.com thru upromise. Any magazine subscription you have can be renewed thru magazines.com. Sometimes the price is even better too.

 

[robinb]

I have been thinking of UPromise for a long time, so I just signed up. Now I am kicking myself since most of my holiday shopping is done!

Oh well.

We are already enrolled in a college savings plan for my DD and I think can just transfer this money to it. Once my account has some money in it, that is!

 

[nicknamy1996]

I've been a member for well over a year now. I have around $55 in there. Every couple of weeks I check it to see how its doing. It's nice to see unexpected deposits in the account. I use it for Disneystore.com online. And I have all of my CC's linked to it. Exxon/Mobil gas stations pay 1 cent per gallon. I'm always worried about reward sites going under and you lose your points, cash or whatever. So as soon as I get enough MyPoints for a $25 award I cash in. But with uPromise theres no "target" so I always procrastinate.

The nice thing about UPromise (The credit card side of it anyway) is there is no brain work. Set up the account link it to your cc and your done. You still get your reward points (disney card for example) but you get upromise on top of that. If you can convince family and friends, aunts, uncles etc.. you can link their credit cards to your childs account. The hard part is convinceing them that it is safe. And getting them to set up the account. Which you can do for them, and they never have to do anything again.

As to the Tax issue. It's the same as any other reward program. The money is your do do whatever you want with. Do you claim MyPoints rewards or Cashback bonuses on your taxes? I don't. And thats a can of worms I don't want to open. If i were to guess i would say if you make over a certian amount you have to claim it as income.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I buy the gift certs for my own use (we go there TOO often - Bad MommY! Bad Mommy!). You get 3% back - the code is in the package of gift certs.

 

[kessieann]

I signed up way back when it first came out. I always buy a gift cert. at McDonald's and then order my food and pay with the gift cert. I just bought. My family also does the same and gives the codes to me. Even though it is not a huge amount it does all start to add up. I got most of my account build up from going to Toys R Us so I was bummed when they no longer participated. There are a lot of grocery items that qualify now and all they need is your grocery card number from a participating store. As far as online purchases I still prefer to go through Ebates first since they automatically mail the checks quarterly.

As far as the 529 they have been adding plans and I am waiting to see if my state will become a member so I can get the extra tax benefits. If not I may just join up for the 529 that is offered by Upromise itself.

 

[DocRafiki]

I signed up for this many months ago, and I think I've only seen one e-mail from them so far. I use it to pay off student loans. I haven't found it too useful since the grocery stores it links to are more expensive than it's worth. I'm glad to see Bed Bath & Beyond participating; I'm addicted to their 20% off coupons I keep getting. I had no idea TDS participated. And I just bought a seasonal pass direct from WDW. So, when you shop through TDS, does it automatically deposit into your account if your credit card is signed up, or do you have to do something extra? I never heard of the McDonald's thing either, but I don't eat there often. I should check out their website more often.

 

[disneyatl]

If you make a purchase at TDS (online only) with a registered credit card, the 4% is credited to your account usually within 4 weeks. I've purchased gift certificates and TDS does not charge shipping to your order.