Why It’s Essential
$ 0 T
Total amount of student debt in the United States
$ 0 K
Average amount of debt for each four-year college graduate
$ 0 B
Loans taken out by parents for their children’s education
An essential benefit for your entire workforce
SavvyFi empowers your employees to save for college and pay off student debt.
Help your team save for their families' education & future.
Savvy Features
Mobile & Desktop
Dashboard
Intuitive dashboard relieves anxiety about future planning.
Friends &
Family Gifting
Loved ones can contribute to education expenses.
Cashback
Rewards
Shopping at major merchants and local restaurants builds up savings quickly.
Employer
Contributions
Employers can contribute to employee accounts at whatever level they want.
How It Works
1. Easy Rollout
E-sign a contract to kick off enrollment.
2. Electronic Signup
Employees self-enroll through a signup link or the employer’s benefits administration platform.
3. Trusted Tech
SavvyFi's tech auto-opens a 529 account with Vanguard investment funds.
4. Advanced Features
Tracking, transfers, contribution changes, and many other functions require no admin by HR.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is SavvyFi?
Savvyfi is a digital investment adviser registered with the securities and exchange commission.
Our innovative technology makes it hassle-free and inexpensive for employers to offer college savings and student debt repayment benefits to their entire workforce.
What is a 529 account?
A 529 plan is an investment account that allows savings to grow tax-free if the funds are used for qualified expenses at eligible higher education institutions. Eligible institutions include four-year universities, community colleges, trade schools, and private K-12 schools. Qualified expenses typically cover most costs associated with attending school. Learn more at: https://savvyfi.co/what-is-a-529/
Who can open a 529 account?
Your employees can open an account for their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and even the neighbor’s kid – as long as your employees have the future grad’s social security number.
Your employees with student debt can even open an account for themselves and use SavvyFi’s cashback rewards feature to pay down their debt more quickly.
How does SavvyFi work for Employers?
We send a contract for review and signature via email. Once the contract is digitally executed, we enable our portal for your employees. This process typically takes under an hour.
To help you launch the benefit, you have access to a toolkit with handouts, presentations, and videos to share with your employees
If you are providing contributions, we set up a simple ACH debit based on your payroll report.
Is payroll integration required?
No. Even if you are making contributions, we clear the aggregated payments through one ACH deduction once a pay period and provide appropriate reporting and an audit trail.
What is the typical participation rate?
The participation rate depends on many factors. Major factors include employer contributions and how the benefit is communicated to the employees. We have a toolbox to help you communicate clearly and efficiently to your employees about the benefit. For companies not providing contributions, the participation rate can range from 5-20%. For companies providing contributions, the participation rate can range from 10-40%.
Who does the training??
We offer a full suite of online resources, including email templates, handouts, presentations, and videos. We also have a dedicated employee help line that can handle individual employee issues. We also offer a real-time webinar and the webinar recording can be reused for employees that can not attend.
How much does SavvyFi's employee benefit cost?
$5 per enrolled employee per month. There are no minimums, implementation, or advisor fees.
Is there a minimum number of employees?
No!
How does SavvyFi work for Employees??
- Employees use their work email addresses to sign up for SavvyFi online.
- Employees provide basic information, then securely connect their bank account to SavvyFi for transfers.
- A 529 account is automatically opened for their first beneficiary. Employees can easily add more beneficiaries, with each beneficiary having their own account and gifting links.
- All contributions are automatically invested in an enrollment-date option, which selects investments based on the beneficiary’s age, provided by Vanguard.
What if an employee's child does not attend college?
If the child does not attend college, there are many options for how the savings can be used. They can transfer the 529 account to another family member, use the funds for their own education, or withdraw the funds to give their child a head start on other important financial goals. If the funds are not used for a qualified education expense, they can use all the deposits without penalty, but the earnings will be subject to a 10% penalty.
What happens if an employee leaves the company?
When an employee leaves your company, their student loans and 529 accounts continue to exist. Employees have the option to continue using the SavvyFi gifting and cashback features by assuming the monthly cost or discontinue using SavvyFi and access their loans and 529 accounts directly.
What if I don’t want to offer it to all my employees?
You can send us a list of approved employee email addresses and we can filter based on that list.
What is the error message for someone not on the list? [ps1]
Do I have to provide a contribution to every employee?
No. As long as you differentiate by pay grade, position, or location, you can vary the amount of contributions. You are not allowed to discriminate across protected classes of people such as race, gender and age. However, we always recommend you seek legal advice before setting up different contribution levels between employees.
Can an employer contribution for student loans be used for payment on a non-employee’s loans?
The tax-advantaged contribution for student loans has to be used for the employee. Per 26 U.S. Code § 127 - Educational assistance programs | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu). However, contributions to 529 plans can be used to pay off any student loan.
Which contributions are tax advantaged?
- At the federal level, employee contributions to 529 accounts are after-tax but withdrawn savings used for qualified education expenses do not incur capital gains tax.
- At the federal level, employer contributions to 529 accounts raise the employee’s taxable wages.
- Employee contributions to student loans are always after-tax.
- Employers can make pre-tax contributions up to $5,250 annually towards an employee’s student debt if the employer has a section 127 plan in place.
Does SavvyFi have a mobile app?
No, employees access SavvyFi through a secure website, optimized for both mobile and desktop. SavvyFi performs just like a mobile app but does not require employees to download yet another app onto their phone.
Have questions?
Request more information.
Our expert team is on standby to answer any questions you may have about SavvyFi’s platform.