The Growing Need for Strategic College Savings
The financial landscape of higher education presents a formidable challenge for most modern families. College tuition inflation has historically outpaced the general consumer price index by a significant margin. Parents often feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the projected costs for a four-year degree. You must act decisively and early to mitigate the burden of student loan debt. Every dollar saved today prevents the accumulation of crippling interest charges tomorrow. A dedicated savings vehicle protects your capital from immediate taxation while allowing it to grow steadily through market participation. State governments recognize this crisis and have developed targeted programs to encourage disciplined saving habits among their residents. New Jersey offers one of the most compelling localized incentives available in the country today. By directing your capital into the appropriate tax-advantaged accounts early in a child's life, you establish a solid foundation for their future academic pursuits without jeopardizing your own retirement security. Do you want your children graduating with decades of debt obligations? Most people answer that rhetorical question with a resounding negative. The solution requires a mathematical approach to capital accumulation that leverages compound interest and government incentives simultaneously.
An Introduction to 529 College Savings Plans
Congress established Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code to assist families in dealing with the escalating costs of education. These specialized investment accounts function similarly to a Roth IRA but are earmarked exclusively for educational purposes. You deposit after-tax money into the account, choose from a menu of investment portfolios, and watch the funds grow free from annual capital gains taxes. This tax shelter acts as a greenhouse for your money. Your investments compound much faster inside this greenhouse because the government does not harvest a portion of your gains every year. The primary mechanism of a 529 plan involves a state sponsoring the program and an asset management firm handling the underlying investments. While you can invest in any state's 529 plan regardless of where you live, doing so might cause you to forfeit specific incentives offered by your home state. You maintain complete control over the account as the owner. You can change the beneficiary to another qualifying family member if the original beneficiary decides against attending college. This flexibility makes the 529 plan an indispensable component of any long-term family wealth strategy.
Federal Tax Advantages of 529 Plans
The federal government provides the foundational tax benefits that make 529 plans so attractive to investors. Your contributions do not yield an immediate federal income tax deduction. The true power of the plan reveals itself during the growth phase and the distribution phase. All interest, dividends, and capital gains generated within the account remain completely sheltered from federal taxation as long as the funds stay invested. When the time comes to pay for college, you can withdraw the principal and the accumulated earnings entirely tax-free provided you use the money for qualified education expenses. This tax-free distribution creates a massive financial advantage compared to saving in a standard taxable brokerage account. If you invested the same amount of money in a standard account, the annual tax drag on your dividends and the final capital gains tax upon liquidation would severely erode your purchasing power. The 529 plan eliminates this friction entirely. You keep every dollar of growth to apply directly toward tuition bills.
Qualified Education Expenses Defined
The Internal Revenue Service strictly defines what constitutes a qualified education expense to prevent abuse of the tax shelter. You must use the withdrawn funds for mandatory costs associated with enrollment at an eligible educational institution. These approved expenses primarily include tuition and mandatory administrative fees. The definition also extends to the cost of books, required supplies, and necessary equipment like computers and internet access. Room and board costs qualify as well, provided the student is enrolled on at least a half-time basis. You can use 529 funds to pay for both on-campus housing and off-campus apartments, though off-campus housing costs are capped at the allowance determined by the university's official cost of attendance figures. The federal government recently expanded the definition to include up to ten thousand dollars per year for K-12 private school tuition. You can also use a lifetime maximum of ten thousand dollars from the account to pay down existing student loan debt for the beneficiary or their siblings. You must keep meticulous records and receipts to prove that your withdrawals matched these qualified expenses in case of an audit. Any funds withdrawn for non-qualified purposes will be subject to ordinary income tax on the earnings portion plus a ten percent penalty fee.
Exploring the New Jersey NJBEST 529 Plan
The state of New Jersey created the New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust to serve its residents directly. This program, commonly known as NJBEST, operates under the supervision of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority. HESAA works to ensure that the plan meets the specific needs of New Jersey families while complying with all federal regulations. The NJBEST plan represents a targeted effort to keep talented students within the state's higher education system while making college more affordable. New Jersey residents face a high cost of living and heavy local tax burdens. The state designed this 529 plan to provide some relief through specific local incentives that out-of-state plans cannot match. You must evaluate these local benefits carefully when choosing where to park your college savings. A generic 529 plan from another state might offer slightly lower fees, but it will never offer the specific scholarships and tax deductions tied directly to New Jersey residency.
