What the candidates for state treasurer have to say about MO$T:
Wants to establish a public/private partnership for MO$T, where private institutions offer vouchers worth $25 to newly adopted and newborn children in the state, which can be used to open a MO$T savings account.
Wants to provide options to invest in 529 plans
offered by a variety of money managers, such as IRAs.
Would like to increase publicity of MO$T so as to have 250,000 accounts set up by 2010. He also wants to investigate using more than one investment manager.
Republicans
Wants to require participating banks to offer scholarships for low-income students who want to go to college.
Would work with the legislature to ensure that, as tuition costs rise, more money is available for families sending kids to college.
Wants the program to expand to include savings
accounts for secondary education, such as private and parochial schools. He also wants to examine the possibility of using more than one management plan, giving people more than one option for college savings and the opportunity to be responsible for their own accounts.
Wants to initiate quarterly reporting on the funds and get management advice from professional financial advisors without political agendas.
Would like to allow other investment firms to manage the plans as long as they maintained certain
requirements. She also wants to ensure a full fee disclosure, so participants know the maximum amount managers can charge for utilizing their services.
Wants accounts to be portable like IRAs, and people saving for college should have the option to use their own brokers to manage accounts.
Although, he says he is not totally familiar with the program, he would recommend to the legislature that tax deductions are provided for people who intend to use their savings for Missouri educational institutions.