At the American Baby Faire this weekend I learned that I can go ahead and open a 529 account under my name and then once our baby is born make him or her the beneficiary. We have already started putting money aside, but didn’t think we could actually open an account until we had a social security number for our child.

This is fabulous for so many reasons! First and foremost we can go ahead and get started saving money for our child’s education. Second of all we can enjoy the state tax deduction for the 2008 tax year before our child is even born. Not to mention that family and friends can go ahead and begin contributions as well.

We only plan on putting in about $2000 each year, since that is all we can take as a deduction on our state taxes, but I am thrilled that Georgia allows the $2000 deduction.

Find out about the Georgia 529 Plan here.