I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money rehab.

Anyone who tells you money can't buy happiness has never truly been poor, because, sure, while

money doesn't guarantee happiness, not having money is a pretty big bummer.

Now, if you've been listening to the show for a while, you know I did not grow up with

money.

Not only that, but I had an experience with a family member actually opening credit cards

in my name and wrecking my credit before I turned 21.

And while those experiences definitely taught me, you know what would have been easier?

Not having to learn those lessons the hard way.

So today, let's talk about how to set your kids up right for the future.

And don't worry if you don't have kids, I even have a sneaky tip that you can use for

yourself regardless of whether or not you have kids.

Let's start with education, because getting a great college education can have a huge

impact on your kids' eventual income.

But paying for college gets more and more expensive all the time.

And as you may know from personal experience, college debt can really hang over a person's

life well into their career.

So net net going to college can either help or hurt you financially, which makes it really

hard to make what feels like the right decision.

Luckily, there's one kind of investment account that can help you with this.

It's the 529 plan.

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