I have one existing 529 – the Nevada plan with Vanguard. I chose that one for 2 reasons: (1) I had existing accounts with Vanguard and (2) the fund had no restrictions of which colleges the money could be used for. The fund has done relatively well.

I am getting ready to start a second 529 for my younger child, but I will probably do this one with the California plan at Fidelity – I have switched most of my funds there since starting the first fund so it makes sense. This one has not been around long enough to really judge it’s performance.

From what I have read/learned the biggest issues are whether you can use the money anywhere and if there are tax breaks in your state. California does not have any tax breaks for using the California 529 plan, so there is not a huge benefit to using that over another if you live here – some states do have tax breaks, so if you live in one of those states it is worth using the state 529.

I am sure there are others here who understand the whole thing a lot better than me though.