<prompt> Human: I recently began following this sub and doing some reading on where I should be putting my money. Unfortunately my employer does not offer 401k, but I have maxed out my Traditional IRA for the last few years, contribute to an HSA every pay check and have some cash reserves, but the bulk of my net worth is in an individual, taxable brokerage account. I was trying to figure out what to do besides this.While reading about tax-advantaged accounts I came across the 529 account for education. Now am I recently single, 28 years old, unmarried with no sign of children in the near future. Is it a good or bad idea for me to open a 529 at this stage? Will I needlessly be locking away my money, or is it never to early to start planning? What happens if I end up with more than I need in the 529 after 20 years? What if I never have kids? Anything else to think about when getting into this kind of a situation?  <response>: 529 money can only be used for education expense otherwise you pay a penalty. Should you contribute? I guess that depends on how likely you think you, as a single 28 year old, will have kids and want to pay for their college. Id personally wait until I have a significant other and you start talking about having kids. 