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Features & benefits

Flexibility, control, and tax-deferred growth

A happy little girl reading a book in a library. The Scholar's Edge Cube is next to her.

Features & benefits

Scholar’s Edge combines the key benefits of a 529 savings plan with the key features you expect from Principal.

Key benefits of a 529 plan

Tax advantages

  • Tax deferred growth of investment earnings
  • Tax-free withdrawals for qualified expenses
  • Income tax deductions for certain states

Control

  • Apply funds toward a range of qualified higher education expenses
  • Control portfolio selection and distributions
  • Transfer account assets to another family member if the original beneficiary no longer needs the funds for college

Key features of the Scholar’s Edge 529 Plan

Investment solutions for your education needs

  • Deep asset allocation expertise – Principal is the largest provider of active, multi-managed target date funds in the United States
  • Robust and sophisticated glide path technology
  • Comprehensive range of investment options – 11 year of enrollment portfolios, 4 target risk portfolios, and 15 individual portfolio options
  • Capital preservation portfolio

Flexibility

We’ve improved Scholar’s Edge to make life’s important choices even easier, offering choice, value and peace of mind:

  • Comprehensive range of investment options
  • Low minimum investment with as little as $1
  • High maximum investment of $500,000 per beneficiary
  • No income limit – no matter your salary, you can start saving in the Scholar’s Edge 529 Plan
  • Online functionality, resources and tools to easily manage your account

Explore more resources

Tax advantages

Benefit from tax-deferred growth.

Ready to enroll?

Find out how to enroll in a Scholar’s Edge 529 Plan.