529 Tips

Regina McCann Hess | Aug 13, 2025

Main Episode Description:

Welcome back to another edition of Women and Wealth! This week, Regina is coming at you with lots of tips for parents using the 529 plan to pay for college – as well as how you (actually) use the 529 to pay for college.

Additionally, Regina shares her own experience using the 529, how she’s deployed it and what she’s learned along the way.

With tuition bills just around the corner, this episode is a necessary refresher to make sure that your 529 (and your plan) is primed for success.

Listen To The Episode Here:

Episode Highlights:

0:00 - Introduction

0:32 - Episode beginning, 529 plans

2:25 - 529 plan earnings, how are they invested?

5:09 - How account owners have control

9:01 - 529 plans owned by grandparents

11:07 - Withdrawals are free from federal taxes IF..

13:05 - What is a non-qualified withdrawal?

14:40 - How do we pay using the 529?

19:32 - IRS Form 1099-Q

23:25 - Call to Action

ABOUT REGINA MCCANN HESS

Regina is the author of Super Woman Wealth: How to Become Your Own Financial Hero. As an advocate for women’s financial freedom, she wrote this book to help empower women to take a bigger role in handling their money.

Regina has appeared on Schwab TV, Yahoo Finance, Forbes.com, NTD Television, CBS 3 Philadelphia, Fox 29 Philadelphia, King 5 Seattle, KTLA 5 Los Angeles and Scripps News. She has also been quoted in numerous articles in publications such as Forbes, Business Insider, U.S. News & World Report, Yahoo Finance, USA Today, USA Wire, Word in Black, WTOP News, Mind Body Green, Money Digest, New York Post, Defender, Authority Magazine, GoBankingRates.com, Scripps and The Muse.

As Founder of Forge Wealth Management, Regina utilizes her 25+ years of financial services experience to help individuals plan, preserve and diversify their wealth. She focuses on educating her clients while building long-term relationships with them and their families. Her experience throughout major shifts in the markets, enables Regina to structure balanced portfolios to address specific financial goals.