Help to prevent garnishment of children’s college savings?
I have 3-4 credit cards judgments against me, all purchased by an aggressive collection agency (legal firm). After divorce, I live paycheck to paycheck and have 6-7 checking accounts and keep less than 0 in each. They have the Sheriff collect on BofA about once per month. My question-is there somewhere I can save money for my two children in my current marriage so I can build college savings? I don’t care about money for me, I just need to get them through college (ages 3 and 7). I do not have money to speak to a professional, but maybe some help here and a pointer to the best book on how to protect assets against garnishments. I do not have a house, no longer own anything of value. I cannot pay off all the debt, interest, and fees required of the collector and cannot afford any payments. I must remain under their radar until I can save for college. Small cashier checks hidden at work will not grow until I can invest them. I hope someone can help. Thank you in advance.
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Tagged with: assets • bofa • Cashier • cashier checks • checking accounts • college savings • Credit Cards • debt interest • divorce • Garnishment • garnishments • i don t care • judgments • marriage • money • Paycheck • paycheck to paycheck • pointer • radar • S College
Filed under: How To Save A Marriage
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You can open a college 529 plan in your child’s name. The Iowa one has Vanguard as their accounts and is probably the best one.
You do not have to go to a school in Iowa to use it either.
You can set it up in their name and you should be good to go.
But you have profound financial problems, and you do need some professional help. I would start with negotiating the balance. The problem though is it sounds like you ignored them long enough to take legal action.
The truth is most debt agencies buy debt. Meaning they buy someone else’s debt for 40-50 cents on the dollar. So as long as they collect 60-80% of the debt, they are happy. This often means you can cut your debt by at least 10-20% if you challenge the amount.
But it is likely too late for that.
If you really want to accumulate money, you need to generate cash that can be put into a cashiers check or money order and sent to the 529 plan. The Iowa plan accepts as low as $20 and it doesn’t have to be regular payments.
Either way you need some damage control. I see it over and over again. Parents with lots of debt raise kids who generate tons of debt. You need to pay up and show your kids how to pay off debt and save for the future. They will learn by your example.
The best thing you can do? Ask for contributions from family in leiu of Birthday and Christmas presents. They can write checks that get deposited into the kids accounts. This also helps protect kids in case of divorce.
Its sad to see kids drop out of college because parents fight over who pays and the college fund had been raided years before. You’ll never see a kid more bitter towards their parents.
Put it in a trust under their name. That will keep it safe.