[originaltext] A college education is an investment in the future. But it ca

A college education is an investment in the future. But it can be a costly investment. Private colleges and universities still cost a lot more than public ones. Financial aid often helps.(32)Financial advisers tell parents to start college savings plans when their children are still very young.
    All fifty states and the District of Columbia offer what are called five-twenty-nine plans. These plans were named after the part of the federal tax law that created them in 1996.(33)Every state has its own rules governing five-twenty-nine plans. Some of the plans are free of state taxes. And all are free of federal taxes.
    It includes investment accounts that increase or decrease in value with the investments they contain. Families must decide how aggressively they want to put money into stocks, bonds or other investments.
    The five-twenty-nine plans contain a prepaid tuition plan that lets parents begin to pay for their children’s college education long before their children start it. The money goes into an account to pay for an education at a public college or university in the family’s home state.
    What if a student decides to go to college in another state or not go to college at all? Any unused money in a college savings plan can be put into an account for the education of his another family member. Or the parents can withdraw the money, but they will lose at least ten percent of the earnings in taxes.
32. What do financial advisers suggest parents do?
33. What do we know about the five-twenty-nine plans?
34. What do we learn about the prepaid tuition plan?
35. What can parents do with the unused money in a college savings plan if their child does not go to college?