The Partnership Between New Jersey and Franklin Templeton
The state government does not directly manage the mutual funds within the NJBEST portfolios. New Jersey contracted with Franklin Templeton Investments to serve as the program manager and handle the day-to-day investment operations. Franklin Templeton is a massive global asset management firm with decades of experience in navigating financial markets. They offer a variety of investment tracks within the NJBEST framework. You can select age-based portfolios that automatically shift from aggressive equities to conservative fixed-income assets as the beneficiary approaches college age. You can also choose static portfolios if you prefer to maintain a specific asset allocation and rebalance it yourself manually. Franklin Templeton charges management fees for their services. These fees are deducted internally from the investment returns. You must review the program description to comprehend the fee structure associated with your chosen investment portfolios. The partnership ensures that your college savings are managed by professional fiduciaries while remaining under the regulatory umbrella of the state authority.
New Jersey State Tax Deductions for 529 Contributions
New Jersey offers a direct financial reward to its residents who contribute to the NJBEST plan. This is a relatively recent development that significantly boosts the attractiveness of the program. Taxpayers with a gross income of two hundred thousand dollars or less can deduct up to ten thousand dollars of their annual NJBEST contributions from their New Jersey state income tax return. This deduction applies per taxpayer, meaning a married couple filing jointly can deduct up to twenty thousand dollars if they each open and fund separate accounts, though the standard limit is ten thousand per return. This state tax deduction lowers your immediate tax liability for the year. It effectively provides you with an instant return on your investment equal to your top state marginal tax rate. If you contribute ten thousand dollars and fall into a six percent state tax bracket, you save six hundred dollars on your state tax bill immediately. You cannot claim this deduction if you contribute to a 529 plan sponsored by a different state. This specific tax benefit is exclusively reserved for contributions made to the NJBEST system.
The Core Mechanics of the NJBEST Scholarship Benefit
The most distinctive feature of the New Jersey 529 plan is the NJBEST Scholarship Benefit. This is a unique program that awards additional funds to the beneficiary directly from the state when it comes time to pay for college. It acts as a financial reward for long-term planning and loyalty to the state's educational infrastructure. You do not have to compete academically or athletically to receive this scholarship. It is entirely guaranteed based on your adherence to a specific set of objective criteria regarding your account history and the student's college choice. Think of it as a loyalty bonus program engineered by the state government. By meeting the minimum time and funding thresholds, you automatically secure this extra cash infusion. The state funds this scholarship to encourage families to save early and to incentivize students to enroll in New Jersey colleges, thereby keeping human capital within the local economy.
Who Qualifies for the NJBEST Scholarship Benefit?
The qualification process for the NJBEST scholarship relies on strict adherence to defined rules rather than subjective merit. The beneficiary must simply be the designated student on an eligible NJBEST account that meets all the tenure and contribution requirements. The student must enroll at least half-time in an eligible higher education institution for either the fall or spring semester. Summer and winter terms do not qualify for the initial scholarship disbursement. The scholarship is a one-time award. You cannot claim it multiple times for the same beneficiary, even if they pursue graduate studies later. The program is designed to assist with the initial entry into the higher education system. You must ensure that all criteria are perfectly aligned before attempting to trigger the scholarship award.
Residency Requirements for the Beneficiary or Contributor
The state requires a geographical connection to New Jersey to disburse the scholarship funds. Either the student beneficiary or the account contributor must be a legal resident of New Jersey at the time the student attends college. This provides excellent flexibility for families who may have relocated. If parents move to Pennsylvania but keep the NJBEST account open, the child can still receive the scholarship if they choose to attend Rutgers University and establish residency, or if a grandparent who is a New Jersey resident contributed to the account. This either-or residency rule ensures that the benefit remains accessible to families with complex geographical situations while still honoring the intention of rewarding New Jersey taxpayers and students.
