South Carolina Business Review

Choosing a 529 Plan? Pack the Right Suitcase for the Journey

By Mike Switzer

Published November 18, 2025 at 6:30 AM EST

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Laird Green, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Greenville, .SC.

Choosing a 529 plan for your child’s college fund can be a daunting task. There are many options to consider and you want to choose the plan that best fits where your child might end up going to college. Our next guest says that a good way to look at preparing for your child’s education is like preparing for a long trip. Mike Switzer interviews Laird Green, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Greenville, SC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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