I want to start investing is a 529 plan. Is it necessary to have a child first or can you start at anytime?

Answer 1

In order to invest in a 529 plan, you must have a beneficiary child. Does not have to be your child. Can be a siblings or relatives. You can start the plan for that child and then if that child does not attend college, you can change the beneficiary of that 529 plan to another. You remain the custodian of those assets and thus the decision maker but you should realize that starting a plan for another child, not yours, and then when you have a child, change beneficiaries of the 529 plan to your child could be viewed as unfair. If you were to do something like this you should have a thorough discussion with the parents of the related child.

Answer 2

It is not necessary to have a child before investing in a 529. When you establish the account, you can name yourself as both owner and beneficiary and then change the beneficiary to the child once he or she is born and has a social security number.

When you set up the account, make sure that you're not setting it up as a custodial 529 account. This will allow you to change the account beneficiary at any time as long as you are changing it to a member of the family of the original beneficiary.

Answer 3

A 529 plan must have a qualifying person listed as beneficiary. I would take from that, that you do actually need to have a dependent in mind in order to set up a 529 plan.

You can invest money regularly in normal investment vehicles for now, and establish a 529 after you've had your child.