For our family, we saved as much as we could in the kids’ 529 plans, with the intent that it was no longer our money (and it isn’t, once it’s in the 529). That set the budget for college. We thought it was helpful for both parents and children to be able to say “you have $x for college” based on the 529, and not worry about a child’s college plans being affected by a parent’s retirement planning or risk of job loss or illness. And we could also tell them that if they ended up choosing a school with lower cost than $x, they would have 529 funds left over for graduate / professional school, or Roth rollover, or whatever.
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