Congress originally created the Qualified State Tuition Plan, often referred to as the Sec 529 Plan, as a tax-beneficial incentive for parents, grandparents, and others to save money for an individual’s future college tuition and fees. There is no federal tax deduction for making contributions, but taxes on the earnings within a plan are not only tax-deferred while they are held in the account, they are tax-free when withdrawn to pay for qualified education expenses. Thus, the real tax benefit of these plans is the earnings within the plan accumulating tax-deferred and then being tax-free when withdrawn if used for college tuition and related qualified expenses.