小記者訪問加州財長 John Chiang 江俊輝   詳談 ScholarShare 529 新計劃助低中收入家庭儲蓄大學學費

星期四早上,加州科學中心的太空穿梭機 Endeavor 號前聚集了一群充滿朝氣的小學生和不少傳媒記者,等待著加州財長 John Chiang 江俊輝和一眾嘉賓出席新聞發布會,宣布由加州財長辦公室與 ScholarShare 529 大學儲蓄計劃聯手推出的一項 Matching Grant Program 新計劃,協助低中收入家庭為子女大學教育展開儲蓄。

丫丫小記者 Matthew 也在記者席中,會後他更爭取機會與財長 John Chiang 面對面進行訪談,了解這項計畫的詳情。小記者第一次訪問活動的表現如何?大家一起來看看吧!

Can you imagine college already mostly paid for? Well, Scholarshare 529 allows you to do just that. Scholarshare 529 is one of the nation’s top performing college savings plans and the new program is used to help low- and moderate- income California families to jump-start saving for college. This Matching Grant Program helps families open a college savings account and counter rising tuition costs, one of the most significant obstacles to securing a higher education. According to State Treasurer John Chiang, chair of the ScholarShare Investment Board, “The wealth gap in our country is the widest it has been in 40 years and the ability to afford higher education is becoming increasingly difficult for low-  and moderate-income California Families.”

   On December 6, 2017, at the California Science Center, a group of 5th graders gathered together and were inspired by Treasurer Chiang by shooting for the stars just like the spaceship Endeavor right behind Mr. Chiang. “Instead of just putting money for certain types of ads, we wanted families to have that money and to build good financial habits by investing as frequently as they can, to set aside those dollars so that they can gather investment earnings so that when the young children become young adults and they go off to college, they can focus on studies and the college experience.” At the end of the interview, Treasurer Chiang stated that he is running for California governor in 2018.


sspc2

sspc4

Scholarshare Matching Grant Program

加州財長江俊輝推動 529 大學儲蓄計劃 協助中低收入家庭儲備大學教育資金

加州財長江俊輝與全國表現最佳的大學儲蓄計劃ScholarShare 529昨日聯手宣布一項新的計劃,協助低中收入家庭為子女大學教育展開儲蓄。

這項「匹配補助金計劃」(Matching Grant Program)將幫助家庭開設大學儲蓄帳戶,以抵銷學費的不斷上升。現時,學費上升是青年完成高等教育的最大障礙之一。

擔任ScholarShare投資委員會主席的江俊輝指出:「我們國家的貧富差距已經拉至40年來的最大,加州低收入和中等收入家庭負擔高等教育正變得越來越困難。」他指出,為了解決大學可負擔性,需要同時控制學費上漲和協助家庭儲蓄大學教育資金。

研究顯示,家庭擁有大學儲蓄帳戶的孩子,無論金額多寡,就讀大學並畢業的機率高出七倍。依據匹配補助金計劃,ScholarShare529鼓勵家庭開設529帳戶,使加州家庭有機會追求高等教育並打造更光明的未來。

該計劃提供不少彈性,資金可用於任何獲得認證的高等教育,包括社區大學和職技學校,以及其他獲得批准的教育開銷。而且,ScholarShare 529的帳戶儲蓄不會影響申領大多數州政府福利的資格,例如以工代賑(CalWORKS)和糧食券(CalFresh)。

最近的研究顯示,如果目前的趨勢持續下去,到了2030年加州大學畢業生人數將減少110萬。江俊輝表示,如果希望改善本州整體財務狀況並縮小勞動技能缺口,就應讓所有加州人都更容易上大學,無論收入高低。

匹配補助金計劃於2018年1月1日開始實施,為新開設的帳戶提供最高200元的匹配供款。家庭若設定每月25元以上的自動繳費計劃,即有資格獲得25元獎金。
符合條件的家長/監護人必須是加州居民,具有有效的社會安全號碼或聯邦稅號,同時調整後年收入不超過75,000元。有關此計劃的更多資訊,請至網站查詢:www.mgp.scholarshare529.com。
ScholarShare 529是加州在1999年創辦的官方大學儲蓄計劃,截至2017年10月止共有近30萬個帳戶及逾80億元資產。

Junior journalist Matt attended ScholarShare California’s 529 College Savings Plan Press Conference at California State Treasurer John Chiang announces the launch of its Match Grant Program to benefit more families and enable more kids to pursue their dreams

Image result for scholarshare 529 matching grant program california Science Centersspc1sspc5sspc3sspc6sspc7