Originally Posted by JonLaw
Originally Posted by intparent
I stick with my original advice -- start plugging money into a 529 now. You will be very happy that you did when the time comes.

Since financial returns are trending toward 2% to 4% over longer term time frames, I'm utilizing standard taxable accounts because there's little loss from taxation and I have increased flexibility.

And *this* gets to my complaint about the entire issue of tuition discounts.

If you save for college, you get punished by not having access to these discounts.

Granted, I'm using the intparent approach, except that I'm not using the 529.

I hope everyone realizes that you should not put any money into a 529 plan or taxable account unless you have already put the maximum allowed amount into all available tax-shelered retirement plans first. And paying down/off your mortgage should also take precedence over taxable or 529 plan investing.

Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Quote
If you save for college, you get punished by not having access to these discounts.

Granted, I'm using the intparent approach, except that I'm not using the 529.

Which is precisely the advice that our financial adviser gave us ten years ago. You can't possibly invest the money SAFELY in an investment that has the kind of return to make it worth doing, basically-- every dollar is losing purchasing power every year in the current climate.

But stocks have doubled in the last decade. (Actually they've doubled twice and halved once.)

I avoid financial advisers. Seeing a financial adviser does help a kid get into college --- theirs not yours.