anZel/Arden

Archive for July, 2006

anZel’s going to Ohio

Written by jlz on July 16, 2006 – 10:37 am -

Last year way before anZel was born, we did a bit of research into saving for college.

Spent a bit more time the last couple of weeks doing more research into this area. We have finally decided that 529 college savings plans are probably the best way to go. The main reasons being

1. You can use the money for any public or private college
2. Earnings are tax deferred
3. You can transfer the money to a different beneficiary in case your first kid decides he doesn’t want to go to college
4. There are many plan choices, including fund choices as well as the state you can setup the plan
5. No penalty if you decide not to use the money for college (you do have to pay tax on the earnings though)

After much research into the 529 plans, we have decided to go with Ohio’s College Advantage plan. According to Saving For College, Ohio’s plan has the 5-cap ratings. We used the following criteria for comparison

1. fund selection
2. enrollment fee
3. account maintenance fee
4. program management fee

I’ve always liked Vanguard funds. They generally have the lowest management fees and above-average returns. So I was glad to see that Ohio’s plan had Vanguard funds. After comparing the various fees, Ohio turned out to have one of the lowest!

We also searched a bit and found the following links that offer 529 plan comparisons:

Note that Ohio’s not recommended by any of these comparisons. I have no idea why but maybe there were some changes to the Ohio plans after these comparisons that made it much more competitive.

So for now, this matter is settled.

Posted in Education, anZel | No Comments »

random photos

Written by jlz on July 8, 2006 – 1:30 pm -

Just some random photos from the last couple of days…

Little monk anZel?

Buddha (佛祖) anZel?

Student anZel?

anZel anZel?

Posted in Photos, anZel | 1 Comment »

anZel drooling

Written by jlz on July 3, 2006 – 6:58 pm -

Just a quick picture…anZel and I were playing airplane today (him laying on top of my shin as I lay on the floor, for tummy time)…he was looking around for a while and decided it was more fun to drool all over me…

Posted in Photos, anZel | No Comments »

anZel update…more pictures…

Written by jlz on July 2, 2006 – 7:48 pm -

anZel over the past couple of weeks have gotten a lot more interactive and fun to watch. He’s started to “try” to suck his thumbs, smile, and raise his heads. His neck is much stronger now and he can basically hold his head up for quite a long time.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment…

Wat ya lookin at?!