The Hartford Enhances WV 529 College Savings Program

The changes include a new relationship with Upromise Investments, including an enhanced account management platform with Ugift – Give College Savings and the Upromise service; and the introduction of new age-bands in the age-based portfolios for the SMART529 plans.   

According to the announcement, the addition of Upromise Investments as the account management platform for plans administered by The Hartford gives financial advisers and account owners an interface to monitor and make changes to their college savings plans. Account owners also will have the opportunity to increase their college savings through two programs: Ugift and the Upromise service.   

Ugift allows account owners to invite family and friends to celebrate a child’s birthday or other milestones with a gift contribution to a SMART529 account.   

Upromise is a service that helps families earn money towards college from everyday spending such as buying gas and groceries, dining out and shopping online. When Upromise and SMART529 accounts are linked, the earnings are automatically transferred on a periodic basis to become college savings. Families and friends can help by joining Upromise and directing their savings to the Upromise account of another member.   

The Hartford SMART529 and SMART529 WV Direct have also realigned the age-bands within the age-based portfolios and increased the number of age-bands to five from four.   

The lineup now includes: 

• The Hartford SMART529 Age-Based Portfolio 0-8; 
• The Hartford SMART529 Age-Based Portfolio 9-13; 
• The Hartford SMART529 Age-Based Portfolio 14-15; 
• The Hartford SMART529 Age-Based Portfolio 16-17; and 
• The Hartford SMART529 Age-Based Portfolio 18+.