Originally Posted by
Terrain Inop
Unless you know for a fact that there is someone that you're willing to pay for college for, 529 plans are crap. They cannot be used as a tax shelter for retirement. There are penalties built into the plans if you try that.
Here are some options:
Use the funds to pay for community college, vocational school or other eligible post-secondary education.
Change the beneficiary to a sibling or other qualifying family member who will attend college.
Use the money to pay for your own continuing education.
Save the funds for a future grandchild.
Take a non-qualified withdrawal and pay income tax and a 10% penalty on the earnings portion of the withdrawal. Your contributions were made with after tax money and therefore will never be taxed or penalized.