Ready to start saving for college for your child? Its never too soon, and every little cent counts down the line. The world of financial aid and FAFSAs, scholarships and EFC are crazy and confusing. SO how do you know how and how much to start saving for college. What is a Education Savings Account. Every parent says they want to start a college fund for their child, but where to store it: under a mattress, in a Swiss bank account? You don’t want to have tax penalties but you want to earn the maximum for your child. There are so many options. As a parent, I can say that it is most confusing. An education 529 savings plan is probably one of the easiest routes and is most commonly chosen. Free grant money and scholarships are out there for your childs education, but it doesn’t always foot the bill completely, unless your child is a genius. When I graduated High School many moons ago, I filed all my financial aid documents to the school of my choice, and I remember that I got some free grants, the majority of my package included $12,000 in loans between myself and my mother. For four year!  $12,000. Needless to say I went to community college. But if my mom had known about a education 529 plan, maybe the loan burden wouldn’t have been so high. I mean can you imagine, 4 years of college, a Bachelors Degree and $48,000 in debt, oh yeah, and no job to speak of yet. That’s a great way to start out.