The person you're opening the account for (the beneficiary) must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien with a valid Social Security number or other taxpayer identification number. The beneficiary doesn't have to be related to you. You can name yourself as beneficiary and use the money for your own education.

Yes. While there can be only one beneficiary named for each account, you can open separate accounts for different beneficiaries.

Yes. For example, a father, mother, grandparent, and uncle can each open a separate account for the same beneficiary and can also open separate accounts for other beneficiaries. You can contribute up to $550,000. This includes all 529 accounts sponsored by the State of Missouri for the same beneficiary.

No. The beneficiary must have a Social Security number or other taxpayer identification number. This is so the identities of both the account owner and beneficiary can be verified. If we're unable to verify your identities, the plan reserves the right to close your account or take other steps we deem reasonable. Your Social Security number is also required for tax-reporting purposes.

The MOST 529 Program allows you to invest up to $550,000 per beneficiary.

Yes. If your beneficiary receives a refund from an eligible educational institution for money paid for qualified higher-education expenses, you may recontribute the refund to the account for which the student is a beneficiary. The recontributed amount can't exceed the amount of the refund.

You can maintain your account and continue to make contributions no matter where you live in the United States.

However, if you're a Missouri resident and move out of state, you'll no longer be eligible to deduct your contributions for Missouri state income tax purposes.

You may perform a tax-free rollover of a 529 account for the same beneficiary as often as once every 12 months. You may move money by direct rollover (money is transferred directly from your current 529 plan custodian to MOST 529) or by indirect rollover (you request a check for the amount from the current 529 plan custodian and reinvest it in MOST 529 within 60 days).

Check with your current custodian to verify that it will accept your request for a rollover and to determine if any penalties will apply to the transaction. When you request a direct rollover using either the Enrollment Application (for new accounts) or the Incoming Rollover Form (for existing accounts), you must provide us with a statement from the plan custodian showing the basis and earnings amounts in the 529 account at the time of distribution.

Complete our Enrollment Application Complete our Incoming Rollover Form

Anyone can contribute, not just the account owner. Ugift® makes it easy, and it’s a great way for family and friends to give something meaningful and long-lasting at birthdays, holidays, graduations and other milestone occasions. Here’s all you do:

• Log in to your MOST 529 account to get your unique Ugift code.
• Share your code with loved ones; Ugift can even help with invitations, social media posts, emails, even thank you cards. (Download, through the App Store or Google Play, the READYSAVE™ 529 app to share your code with a few clicks.)
• The contribution goes directly into your MOST 529 account. You don’t have to do a thing!

You can contribute by:

• Electronic bank transfer (onetime contributions in varying amounts from your checking or savings account).
• Recurring contributions (also known as automatic investment plan or AIP), which are set amounts moved from your checking or savings account on a regular basis.
• Payroll direct deposit (through participating employers only).
• Check (made payable to "MOST—Missouri's 529 Education Plan").
• Rollover from another 529 plan (not eligible for state tax deduction).
• Transfer from a Coverdell education savings account (ESA) or a Series EE or I U.S. savings bond.
• Transfer from a Uniform Gifts/Transfers to Minors Act (UGMA/UTMA) account.

Learn more about UGMA/UTMA accounts

We don't accept contributions made in cash or by credit card, third-party personal checks over $10,000, foreign checks not in U.S. dollars, checks dated more than 180 days prior to receipt, or postdated checks.

We also don't accept non-cash assets, such as mutual fund shares or other securities.

Note: Contact your tax advisor to find out the tax implications related to various contribution methods.

The plan charges an annualized asset-based management fee that currently ranges from 0.17% to 0.42%, depending on the portfolio(s) you choose. This may increase or decrease depending on the annualized asset-based management fee of the underlying funds.

There are no advisor fees or sales commissions, like those you may find in other types of plans.

No. The money in your account may be used at any eligible educational institution in the United States and abroad that qualifies under federal guidelines, including qualified apprenticeship programs. The money can also be used for tuition at K–12 public, private, and religious schools.

Find eligible apprenticeship jobs and programs

If a postsecondary school's been assigned a federal school code by the Department of Education, then it's an eligible institution under Section 529. This includes most public and private colleges and universities, graduate and postgraduate schools, community colleges, and certain trade and vocational schools.

View the federal school and campus codes

An eligible K–12 school is any public, private, or religious school that provides elementary or secondary education (kindergarten through grade 12).

Qualified higher education expenses include tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment, including computers, certain peripheral equipment, internet access, related services, and computer software, if the items are to be used primarily by the student during enrollment or attendance at any eligible postsecondary school in the United States or abroad; certain room and board expenses during academic periods in which the beneficiary is enrolled at least half-time; and certain expenses for students with special needs. Qualified expenses also include K–12 tuition of up to $10,000 per student per year in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school.

