You can now help a loved one save for college or a career in PA with crypto currency – Tri-State Alert

HARRISBURG- Retirement plans have becoming incredibly diverse in recent years. Gold-backed IRAs, crypto-based savings and investment strategies, and more have graduated from fringe options to standard offerings.

If you’re looking at trying to save for college or you or a loved one’s care in future years in Pennsylvania, your options are expanding as to how you can make contributions for already successful plans

Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced this week that Pennsylvanians saving with the PA 529 College and Career Savings Program and PA ABLE Savings Program can now contribute to their accounts using digital gift cards purchased with cryptocurrency, making Pennsylvania the first state to provide this type of modernization for a state-administered education savings program.

“I am incredibly proud that Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to partner with Gift of College and Bead to offer PA 529 and PA ABLE savers the opportunity to use cryptocurrency to help them reach their financial goals. By expanding the way people can chose to save, we are making our programs more accessible and more flexible than ever before – it’s an honor to lead the way in innovative solutions for Pennsylvania families.”

 Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity

Treasury partners with Gift of College to offer gift card options that are redeemable by PA 529 and PA ABLE account owners. Through the Gift of College platform, cryptocurrency and digital assets can be used to purchase digital gift cards using Bead – a digital payments network that enables businesses to accept digital assets and digital wallets while seamlessly receiving U.S. dollars.

With the help of Bead and Gift of College, parents, grandparents, friends and family can use digital and traditional currency to fund future education and disability related expenses for someone in their life. Gift contributions may be deducted from gift givers’ Pennsylvania state income tax returns.

PA 529 has helped families steadily and strategically save in a tax-advantaged way for a wide variety of qualifying technical, collegiate, apprenticeship, credential and K-12 educational expenses for over 30 years. Assets in PA 529 accounts do not impact eligibility for Pennsylvania state financial aid.

For more information about gift cards for PA 529 and PA ABLE, visit pa529.com/gift or paable.gov/gift.

Treasury also recently announced the availability of physical gift cards at Turkey Hill locations statewide that are redeemable in PA 529 and PA ABLE accounts – with more retail outlets being added by the end of the year.