Attending an Eligible New Jersey Institution
The most restrictive component of the scholarship involves the destination of the student. The beneficiary must enroll in an eligible institution of higher education located physically within the state of New Jersey. This includes a wide array of public universities like Rutgers, Montclair State, and Rowan University. It includes county community colleges. It also includes private institutions like Princeton University, Seton Hall, and Stevens Institute of Technology. Furthermore, the scholarship applies to proprietary schools and vocational programs licensed or approved by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, provided they participate in federal student aid programs. If the student decides to attend a college in New York, Pennsylvania, or any other state, they entirely forfeit the right to claim the NJBEST scholarship benefit. The account funds remain perfectly valid and tax-free for use at those out-of-state schools, but the bonus scholarship money vanishes. This is the primary trade-off you must consider when evaluating the program.
The Minimum Time Requirements for Account Openness
The state designed the scholarship to reward long-term savings behavior rather than last-minute financial maneuvering. Therefore, a strict time lock exists on the scholarship eligibility. The NJBEST account must be open and funded for a minimum of four full years before the student enrolls in college. If you open the account when your child is a high school sophomore and they enroll in college two years later, you will not qualify for any scholarship amount. For students enrolling in the fall semester, the initial qualifying contribution must have been credited to the account more than forty-eight months prior to September first of that academic year. The clock starts ticking the moment the first dollar hits the account. This four-year minimum horizon forces families to think ahead. It prevents people from opening an account in July, depositing a lump sum, and claiming a scholarship in September of the same year.
The Minimum Contribution Requirements for Eligibility
Time alone does not guarantee the scholarship. You must also demonstrate a baseline level of financial commitment to the savings plan. To qualify for the absolute minimum scholarship tier, total contributions to the NJBEST account must equal at least one thousand two hundred dollars. This refers to the principal amount you deposited, entirely excluding any investment gains or losses generated by the market. You can reach this threshold by depositing twenty-five dollars a month for four years, or by making a single lump-sum deposit of one thousand two hundred dollars when opening the account. As long as the principal deposits hit that specific monetary mark and the account ages past the four-year threshold, the base eligibility is secured. The state uses this minimum contribution rule to ensure that the account represents a genuine savings effort rather than a purely administrative shell designed to extract scholarship money.
Calculating the Exact NJBEST Scholarship Amount
The NJBEST scholarship is not a flat rate. It operates on a sliding scale that rewards greater savings and longer account lifespans. The system incentivizes you to start earlier and contribute more by increasing the potential award amount in specific increments. You must comprehend this grid to optimize your deposit strategy. The longer the money marinates in the account and the more principal you add, the higher the ultimate payout from the state. We have constructed a visual table below to illustrate the exact tiers and thresholds required to maximize this unique benefit.
| Full Years Account Open | Minimum Total Contributions | NJBEST Scholarship Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Years | $1,200 | $2,000 |
| 6 Years | $1,800 | $3,000 |
| 8 Years | $2,400 | $4,000 |
| 10 Years | $3,000 | $5,000 |
| 12 Years or More | $3,600 | $6,000 |
The Base Tier of Two Thousand Dollars
The foundational tier of the scholarship program triggers after four years of account maturity and one thousand two hundred dollars in total principal contributions. If you meet these exact minimums, the state awards the student a flat two thousand dollars. This is a remarkable return on investment. You contributed a mere one thousand two hundred dollars, and the state essentially provides a one hundred and sixty-six percent bonus on top of your investment growth simply for attending a local college. This base tier is highly accessible to lower-income families who might only be able to afford modest monthly contributions. It ensures that the benefit is not restricted exclusively to wealthy families who can afford massive lump-sum deposits.
Scaling the Benefit Up to Six Thousand Dollars
The state heavily incentivizes early action by scaling the reward structure upwards. For every two additional years the account remains open beyond the initial four-year period, and for every six hundred dollars in additional principal contributions, the scholarship amount increases by one thousand dollars. If the account is open for six years and holds one thousand eight hundred dollars in contributions, the award jumps to three thousand dollars. This linear progression continues until it reaches the absolute maximum cap. If you open the account when the child is in first grade, keep it open for twelve full years, and contribute a total of at least three thousand six hundred dollars over that time frame, the student receives the maximum scholarship of six thousand dollars. You should strive to hit this maximum tier by starting the account as early in the child's life as mathematically possible.
