Did your little darling just start to walk? Punch a few figures into collegeboard.com, just one of the numerous calculators online, and you'll soon be staring at a four-year price tag that starts at $127,000 for a public university, including room and board, and climbs to $273,000 if Hank or Hannah opts for private instead.

  Worse, those figures optimistically assume costs will inflate only 5 percent annually. Over the last three years, college price tags have compounded by 5.7 percent per year at private schools and 6.6 percent to 9.8 percent at public ones.

  But we're not here just to spotlight depressing problems. Of course, a savings strategy (combined with begging for scholarships) is mandatory, and that's where 529 plans come in. Not-so-sexy name notwithstanding, these plans have attracted droves of devotees since a 2001 tax change allowed educational investments to be withdrawn tax-free. By early 2006, investments in 529s totaled an estimated $75 billion, according to the nonprofit College Savings Foundation. And the Financial Research Corporation, a Boston consulting firm, estimates that 6.5 million Americans hold at least one 529 savings account. Contact for complete article.