Categories
finance

Some questions about 529 plan

I got those questions from a reader:
Why there is no national 529 plan? Looking at some states plan, it’s pretty much mutual funds like 401k, the investment return is like S&P? Why bother (consider S&P return is so low)?

I am not expert on this, I think why each state has a plan is pretty much why each employer (or most employers) has a 401k plan. The main purpose for such as plan is this: 1) Save some money for future liability (retirement or college tuition); 2) Hopefully the money can grow with the power of compound interest (snow ball effect); The tax deferral (in the case of 401k) or tax deduction (most 529 plans) are just ice on the cake.

As to why there is no national plan and federal tax deduction, I think this partially explained by college savings is still very small compared to retirement savings. Another indicator is the sales (or willingness for people to pay) my iPhone retirement savings/college savings app. Basically I gave away college savings calculator there because very few people are willing to pay 99 cents.

A side note: most people think spx (S&P index) is just boring, and some people think their retirement savings investments can grow 20% year over year. I think those people are too optimistic about their future. WSJ has an excellent article “The other midlife crisis” which explains why people expectations on income growth and retirement investment return are unrealistic.
Retirement income picture (via WSJ)

Categories
iPhone app

Announcing iPhone app myNestEgg ~ the retirement calculator

iTune store link here.

myNestEgg_iTune_store_2010-09-17

Product support page here.

What is it (myNestEgg)?
myNestEgg is a retirement (savings/income) calculator iPhone app. It runs on iOS 3.1.2 or later.

How much does it cost?
99 cents in the US (Apple tier 1 price, CA$0.99 GB£0.59 EU0.79 € AU$1.19 NZ$1.29 etc.)

Any special promotion for new product launch?

Categories
iPhone app

Looking for a few good reviewers and bloggers for iPhone app

I am looking for a few good reviewers and bloggers for my 1st iPhone app, myNestEgg ~ the retirement calculator. Here are a few basic requirements for the reviewer/blogger:

1) An iPhone, iPod Touch, or an iPad device with iOS 3.1.2 or above.

2) Has an iPhone app review site or a personal finance blog web site. More importantly, are willing to try out my app and write independent reviews.

How to get the app?
The app is at “Wait for review” stage. I can build ad hoc version of the app and send it to you (about 500k). Email me if you are interested. My email address is .

Categories
iPhone app

Submit my 1st iPhone iOS app, wait for review

After I initially upload myNestEgg (Aug 30 night), I did couple “developer reject” to add data persistence (Aug 31), and correct icon matching problem (Sept 7). It’s still in the “Wait for review” as of this writing.

Interestingly today Apple announced some change of iOS app license agreement, and put up a new App Store Review guidelines. One needs the iOS developer program to read the full content. But one can always read that from google news (I personally like what arstechnica has to say).

BTW, I found this Apple iOS App Store submission tips to be helpful. And this thread How long “waiting for review” to be fun. Per this thread, I should start working on the next app. Or start port my app to Android?