529 Money --Too Much?

[Anonymous]

I'm a single mom with one child and this is an issue I've been trying to wrestle with. I don't have a second child to transfer the funds to. My mom passed away recently and I have a lump sum of money from selling her house and I'm trying to figure out how much to put into my son's 529. I only had about 40K in his 529 before this. He's 12. I already took $50K and put it in so now there is $90K in there now. I was previously only putting in $5000/year. I don't want to miss out on qualifying for financial aid if I can so I was planning on maxing out my retirement before putting more into his 529 but I still am confused about what would be a good amount to aim for. And not sure if I should pay down my mortgage before putting more in.

Any advice?

[Anonymous]

To PP, please invest in your own retirement and/or mortgage before putting any more in the 529. While we all want great things for our kids, there is a point where you have to look out for yourself. If you have $90,000 now and keep investing $5-7k a year for the next 6-10 years, you'll probably have enough to cover 60-75% of your son's college expenses. That's pretty good.

Just remember: he can find other ways to pay for college. You can't find another way to pay for retirement. And the fact you don't have another income to fall back on makes it more important that you secure your future. Yeah it's a burden to take on some student loans. But it's also a burden to be in your early 30s, trying to support an elderly parent who's run out of money.