The Application Process for the NJBEST Scholarship
The state does not automatically mail you a check when your child turns eighteen. You must actively claim the scholarship through a specific bureaucratic process managed by the state authorities. The application procedure requires coordination between the account owner, the student, and the state portals. Many families fail to receive their rightful funds because they miss deadlines or mishandle the paperwork. You must treat this application process with the same severity as a college admissions application. It requires precise timing and accurate data entry to ensure the funds are cleared and deposited smoothly into the student's financial aid package.
Navigating the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority Platform
The application process runs exclusively through the New Jersey Financial Aid Management System. This digital portal is operated by HESAA. Interestingly, the student beneficiary must be the one to log into the NJFAMS system to apply for the scholarship, not the account contributor. The student creates a profile, verifies their enrollment status at an eligible New Jersey institution, and links their identity to the existing NJBEST account details. The system then cross-references the account history with Franklin Templeton to verify that the time and contribution thresholds have been met successfully. The student must navigate this interface carefully and ensure all demographic information matches the records held by the 529 plan administrator.
Timing the Application and Qualified Withdrawals
Timing represents the most critical aspect of the application procedure. The application window typically opens in early June for the upcoming fall semester. You must meet specific deadlines. The deadline generally falls in early December for the fall semester and early May for the spring semester. Crucially, the account contributor must initiate a qualified withdrawal from the NJBEST account for education expenses during the exact same semester that the student applies for the scholarship. You cannot simply leave the 529 money untouched and ask for the scholarship. The state requires you to prove that you are actively utilizing the saved funds for current educational needs. Once the application is approved and the withdrawal is verified, HESAA disperses the scholarship funds directly to the college or university, which then credits the amount to the student's bursar account to offset outstanding balances.
Practical Financial Trade-Offs Involving NJBEST
Financial planning never occurs in a vacuum. Every dollar you direct toward a 529 plan is a dollar you cannot use for mortgage payments, retirement funding, or emergency reserves. You must evaluate real-world scenarios to determine if aggressively pursuing the NJBEST scholarship makes mathematical sense for your specific household. The scholarship is a powerful incentive, but it should not cause you to make irrational financial decisions in other areas of your life. We will analyze three detailed, realistic scenarios to illustrate the complex trade-offs families face when managing college capital.
Example One: Middle-Income Family Choosing Between Extra 529 Funding or Parent PLUS Loans
Consider the Martinez family living in Cherry Hill. They have a household income of ninety-five thousand dollars. Their daughter is a high school freshman. They have zero dollars saved for college. They can squeeze two hundred dollars a month from their budget. They face a choice: Should they open an NJBEST account now, or simply accept that they will need to take out federal Parent PLUS loans in four years? If they open the NJBEST account and deposit two hundred dollars monthly for forty-eight months, they will contribute nine thousand six hundred dollars. This easily surpasses the minimum contribution requirement of one thousand two hundred dollars. It also perfectly hits the four-year time requirement right as she starts her freshman year. If she attends Rutgers, she will qualify for the base two thousand dollar scholarship. The 529 account will hold approximately ten thousand five hundred dollars assuming modest market growth. Therefore, their out-of-pocket effort of nine thousand six hundred dollars yields over twelve thousand five hundred dollars in buying power. Conversely, if they save nothing and borrow twelve thousand five hundred dollars through a Parent PLUS loan at an eight percent interest rate with a four percent origination fee, they will pay thousands of dollars in interest over a ten-year repayment term. The trade-off is clear. Funneling the tight budget into the NJBEST plan creates a massive positive swing in net worth by capturing the scholarship and avoiding high-interest debt simultaneously.
Example Two: A Grandparent Deciding Whether to Superfund a 529 Plan
Imagine a grandfather living in Paramus who recently sold a business and wishes to help his newborn grandson in Newark. The grandfather has seventy-five thousand dollars available. He learns about the five-year gift tax averaging rule, which allows him to front-load five years' worth of annual gift tax exclusions into a 529 plan at once without penalty. He wants to know if he should superfund the NJBEST account with the entire seventy-five thousand dollars immediately, or drip-feed the money slowly. From an investment compounding perspective, dumping the entire seventy-five thousand dollars into the market on day one is statistically superior. The money has eighteen years to grow tax-free. What about the scholarship? The minimum requirement to reach the maximum six thousand dollar scholarship tier is a total contribution of three thousand six hundred dollars over twelve years. Because his initial lump sum of seventy-five thousand dollars vastly exceeds the three thousand six hundred dollar requirement, and the account will be open for eighteen years, he automatically locks in the maximum six thousand dollar scholarship on day one. There is no need to drip-feed the contributions just to satisfy the scholarship rules. The trade-off favors the immediate superfunding strategy. He maximizes his market time and perfectly secures the highest possible state bonus.
