Once you spawn younglings, your mind starts to drift toward their future. Because it’s tough to make the circus and the New York Jets only employ so many placekickers, your thoughts will inevitably drift to college, and how much it will cost to help your kids pay to sleep through classes in the year 20XX.

Recordnet sorts through some of the myriad college savings options:

*529 College Savings Plans. Working like a Roth IRA, contributions are subject to federal tax, but earnings are untouched as they accumulate. If you spend the money on an accredited institution, the funds won’t be taxed again.

*Coverdell Education Spending Accounts. They work like the 529, only they’re more flexible in some ways, allowing you to use the money to pay for private school as your child is growing up, as well as college.

*Prepaid tuition. Some states allow you to invest in a variety of 529 that is guaranteed to cover a semester of tuition 18 years from now at the current rate. Investing in one of these is a not-so-subtle way of telling your child you don’t think he’ll be getting into Harvard.

Counting college savings options [Recordnet]

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