Qualified education expenses also include, fees, books, supplies, and equipment for certain apprenticeship programs and principal and interest on qualified student loan repayment expenses limited up to $10,000 lifetime per individual, for the Beneficiary or a sibling of the Beneficiary.³

Effective January 1, 2024, 529 account owners will be able to rollover savings from their 529 plan account into a Roth IRA without incurring any federal income tax or penalty. The Roth IRA must belong to the same beneficiary, and the lifetime rollover limit is $35,000. To be eligible, the 529 account must have been open for at least 15 years and the rollover amount must have been in the 529 account for 5 years.

529 to Roth IRA rollovers will also count toward annual Roth IRA contribution limits, but Roth IRA income limits do not apply for this type of contribution. For more information, please read the Program Description.

Withdrawals can be requested online, by phone, or by submitting a Withdrawal Request Form. Qualified withdrawals can be sent to the account owner, the beneficiary, or the educational institution.

Nonqualified withdrawals can be sent to the account owner or the beneficiary.

Learn more about making withdrawals Complete the Withdrawal Request Form

If your withdrawal request is received in good order prior to 4 p.m., Eastern time, on a day the New York Stock Exchange is open, it will be processed with that day's trade date. Withdrawals received in good order after the 4 p.m. cut-off time will receive the next business day's trade date.

For requests made online or by phone: If you request the proceeds by check, they will typically be mailed to the recipient within three business days after the trade date. Allow ten business days for the check to be received.

If you request that the proceeds be sent to you electronically, you'll need to have banking information set up 15 days prior to making the request.

For requests made by using the Withdrawal Request Form: A check will typically be mailed to the appropriate recipient within three business days after the trade date. Allow ten business days for the check to be received.

Note: No matter how you're receiving the proceeds, allow extra time if the money is being sent directly to the educational institution, as crediting the student's account may be delayed in periods of heavy volume.

Also keep in mind that during periods of market volatility and at year-end, withdrawal requests may take up to five business days to process.

The plan will generate a Form 1099-Q in January of the calendar year following a year in which there was a withdrawal from the account. The recipient of the 1099-Q will be either the account owner or the beneficiary, depending on who received the proceeds of the withdrawal.

Withdrawals sent to the account owner will be reported under the account owner's Social Security number. Withdrawals sent to the beneficiary or to an educational institution will be reported under the beneficiary's Social Security number, per IRS guidelines.

If that's the case, you have three options:

1. Stay invested. You can leave the money in the account in case the beneficiary decides to attend school later. There's no age limit for using the money.

2. Change the beneficiary. You can change the beneficiary on your account at any time, provided that the new beneficiary is an eligible family member of the original beneficiary

   To see a complete list of eligible family members, refer to the Program Description, Privacy Policy, and Participation Agreement. Read the Program Description
3. Withdraw the money for other uses. You can always access the balance in your 529 account, regardless of what happens with the beneficiary. If you withdraw for a non-qualified use, you’ll be taxed on just the earnings portion of your balance, plus a 10% penalty.

Exceptions to this 10% penalty include a withdrawal made because the beneficiary:

• Has passed away or become disabled.
• Received a scholarship, to the extent the withdrawal amount doesn't exceed the scholarship amount.
• Has enrolled in an eligible U.S. military academy, to the extent that the amount of the withdrawal doesn't exceed the value of the education. Eligible academies include the U.S. Military Academy, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, and Merchant Marine Academy.

Additionally, any accumulated earnings that are withdrawn from your account must also be reported on the recipient's income tax return for the year in which they're distributed, and you may owe federal, state, and local income taxes.

Contact your tax advisor to determine how to report a nonqualified withdrawal.

If you die with money remaining in your account, it won't be included in your estate for federal estate tax purposes.

However, if you choose to take advantage of the federal gift tax averaging option and you die within five years of contributing, a prorated portion of the contribution will be subject to estate tax. For more information, consult your tax advisor or estate-planning attorney.

Learn more about MOST 529 tax benefits

The plan permits the custodian to act as the account owner. During this period the beneficiary doesn't have control of the assets in the account. Once the beneficiary reaches the age of termination in their state, the custodian no longer can act on the account. A transfer of ownership must be done to transfer ownership to the former minor.

A custodian account owner may not select a new beneficiary (directly or by means of a rollover), except as permitted under UGMA/UTMA guidelines. When the custodianship terminates, the beneficiary is legally entitled to take control of the account and may become the account owner.

Additional contributions of money not previously gifted to the beneficiary under the UGMA/UTMA account should be made to a separate, noncustodial account, to allow the account owner to retain control of the separate account after the custodianship terminates.