FAQs

You may have to pay income taxes, plus an additional 10% federal tax and a state tax on the earnings portion of any withdrawal for a non-qualified expense. 

To contribute online, first make sure the recipient has their gifting page available. Then, use their gifting page link to fill out the fields as directed — it’s the usual information like your name, address, the amount you want to contribute, how you’ll fund the contribution, and the occasion for your gift.

When a gift contribution has finished processing, you’ll get an email letting you know someone contributed to your account. All processed gift contributions will also appear in your activity feed. Please keep in mind, any gift contributions made through an online gifting page will not be available for withdrawal for 10 business days.

No. There are no fees for making gift contributions.

No problem. You can delete it anytime you want, and the contributions that have previously been gifted (including pending contributions) will stay in the account.

Just sign into your account, go to the Overview tab, and click on the gifting module. Select “Edit this page” and then click “Delete this page.” Once you’ve deleted your gifting page, you’ll be able to set up a gifting page again in the future if you want.

Once you’ve set up your gifting page, anyone who has a link can contribute towards your goal.

Gift contributions do count toward your yearly contribution limit. So, if you’ve already reached the limit, your page will remain public, but no one can contribute again until next year.

Anyone can make contributions to your account to help you reach your goals.

For easier gifting, family and friends can create a gifting profile to save their banking information  and have their own personal dashboard with easy access to review their gifting history and receipts.

Creating a gifting profile

1. Go to the unique gifting page and click on “Make a contribution”

2. Check the box to “Create a gifting profile” 

3. Enter your banking details and information as usual

4. Create a login after completing your gift and verify your email

Anyone who sends a gift can set up recurring contributions—for birthdays, holidays, or just because—and save their information in a convenient gifting profile to streamline future gifting.

How to set up recurring gifts:

1. Sign in to your gifting profile

2. Select the recipient you would like to send a gift to

3. Choose the amount and frequency you would like your recurring gifts to be

4. Review and complete your gift

In some cases there are restrictions on how soon you can access the funds. If a contribution is made by check, EFT, or “Automated Investment Plan” AIP (and assuming all are in good order), the approval of a distribution of that contribution from the account will be deferred for five (5) business days after the deposit. For gift contributions, the hold period is ten (10) business days. 

Please note that there will be a hold placed on distribution requests for thirty-five (35*) calendar days after any of the following occur:  

• complete an initial enrollment in VT529; 

• you change your banking information; or 

• you change your address. 

*Initial contribution is subject to five (5) business day hold on withdrawals after deposit. Additionally, there is a 10 day hold for manually added bank accounts and 5 days for bank accounts added via Plaid. Lastly, any time you submit a change of address, a fifteen (15) calendar day hold applies.