Hi All,

What does the number 529 mean to you?  Is it a batting average or a birthdate?  In terms of education - specifically your children - does it mean anything? Well...it does have a pretty darn important meaning if you want to send your children to college. 

A 529 plan is a college savings plan that is a tax-advantaged program that is created to help families save for a child's future education expense. (The name '529' comes from the IRS Code section that specifies the plans' tax advantages.)

Click on this link to learn about the general characteristics of 529 college savings plans, how it can help you save for college, what kinds of plans are available and choosing a 529 plan. In addition, this website has links for parents, grandparents and family & friends.

And, since many folks - okay, probably 95% of you - who read this blog live in Farmingdale/Long Island area, you might want to visit the New York State site for 529 plans.  Clicking on this link enables users to learn about the plan benefits, investments, open an account, a section of FAQ's and resources about 'all-things-529-related'. 

Finally, readers would be well advised to take a look at the site called 'Savingforcollege.com' - this particular link has an entry called 'Which is the best 529 plan available?' Alternatively, users can click on this link from the Huffington Post, titled, 'The Best and Worst 529 College Saving Plans of 2014'.

Finally, to learn more about the best and worst 529 plans, users can do a simple Google search for the phrase 'New York State 529 Plans Best Worst'.

Hope the post was educational and helpful.

Regards,

Stu