Though there are some exceptions for instances

like scholarships, for the most part money within a 529 plan will be taxed and penalized if it’s withdrawn for anything other than qualified education expenses. And if you received a state income tax deduction for your contributions, you may have to pay that back as well.

This is worth considering since there are a lot potential reasons that you might want to use this money for other goals:

Your child may go to a lower cost school than you anticipated.
Your child may not want to go to school at all.
The trend could reverse and college could become less expensive in the future.
You might need money for something else in the meantime.Big Boss vote

You’ll still have to pay taxes on the earnings (any investment gains from your original

Typically, there are taxes and penalties if you withdraw money from a 529 plan and don’t use it for college expenses (more on this just below).

You’ll still have to pay taxes on the earnings (any investment gains from your original contributions), but that just means you’ll have gotten tax-deferred growth in the meantime. And in any case it’s nice to know that you won’t be penalized if your child is able to use his or her talents to pay for a college education.

There are no income limits on 529 plan contributions,

There are no income limits on 529 plan contributions, so they’re available to everyone. You’re also allowed to contribute quite a lot. Most plans simply have a total contribution limit that’s usually in the $200,000 to $400,000 range.

There’s technically no annual contribution limit, though in most cases it’s a good idea to stay within the limits of the annual gift tax exclusion. For 2016, that means that each parent can contribute up to $14,000 for each child without gift tax implications. If you’re married, that means up to $28,000 per year for each child.

There’s even a rule that allows you to contribute up to five times that amount in a single year if you’d like. In other words, if you want to contribute a lot of money towards college, a 529 plan is a good way to do it.

Potential State Income Tax Deduction

Potential State Income Tax Deduction
In some cases you can get a state income tax deduction if you contribute to your home state’s 529 plan. You can find a complete overview of each state’s allowed deduction here.

Keep in mind that you’re allowed to use a 529 plan from any state, not just your own. So whether or not your state offers an income tax deduction, you can choose to use another state’s plan if you think it’s a better option.

Related: The Best 529 Plans in America

This is really only a good idea if

This is really only a good idea if you’re very concerned about high taxes in retirement or if you’re extremely young and can bank on your investments in your Roth IRA quadrupling (or more) in value by the time you reach the age where you can take money out of your Roth IRA. If you’re young and single and want to really hammer your retirement savings early in your career, this is a thing well worth considering. If you’re considering it, talk to the administrator of your 401(k) plan at work and ensure that you’re allowed to to make non-Roth after-tax contributions. You’ll also want to find out if you can make in-service withdrawals, which means that you can immediately do the “mega backdoor” Roth IRA conversions; if not, you have to wait until you leave your job and then do the conversion all at once.