Saving for College - Where to Begin?

A states-sponsored savings plan is a great place to start. In a 529 plan, your money grows tax deferred and you get a tax break on your contributions. You have a variety of investments to choose from and a variety of account types. You retain ownership of the account, so you can change the beneficiary of the account at any time, and the assets are not considered to be owned by the child when applying for financial aid.

Pennsylvania actually has some great additional features that, IMO, make your state's plan very attractive. You can find the info at http://www.pa529.com/learn-program-benefits.html. If I were you, that's where I would start. These are good plans and there really is no need to fiddle with other investment vehicles when there is something designed specifically for college.

Our daughter just graduated from College.. The 529 plan was amazing.. The only thing we should have considered was that she may go out of state.

The one we got was for in state so it was based on the Texas State tuition prices.. It paid out 5 times what was put in..

Speak with a financial planner, they can give you the best information.. Sometimes your Insurance Agent can help you also.

I chose to go with the 529 plan that my state offers. It has multiple investment options, so I can balance the money the way I want. I also have the option to add other children/beneficiaries to the plan if I have more children or want to add a niece/nephew or something. I also get a tax break for my income taxes, so for me it made sense.

http://www.savingforcollege.com/

The website above is extremely helpful in researching 529 plans if you decide to go that route. I also contribute to a savings account in my son's name that will probably go at least partially to college. I don't have the means to save for his entire college education, so I am not contributing a huge amount of money each month, but I do put aside a set amount each month to his savings and 529 plan and will put in extra when I get a work bonus or tax refund. Good luck!

I chose a 529b and used savingforcollege.com to help me pick one. I chose the USAA one, opened an account online, and set up an automatic money transfer from my checking to the 529b. Now I don't have to think about it and it grows a bit every month.

We're going to be starting a 529 plan in the next month or so and I've been researching the best plans out there. My husband listens to this guy's radio show and he's very knowledgeable. Here is what he has to say about the best 529 plans out there:

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/education/cl...