Baby Arrival Brief · Week 9

The 529 decision: Vanguard vs. Bright Start, with real numbers

Monday, November 23 – Sunday, November 29, 2026 · Thanksgiving week

16 days to Dec 9 ≈ week 38 Freezer batch 2

⚖️ Decisions due

529 plan: Vanguard or Bright Start. The account can't open until the baby has an SSN, but the decision happens now — so the January account opening is a 20-minute errand, not a research project with a newborn. Due: Sunday, Nov 29.

This week's actions

Decide Vanguard vs. Bright Start

Read the deep dive, run your own numbers, decide. Record the decision + reasoning in one paragraph (you'll thank yourself at tax time). Execution waits for the SSN — the account literally cannot open before then.

LevDue Sun, Nov 29

Freezer batch 2

Cook day — Wednesday, Nov 25 (before Thanksgiving). Same format as batch 1: another 10–14 portions in Souper Cubes, labeled. Combined with batch 1, that's roughly a month of dinners you don't have to think about.

Lev + BlairWed, Nov 25

Confirm the family-help schedule for weeks 1–2

Who's on which days after the birth — names, dates, arrival times. Align with the night-nurse schedule (booked Nov 6) so coverage overlaps sensibly instead of doubling up. Share the final calendar with both families before the holiday weekend scatters everyone.

Lev + BlairDue Sun, Nov 29

Toby's final prep

Confirm the hospital-days caregiver one more time (name, keys, feeding schedule, vet info — from the Nov 2 plan), stock his food, and print the vet's number for the emergency sheet. A calm, well-exercised sheepadoodle handles a new baby's arrival much better than a surprised one.

LevDue Sun, Nov 29

Deep dive · Vanguard vs. Bright Start 529 — the real numbers

One constraint first: the account cannot open until the baby has a Social Security number. So this week's job is the decision; January's job is the paperwork. Grandparents contribute later via Ugift either way.

The two contenders

	Vanguard 529 (Nevada)	Bright Start (Illinois, direct-sold)
Total expenses	0.12%–0.37%; target-enrollment portfolios ~0.13–0.14%	0.06%–0.785%; index/enrollment-year tracks at the low end (~0.06–0.13%)
Industry context	Vanguard reports its average 529 expense ratio at 0.14% vs. 0.46% industry average	Morningstar Gold-rated plan
Minimums/fees	$1,000 to open (out-of-state); no maintenance fee	No application or maintenance fees; low/no minimum
Illinois tax deduction	None	Up to $10k single / $20k married filing jointly of contributions deductible
Grandparent gifts	Ugift — $50 minimum per gift	Ugift-compatible via the ReadySave app

The Illinois deduction, in dollars

Illinois taxes income at a flat 4.95%. Maxing the deduction saves:

$495/year on $10,000 of contributions (single filer)
$990/year on $20,000 of contributions (married filing jointly)

That's real money every year you contribute — and it applies only to Illinois plans like Bright Start. Vanguard's Nevada plan gets you nothing at the state level.

The fee difference, in dollars

The expense gap between the two plans' cheapest tracks is tiny — on the order of 0.05% or less on comparable index portfolios. On a $50,000 balance, that's ~$25/year of extra fee drag. The Illinois deduction ($495–$990/year) outweighs the fee difference by roughly 20–40× for an Illinois taxpayer contributing meaningfully.

Gift-tax context (for grandparents and superfunding)

2026 annual gift-tax exclusion: $19,000 per donor per recipient — a grandparent can give $19k/year with no filing.
Five-year superfunding election: $95,000 per donor ($190,000 for a couple splitting gifts) front-loaded in year one.

Decision framework

Choose Bright Start if: you want the Illinois deduction — for most Illinois taxpayers contributing $10k+/year, the $495–$990 annual tax savings dominates everything else. Morningstar Gold, low fees, no minimums.
Choose Vanguard if: one-login simplicity with your existing Vanguard accounts matters more to you than ~$1k/year in state tax savings, and grandparents will use Ugift heavily (Vanguard's Ugift flow is the most battle-tested).
Split: some families hold Bright Start for the deductible contributions and Vanguard for grandparent Ugift overflow. More accounts, more complexity — only worth it if the gift flow is large.

Not tax advice — but the arithmetic above is the whole decision. For an Illinois family planning steady contributions, Bright Start's deduction is very hard to beat. Record your choice and the reasoning; open the account in January once the SSN arrives, then share the Ugift code with the grandparents.