Example Three: Prioritizing the Scholarship Versus Out-of-State Investment Options
Let us examine the hyper-analytical Patel family. They are comfortable financially and plan to save fifty thousand dollars for their son's education over fifteen years. They compare the Franklin Templeton NJBEST plan against a direct-sold Vanguard 529 plan from Nevada. The Vanguard plan has an aggregate expense ratio that is approximately zero point two zero percent lower than the comparable NJBEST portfolio. The Patels must calculate the drag of the higher fees versus the guaranteed payout of the scholarship. A zero point two zero percent fee difference on a balance growing to roughly one hundred thousand dollars over fifteen years results in approximately two thousand to three thousand dollars in lost compound growth. However, if their son attends a New Jersey college, the NJBEST plan provides a guaranteed six thousand dollar scholarship at the end of that fifteen-year journey. The scholarship amount mathematically overwhelms the fee differential. The New Jersey plan is the superior choice if the son stays in-state. The risk materializes if the son decides to attend the University of Michigan. In that scenario, the Patels forfeit the six thousand dollar scholarship and suffer the slightly higher fees for fifteen years without any localized compensation. The trade-off requires the family to estimate the probability of the child attending an in-state university versus an out-of-state institution.
The New Jersey Matching Grant Opportunity for Lower Incomes
The state recognizes that the tax deductions and scholarship tiers primarily benefit families with disposable income. To assist lower-income households in starting their savings journey, New Jersey introduced a powerful matching grant program. This grant operates independently of the eventual scholarship benefit, but it utilizes the same NJBEST account infrastructure. It provides immediate, upfront capital to incentivize families to open an account and make their first deposit. This program essentially offers free money to jumpstart the compounding process for families who might otherwise feel completely locked out of the college savings ecosystem.
Income Limits and Initial Deposit Matching
The matching grant is strictly means-tested. It is available only to New Jersey residents with a household adjusted gross income between zero and seventy-five thousand dollars. If you meet this income criterion, the state will match your initial deposit into a new NJBEST account dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum of seven hundred and fifty dollars. If you open the account with one hundred dollars, the state adds one hundred dollars. If you open it with seven hundred and fifty dollars, the state adds seven hundred and fifty dollars. This is a one-time grant for new accounts and new beneficiaries. You cannot withdraw the matching grant funds until the account has remained open for at least three years. This prevents people from depositing money, getting the match, and immediately withdrawing the entire balance. If a family qualifies for this match, they can deposit seven hundred and fifty dollars, receive the seven hundred and fifty dollar match, and immediately have one thousand five hundred dollars working in the market. This single action clears the minimum contribution hurdle for the base NJBEST scholarship tier on day one.
How the NJBEST Scholarship Interacts with Financial Aid
Saving for college often creates anxiety regarding financial aid eligibility. Parents worry that accumulating assets in a 529 plan will penalize their child when they apply for grants and subsidized loans. The system does penalize savings to a small degree, but the mathematical reality proves that having saved money is always vastly superior to being broke and relying entirely on financial aid formulas. You must comprehend how the federal and state governments assess your NJBEST account balances to navigate this system effectively.
The Federal Application for Student Aid Implications
When you fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, you must report the value of the NJBEST 529 plan as a parental asset, assuming the parent is the account owner. The federal formula is relatively generous regarding parental assets. A maximum of five point six four percent of parental assets are factored into the Student Aid Index calculation. This means that if you have ten thousand dollars in an NJBEST account, it will reduce your federal financial aid eligibility by a maximum of five hundred and sixty-four dollars. The tax-free growth and the avoidance of high-interest debt easily offset this minor reduction in potential aid. You should never avoid saving money just to appear poorer on the federal forms. The math simply does not support that strategy. The scholarship amount itself, once awarded, is generally treated as an outside scholarship and may adjust the financial aid package, but it primarily replaces unmet need or self-help aid like loans before it reduces standard grants.
