If you're ever feeling like a good scare, skip the horror movies and go take a look at the cost for a year's tuition at any private or public university — they're terrifying. 

 
Public schools charge on average more than $7,500 for a year's tuition, and chances are, if your children are young now, those tuition fees will look like a pittance in comparison to the cost of a college education in 10 or 15 years.
 
If you haven't already, now is the time to start socking it away for your children's college education. Even if you can't pay for all of it, at least you can pay or some of it.
 
Sure, it's tempting to believe your child will be able to get an academic, athletic or artistic scholarship, but chances are you'll need a more grounded financial plan. That's where a 529 account comes into play.
 
A 529 plan (named for the section of the IRS code that allows for them) is a tax-deferred savings plan that lets you put aside money for college education at universities across the nation. It doesn't matter if the school is out of state, just so long as it qualifies under the 529 plan.
 
When your child is ready to attend school, you are not taxed 529 money used to pay for his or her education, but your child could be. It depends on how much is distributed to your child. If the amount falls below the annual gift exclusion limit (currently $13,000), then your child's funds will not be taxed. Fortunately, this is likely the case for most of us.
 
And for you, the donor, you can protect between $13,000 and $65,000 of your money in annual contributions from being taxed. Or, you can opt to treat a contribution as though it were made over fiver years. This offers a tremendous level of flexibility in terms of sheltering your money.
 
If the 529 funds are not used at the time of withdrawal, you can still withdraw, and only the earnings will be taxed a 10 percent penalty. However, if the reason you didn't need the 529 plan was because your child received a scholarship, then you can claim an exemption from that penalty. Similarly, if your child experienced a tragedy and was killed or disabled in such a way that he or she was unable to attend college, you could claim an exemption, as well.
 
Don't wait to see what tuition is like five, 10 or 15 years from now before you decide how you are going to approach funding your child's college education. Go online or talk to your financial planner to review some of the best performing 529 plans on the market and start one up today. Even if you start small, you will have a huge impact on your child's future.