Mississippians looking to save money on future education or career training expenses now face smaller fees when opening a state-run investment account.
State Treasurer David McRae announced that fees have declined by 20% for Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) plans. The fee was charged to plan holders to cover management costs, but McRae said an investment transition his team undertook has now reduced the fares significantly.
“I hate fees,” McRae said on Mornings with Richard Cross. “Whether it’s with a bank or anybody, and it’s something I wrestle with all the time at the treasury. I’ve done it over the last seven years — getting fees down in everything we do to nothing.”
MACS is a state-sponsored 529 plan managed by McRae’s team at the treasury. The plan operates like a tax-advantaged savings account for qualified learning expenses.
“It can be used for almost anything you want that you could think of. That includes school, tuition, room, board, parking,” McRae said, adding that funds can also be used for teachers to purchase supplies. “All these kids are going back to school. They have things to buy, but things get more and more expensive, especially tuition.”
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It takes $25 to start a MACS plan. When one puts money into an account, they are able to choose from a selection of target-enrollment, risk-based, or capital-preservation portfolios where their money is invested to grow over time.
McRae has raved about the plan and noted that he is rarely met with qualms about it. However, the primary subject of the few complaints the treasurer said he’s received were the fees that came with MACS. By reducing these fees by 20%, McRae believes he’s being a better steward of Mississippians’ money and more responsible with a program aimed at helping people afford education-related costs.
“One of the biggest complaints I got about the MACS plan, which I don’t get many complaints about it, but the only complaint I really got about it was the service fees that were done with it,” McRae said. “When I could find a way to reduce those fees for Mississippians who want to send their kids to college or a technical trading school … I would do it. And that’s what we’ve done by reducing fees by 20%.”