An Aunt, Uncle, Brother or Sister, Grandma or Grandpa can open a 529 for a child (beneficiary). If the beneficiary decides not to attend college, you as the owner, can go down/up the family tree to the next generation (or back to you) or across the tree to siblings or cousins. If your beneficiary decides not to attend, then there are some fantastic golf schools in Tempe, AZ, and even the Culinary Institute of America that will allow you to use your 529 funds tax free.

A polite way to ask for 529 contributions is to slip the account details into the baby shower invitation and request a contribution in lieu of gifts. You would list your registry, why not list your 529 registry? Another way, is to provide a list to your financial adviser and have him/her reach out by mail to folks you would like to ask, but are too shy to ask yourself.

For the folks using savings accounts…the cost of college is skyrocketing and to hope you’ll have enough savings bonds to pay for 4+ years of school will require a tremendous amount of savings. If you remember the rule of 72 (72 divided by your interest rate is how long, in years, it will take to double your money), then savings at 2% will take 36 years, versus a 529 at 8%, taking 9 years.

Please monitor your 529 and be sure you are in appropriate investments for the child’s age. The closer to college, the less risk you can afford to take.