Stacy Garrity, a businesswoman, retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and gubernatorial candidate, is currently Pennsylvania’s state treasurer. As treasurer, she is the custodian of more than $180 billion in state assets and leads the efforts to return more than $5 billion in unclaimed property to Pennsylvanians. She also oversees Treasury’s savings programs, including the PA 529 College and Career Savings Program, Keystone Scholars and PA ABLE. Learn more at patreasury.gov.
Employers don’t just provide a paycheck; they can be a vital resource to help employees make smart money decisions and improve their financial security. This can be done by sharing information about the PA 529 College and Career Savings Program and PA ABLE — a savings program for Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Businesses can even help boost employees’ savings in these programs and reap their own tax benefit.
Pennsylvania businesses who make matching contributions to an employee’s PA 529 or PA ABLE account to aid in education or disability savings are eligible for a 25-percent tax credit on the total amount of matching contributions (up to $500 per employee) during a tax year.
For example, if an employer makes $500 in matching contributions to 10 employees’ PA 529 accounts, the employer’s tax credit is 25 percent of $5,000 — or $1,250.
Helping employees save for their future or the future of their families shows commitment to the workforce beyond just the workday and supports the next generation of Pennsylvanians.
PA 529
PA 529 accounts help families save and pay for education expenses at many technical and career schools, community colleges, four-year universities, apprenticeship and credential programs, as well as K–12 expenses. There are two plans that families can choose from — the PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan (GSP) and the Morningstar Gold-Rated PA 529 Investment Plan (IP).
The PA 529 IP has earned three consecutive Gold Ratings from Morningstar — naming it one of the top 529 plans in the nation. The PA 529 GSP lets families save at today’s tuition rates to cover tomorrow’s tuition expenses.
PA ABLE
PA ABLE is the fifth largest ABLE program in the country and helps Pennsylvanians with disabilities and their families to save money for disability-related expenses without impacting important benefits — which was extremely difficult, if not impossible to do before ABLE programs. PA ABLE can be used to help save and pay for day-to-day disability-related expenses including groceries, housing, healthcare and bigger expenses such as assistive technology and vehicle and home modifications.
I encourage businesses across the state to learn more about how they can benefit from this tax credit, and how they can empower their employees to save for a secure future for themselves and their families using tools like PA 529 and PA ABLE. Businesses can also offer employees’ direct deposit options to these programs through payroll.
Additional Help
Another easy way to support employees is to help them claim a Keystone Scholars account belonging to their child. This Treasury program provides a $100 scholarship at birth for Pennsylvanians born in 2019 and after to jumpstart education savings. Businesses and organizations can help employees with the claiming process and go even farther by considering a PA 529 gift card or taking advantage of the tax credit and matching contribution to a family’s connected PA 529 account. My team at Treasury is always available to help share more information or resources for your staff on any of these programs.
Investing in your employees and their families by helping them save for education and disability expenses shows that you believe in their future not just with your company, but far beyond. Supporting the unique needs and education of your employees’ children is an investment in their future and workforce development that will benefit the entire Commonwealth.
Our state needs highly skilled workers now and that need continues to rise. Empowering families to save for the future to help themselves or their children get the training they’ll need for these jobs is something our businesses can have a big hand in.
I encourage Pennsylvania’s business leaders to learn more about how they can make a major impact on their employees, their families and the entire Commonwealth by providing matching contributions for education and disability savings. Your support of families’ PA 529 savings will empower the next generation of our workforce to get the training and education they’ll need to keep Pennsylvania a competitive business environment. Supporting PA ABLE will enhance financial security and independence for employees with disabilities.
