Steve's barking;My experience with the 529 plan

When NYS came out offered the saving plan for college ( 529 plan) my wife  and I signed up deducting $25 from each of our pay. We were payed every other week. For those who are math challenged that's $1,300 a year. My wife saved for 5 years and I for 7. ( My wife retired early).
When my daughter went to a city university it paid for the first year. She was excepted to a state university and the 529 paid for the first one and half semester including room and board with books.
The 529 certainly helped this lower middle income ( middle class ) family. My family income when my daughter started college was $80,000 a year.
With my daughter an RA and working while at school her debt was negligible when she graduated.

A 529 program forced  my family to save for college was like my IRA, I couldn't use it for anything else but it's intended purpose.

If my daughter had stayed at the city university the whole four years including books would have been payed for.