Holiday Season Provides Opportunity to Make Investments in Child's Future, While Also Helping Realize Potential Year-End Tax Benefits

BOSTON, December 2, 2003 -- With the costs of college continuing to skyrocket - up 14 percent this year for four-year public colleges and universities¹ - families, more than ever, need to be looking for ways to save without breaking the family budget.

This holiday season may be an ideal time for families to begin making headway toward paying for rising college costs. In addition to this season's hottest toys, parents and grandparents may also want to consider making an investment in their child's future by opening or contributing to a 529 Plan, such as Fidelity-managed 529 Plans*. These college savings vehicles may offer them an opportunity to potentially maximize their investment by saving federal income tax deferred².

"It's a great time of year for families to consider starting another holiday tradition for their children and give a gift that will last a lifetime--the gift of an education," said Tracy Lemoine, senior vice president, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company, which distributes the Fidelity Advisor 529 Plan through banks, broker/dealers, and insurance companies. "Through a 529 Plan, families can take steps toward meeting the rising cost of college education, while at the same time potentially receiving the related tax and estate planning benefits."

Fidelity Investments provides the following ideas to help families maximize their college savings this holiday season:

	1.	Educational giving can also help reduce income tax liability. Parents and grandparents saving for college can potentially reduce their federal tax liability by giving to a 529 plan account. The 529 accelerated gifting provision allows an individual to make a gift of up to $55,000, or a married couple of up to $110,000, to one beneficiary in a single year without triggering the federal gift tax3.
	2.	Use a college rewards savings credit card when buying holiday gifts. By using the Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards credit card for holiday shopping, for example, shoppers can potentially accelerate their college savings by earning 2 percent on all eligible retail purchases when deposited into a Fidelity-managed 529 Plan account4.
	3.	Put capital gains to work. Recent legislation cut the long-term capital gains tax rate from 20 percent to 15 percent. Investors who realize capital gains on mutual funds prior to year-end distributions could use those proceeds to fund a 529 Plan account.
	4.	Consider an UGMA/UTMA 529 Plan. College savers who have an UGMA/UTMA account may want to transfer to an UGMA/UTMA 529 Plan . Assets will grow tax deferred and are federal income tax free when distributed for a qualified higher education expense.
	5.	Be wise about required minimum distributions. For many grandparents, RMDs represent disposable income. If they do not need the money for retirement income, investing that money in a 529 Plan could help them continue to enjoy tax-deferred growth of potential earnings, while maintaining control of the assets.

While the holiday season represents an excellent time to save for a child's future college education, families should consider saving year round. Parents who are able to start saving early can make great headway toward the helping pay for rising college costs, which could top $136,000 for four years at a public college or university in 18 years . Time and compounded interest can be parents' best weapons for fighting these rising college costs.

About Fidelity-Managed 529 College Savings Plans

Fidelity-managed 529 Plans offer residents of any state the opportunity to save tax deferred for their children's future college education at most accredited colleges and universities nationwide and at eligible foreign institutions. The plans offer professional money management, high contribution limits, no income restrictions and the ability for account owners to maintain control of an account specifically dedicated for college savings.

Fidelity currently manages more than $3.2 billion in 529 Plans including the UNIQUE College Investing Plan, the U.Fund College Investing Plan, the Delaware College Investment Plan and the Fidelity Advisor 529 Plan. For more information on Fidelity-managed 529 Plans, investment professionals can visit AdvisorXpress or call 1-800-544-9999. Direct investors can call their advisor, visit Fidelity's Web site at www.fidelity.com/college, visit a local investor center or call 1-800-544-1914.

About Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company

Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company provides investment management services through investment professionals at financial institutions nationwide, including wirehouses, regional and independent broker/dealers, banks, trust companies and insurance companies. The company offers Fidelity Advisor Funds^®, Variable Insurance Product (VIP) Portfolios, systematic investment plans, institutional money market funds and a comprehensive line of retirement products and services. Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company's total assets under management were $177.8 billion as of October 31, 2003.

About Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with custodied assets of $1.7 trillion, including managed assets of $940.3 billion as of October 31, 2003. Fidelity offers investment management, retirement planning, brokerage, human resources and benefits outsourcing services to 18 million individuals and institutions as well as through 5,500 financial intermediaries. The firm is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, one of the largest mutual fund supermarkets and a leading online brokerage firm. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.Fidelity.com.

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¹ College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges, 2003-04.
² Pursuant to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 ("EGTRRA"), qualified distributions are federal income tax free. The provisions of EGTRRA will expire on December 31, 2010. Unless the law is extended by Congress and the President, the federal tax treatment of 529 plans will revert to its status prior to January 1, 2002.
³ In order for an accelerated transfer to a 529 Plan (for a given Beneficiary) of $55,000 (or $110,000 combined for spouses who gift split) to result in no Federal transfer tax and no use of any portion of the applicable Federal transfer tax exemption and/or credit amounts, no further annual exclusion gifts and/or generation-skipping transfers to the same beneficiary may be made over the five year period, and the transfer must be reported as a series of five equal annual transfers on Form 709, United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return. If the donor dies within the five-year period, a portion of the transferred amount will be included in the donor's estate for estate tax purposes.
⁴ Earn rate may be subject to change. Other restrictions apply. Full details are provided in the Program Guidelines documents. For rate, fee, and other cost information, and to learn more about the benefits of the Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards program, please call 866-438-6262. This credit card program is issued and administered by MBNA America Bank, N.A., which is not an affiliate of Fidelity Investments and does not offer, manage, or guarantee any of the 529 plans managed by Fidelity Investments.
⁵ Prior to investing in a UGMA/UTMA 529 account, you must liquidate your UGMA/UTMA account and pay all applicable taxes. Please consult with a tax professional regarding your specific situation.
⁶Qualified withdrawals are federal income tax free. The provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 will expire on December 31, 2010. Unless the law is extended by Congress and the President, the federal tax treatment of 529 Plans will revert to its status prior to January 1, 2002.
⁷ Estimates assume the cost of college is growing at 5% each year based on the approximate rate at which college costs have been growing according to the 2003 "Trends in College Pricing" report by The College Board. These figures include tuition & fees, books & supplies, room & board, transportation, and other costs.
⁸ As of August 31, 2003.

*The UNIQUE College Investing Plan, U.Fund College Investing Plan, and Delaware College Investment Plan are offered by the State of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, and State of Delaware, respectively and managed by Fidelity. If you are not a Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Delaware resident, you may want to investigate whether your state offers its residents a Plan with alternative tax advantages.

Units of the portfolios are municipal securities and may be subject to market volatility and fluctuation.

Brokerage services for direct-sold plans are provided by Fidelity Brokerage Services, Member NYSE, SIPC.

Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company, Inc.
82 Devonshire Street, Boston, MA 02109.