The Best Way to Save for College : A Complete Guide to Section 529 Plans

College savings plans, 529 Plans, Qualified state tuition programs, QSTPs, Prepaid tuition contracts, Educational savings accounts. They go by many names, but they all represent the same thing: a REVOLUTION in the way families with children are investing for the future.

What other type of program allows you to invest over $100,000 in a professionally-managed tax-deferred account for each child without regard to age or income level? Where else does your state offer significant benefits for investing, including tax deductions, income exemption, and even scholarship money. What other mechanism allows estates by hundreds of thousands of dollars without gift tax, and without giving up control of the assets?

The answer is that no other IRS-approved program provides the combination of benefits that a Section 529 state-sponsored college savings plan does. Investing for future college expenses will never be the same again. And forget what you may have heard about these plans. You are not limited to the plan in your own state, and you do not have to send your child to an in-state college. You can even set up an account for yourself!

In THE BEST WAY TO SAVE FOR COLLEGE - A Complete Guide to Section 529 Plans, Joseph F. Hurley, CPA describes how 529 Plans work: the tax rules, planning strategies, impact on college financial aid. He compares them to other alternatives such as the Education IRA, savings bonds, and mutual funds. And he describes each state's plan, including its best and worst features. The various state plans are not created equal. Learn which ones to use and which ones to stay away from.

You've heard about them. Now it's time to learn about them. Whether you are a professional planner, a college financial aid officer, or a careful investor, you need to have all the facts.

Joseph F. Hurley, CPA, is widely acknowledged as the leading independent expert on Section 529 plans. In addition to writing The Best Way To Save For College-A Complete Guide to Section 529 Plans, he edits a newsletter for financial advisers called The 529 Plan Report. He also maintains a Web site that contains more information about 529 Plans than any other and has been recommended by editors at Morningstar.net, TheStreet.com, Forbes.com, The Motley Fool, AndrewTobias.com, and other online publications.

Mr. Hurley has been active in writing and lecturing on the topic of saving for college with Section 529 Plans. He was the only nongovernmental speaker to present comments at hearings in Washington on the IRS's proposed regulations under Section 529. He has published articles in the Journal of Accountancy and InvestmentNews and has been quoted in newspapers and magazines around the country including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, The San Jose Mercury News, and others.

Mr. Hurley is tax partner with Bonadio & Co., LLP in Pittsford, New York. With over 20 years of experience, he has counseled thousands of business owners, individual investors, and charitable organizations. He is a 1978 graduate of Williams College.