First child will be in freshman HS next year and has very little money saved for college

I don’t agree with @“Yankee Belle” on this one.

Make sure your kid signs up for the PSAT in 11th grade for sure. That is the one used to determine National Merit status. It would be good to take the PSAT in 10th grade to get a sense of what the test is all about. I personally see no reason to take the PSAT as a ninth grader…at all.