re: Those with children: how much are you saving per child for college?

Having both a Roth and some kind of 529 plan ( I have a Coverdale plan) increases the amount you get to invest each year with tax free earnings. I max out both each year.

quote:

---

What's the benefit of a 529 over a Roth IRA?

---

The benefit of using the roth for eductional expenses if you aren't maxing it out, is that your money is allowed to grow tax free and it's(principal) not subject to a penalty upon withdrawal if used for non-educational expenses.

If you have $100k in a 529 and Jimmy gets a scholarship, you're going to eat some of that in the form of a penalty. You can get creative to pull out some of that, but if he doesn't go to school at all...SOL.

If you have several kids, it obviously mitigates the risk of over funding a 529, but you don't want to throw all your eggs in to the 529 basket.