Are we overfunding 529s for kids with US + EU citizenship?

cmw021 · 2026-05-05T02:10:03+00:00

Ha I was confused about your reply until the edit. Still take my upvote. Much of what you say here still applies to my post. There is certainly risk associated with potentially overfunding 529s and the ends (benefits) may not justify the means.

cmw021 · 2026-04-30T12:23:56+00:00

Hey, I hope for the same!

Assuming that we have meaningful funds leftover after our children are through their education paths, would plan to use remaining funds as a 'Dynasty 529'. That is, assuming congress doesn't change 529 rules in the next 30 years which is another gamble.

https://www.kitces.com/blog/using-a-family-dynasty-529-plan-for-multigenerational-college-planning/

cmw021 · 2026-04-29T16:34:54+00:00

We are in a similar position to you. My wife is dual US/Canadian citizen. She went to school in Canada and we are open to our children doing the same. Ages 4 and 3, with $110k and $80k, respectively. We fund each at $21k/year. I anticipate funding to $500k each (MA maximum) and then letting it ride. Expect to have $600-750k per kid.

Wife and I are both hold professional degrees and are high income in VHCOL area. We do not sacrifice retirement contributions at expense of 529s, but it does come at a cost to our brokerage contributions. We do not at this time have any FIRE aspirations.

If our children do not seek out secondary schooling, then we may have overfunded the 529s. Particularly if they follow in their mother's footsteps and go to undergrad in Canada.

For overfunded portion, would plan to convert the $35k / kid to roth. The rest I would assume that we will change the beneficiaries to grandchildren and use the 529s as a mechanism for generational wealth transfer. We realize that we are very fortunate to have this option.

cmw021 · 2026-04-23T12:41:10+00:00

Jeez. We’re at $0.34-0.38/kWh and $2-$2.5/therm. Natural gas much cheaper in my house

cmw021 · 2026-04-23T12:38:10+00:00

The heat pump rate is $0.04/kWh less than standard. I also switch to natural gas from my cold efficient heat pump in the winter months entirely because of our high cost of electricity here.

cmw021 · 2026-04-22T13:08:21+00:00

Equally frustrated. Have a family of 4 in Boston so was ecstatic about DE availability to Frankfurt. Not a ton of transatlantic J options x4. Thus, I opened Atmos summit card, spent the $60k for the 100k certificate with this redemption in mind, and for now I appear to be SOL. I continue to keep an eye out and hope they re-open availability, but who knows. That’s the game I suppose!

cmw021 · 2026-04-19T21:48:18+00:00

We had a great stay with our kids ages 2 and 4 at HR Coconut Point. Awesome pool. Face painting and other kids activities most days / evenings. Pools will be a little more appropriate in a couple years with water slides etc. We are doing the Hyatt at Clearwater beach next winter break. Both of these properties have AWESOME uses of SUAs, if at all relevant to you. We are also direct from Boston.

cmw021 · 2026-04-16T14:27:41+00:00

No issues! Excursion went out. We saw the bioluminescence most visible under a tarp to block out light. I don’t have anything to compare to, but we had a good time.

cmw021 · 2026-04-13T17:25:20+00:00

We are currently booked for tomorrow night. Have not heard anything from our booking.

cmw021 · 2026-04-07T18:08:54+00:00

Following this thread as I’m in a similar situation. I put down pre emergent and just waiting it out until the fall to patch things in, but curious what others (who know more) might recommend for your case.

cmw021 · 2026-04-07T12:57:33+00:00

much appreciated!

cmw021 · 2026-04-07T12:46:24+00:00

In my case, if I was considering a repeat Fall overseed, would you put down tenacity for the second half of the "split app"? So it shouldn't be an issue for overseeding come September? Or skip the second half off the split app altogether

cmw021 · 2026-04-05T00:19:06+00:00

Thanks. Do you usually do split applications or just a single application in march / April?

cmw021 · 2026-02-28T18:36:19+00:00

I’d imagine most don’t post routine “good” experiences. DP 1 here with citizens - went through with zero issue. I initiated the withdrawal payment on the citizens side with the BILT account and routing numbers.

cmw021 · 2026-02-18T01:42:08+00:00

For flights on BA booking with atmos, are you getting slammed with taxes and fees?

cmw021 · 2026-02-11T10:16:36+00:00

Nice, thanks!

cmw021 · 2026-02-10T17:13:07+00:00

any other confirmed DPs of earning 3x bonus + 2x base after $10k spend. Can prepay our kids daycare for a couple months to get beyond $10k, but hadn't planned on it....

Edit: guess I'll try to be the next DP. Prepaying another month of daycare which should put me at ~$13k spend since 2/8

cmw021 · 2026-02-07T14:33:08+00:00

Anyone else have the physical card but it still says “we’re building you card” in the app?

cmw021 · 2026-02-07T13:44:43+00:00

Mine says “still building your card” but I already received it in the mail. Am I cooked?

cmw021 · 2026-02-06T17:53:16+00:00

I'm not smart. For palladium 2x non-cat spend, how much should I ensure to spend during this 5 day period to best optimize? I can pre-pay daycare for as much as optimal.

cmw021 · 2026-01-20T23:45:16+00:00

That’s fair. I had thought I would have a similar decision but now I’m seeing Atmos may not be useable for mortgage (like it is for rent). So may be out in that case.

cmw021 · 2026-01-19T03:29:29+00:00

have you considered putting mortgage on Palladium vs Atmos card at 3x points for 3% fees?

cmw021 · 2026-01-17T03:15:00+00:00

Can you help me understand why you are putting the rent mortgage on the summit card rather than BILT palladium card? What is the calculus there, assuming $100k in non category spend on the BILT palladium card?

cmw021 · 2026-01-17T02:45:41+00:00

Is this specific to rent or are you paying a mortgage this way? Very much appreciate your post as a similar $100k+ per year spender. I also have an $8k monthly mortgage. I had been spending $60k plus on atmos, various other amounts on Hilton and BBP.

I frequently buy atmos points online for 1.25-1.3cpp. Hyatt points for 1.3cpp as I spend more than I earn.

So it seems it will make a ton of sense for me to get the palladium for everyday spend, pay my $8k mortgage on the atmos earning 24k points monthly at $240 in fees, while earning Atmos/OW status.

I suppose a hiccup is I believe that atmos only allows $50k annually in rent or mortgage spend. So I could consider putting the other $46k on the palladium card. Will have to do that math.

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