Personal Finance and Investing

anyone in another state, who can attend college anywhere at all. It's just that some of the plans offer better tax advantages to the person funding them, or some such. I don't know a lot about them, but the same grandparents set up 529's for my sons and on this side we didn't have to be concerned about where they were set up, because the money could be used for schools anywhere. The flexibility is great.

The typical language in them covers "reasonable" expenses connected to education, including the cost of room and board. That last provision means that my son, still in school, can see what room and board would cost at the college he is currently attending, and use that amount to help pay for his rent and groceries.

But, and here's the big caveat, money in a 529 only comes out tax free if it's used for tuition, books, room, board, and other reasonable expenses. So a 529 can't be tapped to cover a summer language camp in Montreal, for instance. So just be very aware of the limitations of a 529, and if what you'd rather have for your grandchildren is money available for enrichment kinds of things, then a 529 is not what you'd want.

You are a wonderful grandmother.