New Jersey Specific Financial Aid Exclusions
The state provides an incredible local benefit regarding financial aid calculations. New Jersey entirely excludes the first twenty-five thousand dollars saved in an NJBEST account from the calculation when determining eligibility for state-funded, need-based financial aid programs like the Tuition Aid Grant. If you have twenty-four thousand dollars in your NJBEST account, the state pretends that money does not exist when evaluating your need for state grants. This specific exclusion makes the NJBEST plan vastly superior to out-of-state 529 plans for New Jersey residents who anticipate qualifying for state-level financial assistance. The state actively protects your initial savings efforts from cannibalizing your local grant eligibility.
Reflections on Navigating State Sponsored College Incentives
I often find myself contemplating the sheer complexity of the modern educational funding apparatus. When you look closely at the architecture of the NJBEST program, you realize it is a masterclass in behavioral economics. The state is gently guiding families toward responsible financial decisions using a trail of tax deductions and deferred scholarship bonuses. The requirement to wait four years forces patience. The requirement to stay in-state forces a commitment to the local economy. I look at these rules not as bureaucratic hurdles, but as necessary guardrails that prevent families from making impulsive, debt-fueled choices during the emotional chaos of the college admissions process.
My perspective shifted significantly when I analyzed the compounding effect of the matching grants combined with the top-tier scholarship payout. It is fascinating how a relatively modest monthly contribution can snowball into a massive financial shield if you just follow the prescribed timeline. I believe the true value of the NJBEST plan lies in its psychological impact. It gives parents a concrete, mathematical roadmap. Instead of staring into the abyss of generic college costs, you focus on hitting the next contribution tier. You focus on crossing the four-year mark. It breaks an insurmountable problem into actionable, gamified steps. It transforms the anxiety of saving into a systematic process of capturing guaranteed state incentives.
Frequently Asked Questions About the NJBEST Scholarship
Can I use the NJBEST scholarship for an out-of-state college?
You cannot use the scholarship funds for an out-of-state institution. The core requirement of the scholarship dictates that the beneficiary must attend an eligible college or university located physically within New Jersey. Your standard 529 savings remain available for out-of-state schools, but the bonus scholarship is forfeited entirely.
Does the scholarship amount change depending on the investment performance of the 529 plan?
The scholarship amount relies entirely on the principal contributions you make and the length of time the account remains open. It is completely decoupled from the stock market performance of your chosen mutual funds. If the market crashes, your scholarship tier remains secure as long as your principal deposits meet the required thresholds.
What happens if I open the account when my child is a junior in high school?
If you open the account during their junior year, you will not meet the minimum four-year time requirement before they enroll as a freshman. Consequently, you will not qualify for any portion of the NJBEST scholarship. You must plan ahead and start the account much earlier.
Can a grandparent open the account and still qualify for the scholarship?
A grandparent can open the account and act as the contributor. As long as either the grandparent or the student beneficiary is a legal resident of New Jersey at the time of college attendance, the residency requirement is satisfied, and the scholarship remains valid.
Is the scholarship awarded every year the student is in college?
The state awards the NJBEST scholarship strictly on a one-time basis. It is disbursed during the initial term of enrollment when you apply and make a qualified withdrawal. You cannot claim the two thousand dollar or six thousand dollar benefit repeatedly for subsequent semesters or graduate programs.
Do I have to invest in aggressive stock portfolios to get the scholarship?
The state does not mandate any specific investment strategy to qualify for the scholarship. You can choose the most conservative fixed-income portfolio available or simply utilize a principal-protection option. The eligibility depends on the deposit amounts and time, not the risk profile of your investments.
Important Legal and Financial Disclaimers
The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes exclusively. It does not constitute professional tax, legal, or financial advisory services. The rules governing 529 plans, tax deductions, and state scholarship programs are subject to legislative changes at both the federal and state levels. The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority and the Internal Revenue Service frequently update their regulations and interpretations of the tax code. You must consult with a qualified tax professional or a certified financial planner to evaluate your specific household situation before making any investment decisions or capital allocations. Historical market performance does not guarantee future investment returns. Investment in a 529 plan involves risk, including the potential loss of the principal amount invested. You must carefully read the official program description and prospectus provided by Franklin Templeton and HESAA prior to opening an account.