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Investment Options
Program Features | Investment Options | Tax Benefits | Frequently Asked Questions
Important: Before you choose your investments, read the Program Brochure and Tuition Savings Agreement to learn about the objective, strategy, and risks of each option.
New York's 529 College Savings Program Direct Plan offers a comprehensive lineup of 15 investment options—three age-based options (conservative, moderate,
and aggressive) and 12 individual portfolios. You may choose up to five investment options per account. All of
the investment options are managed by Vanguard. (Although 529 Plans allow you to reallocate your account once per calendar year, you may change the direction of your future investments at any time.)
Learn more about choosing an investment strategy, or to assess your risk tolerance, use Vanguard's
Asset Allocation Questionnaire. Although 529 Plans allow you to reallocate your account once per calendar year, you may change the direction of your future investments at any time.
Age-based options (three choices)
This may be the simplest way to save for college. When you select any of the age-based options, your assets will be managed according to the age of the beneficiary and your risk tolerance through a series of custom investment portfolios. In general, for younger beneficiaries, your assets will be invested initially in portfolios with higher concentrations of stocks. As the beneficiary ages, your assets are automatically shifted to portfolios with higher concentrations of bonds and short-term investments to help protect your capital and reduce market risk before you begin making withdrawals.
As the table below shows, for most age groups, the Conservative Age-Based Option has a higher concentration of assets in bonds or short-term investments than the Moderate Age-Based Option. The same is true for the Moderate Age-Based Option in comparison with the Aggressive Age-Based Option. Portfolios with higher allocations in bonds and short-term investments tend to be less volatile than those with higher stock allocations. Less volatile portfolios generally will not decline as far when markets go down, but also will not appreciate in value as much when markets go up.
The following table outlines the age-based options:
| Age of Beneficiary |
Conservative Option |
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Moderate Option |
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Aggressive Option |
| 5 or younger |
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| 6 through 10 |
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| 11 through 15 |
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| 16 through 18 |
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| 19 or older |
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You can find additional information about each of the portfolios in the age-based options in
the Individual portfolios section below.
Individual portfolios
Choose from among 12 individual portfolios if you wish to be more aggressive or more conservative than the age-based options allow. The individual portfolios offer investment choices of stock funds, bond funds, balanced funds, and an interest accumulation option. Each portfolio, in turn, invests your contributions in one or more investments managed by Vanguard.
Unlike the age-based options, the asset allocations of the individual portfolios remain fixed over time until you instruct the Program to change it.
The following table outlines the individual portfolios:
| Investment Options |
Investment Objectives |
Underlying Investments |
| Stock Portfolios |
| Aggressive Growth Portfolio |
Seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of the overall stock market.
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Vanguard® Total Stock Market Index Fund (100%).
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| Growth Stock Index Portfolio |
Seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization growth stocks.
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Vanguard® Growth Index Fund (100%).
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| Mid-Cap Stock Index Portfolio |
Seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of mid-capitalization stocks.
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Vanguard® Mid-Cap Index Fund (100%).
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| Small-Cap Stock Index Portfolio |
Seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of small-capitalization stocks.
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Vanguard® Small-Cap Index Fund (100%).
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| Value Stock Index Portfolio |
Seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization value stocks.
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Vanguard® Value Index Fund (100%).
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| Balanced Portfolios |
| Conservative Growth Portfolio |
Seeks current income and low to moderate growth of capital.
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Vanguard® Total Bond Market Index Fund (65%) and Vanguard® Total Stock Market Index Fund (35%).
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| Growth Portfolio |
Seeks growth of capital and low to moderate current income.
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Vanguard® Total Stock Market Index Fund (65%) and Vanguard® Total Bond Market Index Fund (35%).
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| Moderate Growth Portfolio |
Seeks growth of capital and current income.
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Vanguard® Total Stock Market Index Fund (50%) and Vanguard® Total Bond Market Index Fund (50%).
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| Bond Portfolios |
| Bond Market Index Portfolio |
Seeks to track the performance of a broad, market-weighted bond index.
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Vanguard® Total Bond Market Index Fund (100%).
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| Income Portfolio |
Seeks current income.
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Vanguard® Total Bond Market Index Fund (50%), Vanguard® Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (25%),
and Vanguard® Short-Term Reserves Account (25%).
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| Inflation-Protected Securities Portfolio |
Seeks to provide inflation protection and income consistent with investment in inflation-indexed securities.
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Vanguard® Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (100%).
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| Short-Term Investments Portfolio |
| Interest Accumulation Portfolio |
Seeks income consistent with the preservation of principal.
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Vanguard® Short-Term Reserves Account (100%).
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