May 29th has been nationally recognized as 529 College Savings Day, a way to raise awareness for the importance of saving early for college. My guess is that 99% of people have never heard of 529 Day so you are now ahead of the pack. The bigger problem is that more than two-thirds of investors don't know what 529 plans can do. Only 32 percent of people could correctly identify a 529 plan as an option for saving for college expenses, according to a survey by Edward Jones. That is a depressing number when you consider that 529 plans offer many tax benefits that help your investments grow over time. The biggest advantage is that investment earnings aren't subject to capital gains tax when used for qualified education expenses. Furthermore, 33 states and the District of Columbia sweeten the deal by giving residents a tax break if they invest in their state's 529 plan.

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