Saving for College (continued)

Topics about saving in general include:

• Setting Savings Goals. How much should you save?
• Myths About Saving. Three wrong reasons parents use to avoid saving.
• Tips for Making It Easier to Save. These tips will help you find the money to save.
• Account Ownership: In Whose Name to Save? This includes information about the financial aid impact of account ownership, such as the very high negative impact of saving in the child's name. A separate page provides additional information about the financial aid treatment of trust funds.
• Tax Savings from Child Asset Ownership.
• Gift and Estate Taxes. This summarizes the gift tax provisions to the extent they affect saving for college.
• Investment Strategies. These tips will help you maximize your return on investment while minimizing your risk.
• Prioritizing Savings. Should you save for college or for retirement?
• College Savings Calculators. These tools can help you evaluate the impact of different decisions about college savings.
• Tuition Inflation. This includes information about historical average annual increases in college tuition rates.
• Education Tax Benefit Coordination. This describes coordination restrictions on using tax-free distributions from 529 plans and education savings accounts in conjunction with other education tax benefits.
• College Savings Surveys. This includes the results of numerous surveys of parents on the state of their college savings.

There are about a dozen different college savings vehicles available. Choosing among the many options can be confusing, so first check out our College Savings Checklist of questions to ask about every type of college savings account. If you don't have time to make your own decision, open a section 529 college savings plan for each of your children. Section 529 college savings plans are one of the best college savings vehicles because of the tax advantages, the low impact on need-based financial aid, the flexibility, the high contribution limits and the lack of income phaseouts, and because control over the account remains with the parent. You should also explore some of the loyalty programs, because they provide an easy way to get additional money for your college savings plan. The complete list of college savings vehicles are as follows:

• Section 529 Plans. These include Section 529 College Savings Plans and Section 529 Prepaid Tuition Plans. It includes information about all state section 529 plans and the Tuition Plan Consortium's prepaid tuition plan for private colleges, including ratings of all the section 529 college savings plans for state residents and non-residents.
• Credit Card Rebate and Loyalty Programs. These are affinity programs such as Upromise, BabyMint, and SAGE Tuition Rewards.
• CollegeSure CD from College Savings Bank
• US Treasury Savings Bonds, including Series EE Savings Bonds, Series I Savings Bonds, Zero Coupon Bonds and Treasury STRIPS, and Treasury Inflation-Indexed Securities (TIPS).
• Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, formerly known as Education IRAs.
• Money from your Retirement Plan, including penalty-free withdrawals from individual retirement plans (IRAs) and borrowing from your 401(k).
• UGMA/UTMA Custodial Accounts
• Saving in the Parents' Names
• Section 2503(c) Minor's Trust
• Crummey Trust
• Variable Life Insurance Policies (using the cash value of your variable life insurance policy)
• Home Equity Line of Credit. This involves using a home equity line of credit to tap into the equity in your home.