Give the Gift of Education
Contributions towards a child’s college savings make the perfect gift for holidays, special occasions, birthdays, baby showers and important milestones. Friends and family can make gift contributions to help a beneficiary’s account grow. Education is a gift that truly lasts a lifetime!
DreamAhead Account Owners
Do you want to invite family and friends to contribute to your student's GET account?
Create a Gifting Page
- Sign in: Click the gifting link on your account overview page.
- Customize your page: Choose if want to share progress you've made toward your goal.
- Review & Publish: Preview your Gifting page and click on "Go Live" if everything looks good.
- Share your Gifting page: you'll get a direct link to send to friends and family or post on social media.
- Receive Contributions: You'll get an email notification every time someone makes a gift contribution to your account.
Suggest a Gift
To ask family and friends to contribute to your student's DreamAhead account by mail or in person you can customize and print a paper copy of our Suggest a Gift Invitation.
Family and Friend Gift Contributions
Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and even friends can make gift contributions to a child's 529 education savings account. WA529 offers three simple ways for friends and family to give.
- The account owner must create a gifting page for the student beneficiary and send you link to get started.
- Click on the link sent to you by the account owner.
- Follow the instructions online to make a direct contribution to the student's account. (Minimum of $5.00)
- Online gifting is limited to $15,000 per transaction. (If you want to contribute more than that amount, you can fill out a Gift form.)
- Mail your payment to: DreamAhead College Investment Plan, P.O. Box 534421, Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4421
- Include the DreamAhead account number on the check or money order (Minimum of $5.00).
- You can customize a Gift Certificate below or use a basic payment certificate available on the forms page.
- Enrollment is open year-round.
- Visit our Get Started page to learn more.
- Open a new account through our secure online portal.
If you have any questions about gifting to a student's DreamAhead account or need assistance, please call the DreamAhead Contact Center at 844.529.5845.
Create a Gift Certificate
Creating a Gift Certificate to go with your gift contribution is easy! Download a certificate. Fill in the details, print and cut in two. Mail the top half of the certificate to the DreamAhead Investment Program with your payment. Present the lower half to the gift recipient.
Attend a Gifting Webinar
Learn more details about gifting options, complete with time for questions and answers. Gifting webinars are a great resource to answer questions you may have about the gifting process. Visit on our WA529 Knowledge Cafe page to register for a date and time.
How will gift contributions to a GET or DreamAhead account affect taxes?
Savings in any 529 plan account are generally considered completed gifts for federal estate and gift tax purposes.
If your contributions, together with any other gifts to the Beneficiary (over and above those made to your Account), do not exceed $18,000 per year ($36,000 for married couples making a proper election), those contributions will qualify for the annual exclusion from gift tax for that year. Gifts of up to $90,000 can be made in a single year ($180,000 for married couples making a proper election) for a Beneficiary and you may elect to apply the contribution against the annual exclusion equally over a five-year period. This allows you to move assets into tax-deferred investments and out of your estate more quickly.
If you die with assets still remaining in your Account, the Account’s value will generally not be included in your estate for federal estate tax purposes, unless you elect the five-year averaging and die before the end of the fifth year. If your Beneficiary dies, and assets remain in your Account, the value of your Account may be included in the Beneficiary’s estate for federal tax purposes. Further rules regarding gifts and the generation-skipping transfer tax may apply in the case of distributions, changes of Beneficiaries, and other situations. The state law treatment of gift and estate taxes varies so you should check with your tax advisor for the specific effect of federal and state (if any) gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax on your situation.