Advantage Kat

[Etta Lesniak]

OnMarch 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which reauthorized and expanded the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) to provide $10 billion to support small businesses and empower them to access the capital needed to invest in job-creating opportunities as the country emerges from the pandemic. SSBCI provides funds to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to promote American entrepreneurship, support small business ownership, and democratize access to capital across the country, including underserved communities. The State of Illinois will receive up to $354.6 million to administer four programs as part of the SSBCI, including Advantage Illinois.

Advantage Illinois programs make eligibility as flexible as possible, maximizing the impact on Illinois economy and especially encouraging loans to Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals (SEDI) and Very Small Businesses (VSB), or businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

No. DCEO partners on the Advantage Illinois loan programs with participating lenders. Businesses must apply to Advantage Illinois through their participating lender. After working with your lender, your lender will submit your Advantage Illinois application to DCEO.

A consultation with a participating financial institution will include an assessment of your current or potential business strategy, expected performance and a review of the way your business will operate. The lender should be able to assist you in finding the right program and maximize its returns.

Advantage Illinois programs have been designed to accelerate credit distribution by helping lenders manage the risks inherent in lending to small and start-up companies. The goal is to ensure timely and an increased number of private investments.

Certification is required with regard to items (1) to (3) above. Item (3) is intended to cover a business taking out a loan or investment to build a location in a CDFI Investment Area that the business will operate in the future.

The FedLine Advantage Solution offers flexible and convenient electronic access to information services as well as critical payment services, such as the Fedwire Funds Service, Fedwire Securities Service, National Settlement Service, FedACH file-processing services and the FedNow Service. Your organization can customize FedLine Advantage based on the number of Subscribers, estimated volume, desired access speeds, networking preference and even the structure of your operations. Customers utilizing the FedLine Advantage Solution can take advantage of three package options (PDF) that enable financial institutions to customize services to meet their business needs. To see a full list of available services, view the 2024 FedLine Solutions Services Comparison Matrix (PDF), FedLine Web and FedLine Advantage End User Authorization Contact (EUAC) Service Descriptions and Subscriber Access Level Descriptions.

Watch our video to learn how a secondary FedLine Advantage Virtual Private Network (VPN) device helped provide uninterrupted access to the FedLine Advantage Solution during an Internet Service Provider (ISP) outage. Visit the FedLine Advantage and FedLine Command Business Continuity Quick Tips page for more information.

For more information, review the summary (PDF) of services available via the FedLine Advantage Solution packages and the FedLine Advantage product sheet (PDF). To start using this service, visit the FedLine Advantage Setup page or contact your relationship manager.

The easiest way to open a CollegeAdvantage Direct Plan account is to enroll online at CollegeAdvantage.com. It only takes about 10 minutes. If you prefer to enroll by mail, complete the Account Application form. To open a CollegeAdvantage Advisor Plan account, contact a financial advisor.

Any U.S. citizen or resident alien, 18 or older, with a Social Security number or Tax Identification Number and U.S. street address, can open an account, regardless of income level. Parents, grandparents, other family, and friends can open an account for anyone they choose. You do not have to be related to the beneficiary of your account. You can also open an account to pay for your own higher education. Certain trusts and entities may also open an account.

Any U.S. citizen or resident alien of any age with a Social Security Number can be named as the beneficiary of a CollegeAdvantage account. As the Account Owner, you can designate a child, adult, or even yourself as the beneficiary.

No. You can use the assets in your account toward the costs of nearly any public or private, 2-year or 4-year college nationwide, as long as the student is enrolled in a U.S.-accredited college, university, graduate school, or technical school that is eligible to participate in U.S. Department of Education student financial aid programs. In fact, many U.S. colleges and universities now have campuses or locations outside of the country, where money from your account can also be used. A school is eligible if they have a Federal School Code, which can be searched at www.fafsa.gov.

CollegeAdvantage does not require a child to attend college immediately after graduating high school. There are no age restrictions on when you can use your account to pay for college expenses.

Only contributions to and earnings on the Bank Options are insured by the FDIC, up to certain limits. No other investments are insured or guaranteed by CollegeAdvantage or any other entity. Investment returns will vary depending upon the performance of the investment options you choose. The Account Owner bears all risk, including the risk of loss of all investments.

Ugift is an innovative way to invite family and friends to save for college by celebrating occasions, achievements, and events with gift contributions to your CollegeAdvantage Direct Plan account. To utilize Ugift, log in to your Direct Plan account.

529 plan assets are counted at different rates for the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) in the FAFSA formula. Current federal guidelines are as follows:

If the student is a dependent, a 529 plan account is considered as the parent's asset (if the Account Owner is the parent or the dependent student). As a result, it will generally be counted at a rate of only 5.64% of its value for the EFC.

If the student is not a dependent and is the Account Owner, the 529 plan account is treated as the student's asset and is generally factored into the EFC at the higher rate of 20%.

In other cases, the account does not count as an asset for federal financial aid purposes. However, a student may have to report distributions received from the account as income for these purposes.

Note: Financial aid programs offered by educational institutions and other non-federal sources may have their own guidelines for the treatment of 529 plan accounts. For complete information about financial aid eligibility, you should consult with a financial aid professional and/or the state or educational institution offering a particular financial aid program, since rules and regulations often change.

1 Earnings on non-qualified withdrawals are subject to federal income tax and may be subject to a 10% federal penalty tax, as well as state and local income taxes. The availability of tax or other benefits may be contingent on meeting other requirements.

2 If you contribute to an account owned by someone else, you give up all rights to the money contributed to that account.

In addition to your 1099Q tax form, you can also download account statements and confirmations of account activity online. Simply log in, and within two clicks, you can select the documents you need. Watch this short video for all the details.

Earnings grow tax free from federal and state income tax when used for qualified higher education expenses.1 Qualified higher education expenses include tuition, mandatory fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for enrollment or attendance; certain room and board costs during any academic period the beneficiary is enrolled at least half-time; certain expenses for a special-needs student; and withdrawals up to $10,000 per student, per year, for K-12 tuition at a public, private, or religious elementary or secondary schools.

Per federal 529 laws, individuals can invest up to $18,000 ($36,000 for married couples) per beneficiary without incurring any federal gift-tax consequences. You can also contribute up to $90,000 per beneficiary in a single year ($180,000 for married couples) and take advantage of five years' worth of tax-free gifts at one time. (Contributions are considered completed gifts and are removed from your estate,2 but you, as the Account Owner, retain control.) Upon the death of the Account Owner, money remaining in the account will not be included in the Account Owner's estate for federal estate tax purposes. For more information, consult your tax advisor or estate-planning attorney.

1 Earnings on non-qualified withdrawals are subject to federal income tax and may be subject to a 10% federal penalty tax, as well as state and local income taxes. The availability of tax or other benefits may be contingent on meeting other requirements. See the Plan's Offering Statement and Participation Agreement for more details on qualified expenses.

2 In the event the donor does not survive the five-year period, a pro-rated amount will revert to the donor's taxable estate.

Yes. You can change the direction of your future contributions at any time. For existing investments, federal 529 law permits you to exchange the assets in your CollegeAdvantage account to a different mix of investment options twice per calendar year.

The money in your CollegeAdvantage account can be used for any purpose. However, to qualify for federal tax-free withdrawals on earnings and avoid penalties, the money must be used for qualified higher education expenses for the beneficiary at an eligible educational institution. 1, 2

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