CONNECTICUT

Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET)

Type: Savings

Phone: 888-799-2438

State tax deduction for residents: No deduction

Open to nonresidents: Yes

Refund provisions: Penalty of 10% of earnings

Minimum/maximum contributions: $25 / $235,000

This plan's conservative age-based portfolio (starting at 80% stocks for newborns and scaling back to 50/50 by age 8) lagged its peers in all age brackets over the past year. The fixed, all-stock portfolio also has lagged. There's an interest-bearing option with a 3% minimum.

Expenses in this TIAA-CREF plan are low, at 0.73% to 0.81%. Connecticut offers no state-tax deduction, but this is a solid plan that should appeal to cautious investors.

State College Savings Plans