With how they are set up (at least here in VA) the earlier you start with the prepaid plans the more expensive they are but they sort of go in 5 year windows. As of right now It would be around 52k for 4 years of in-state tuition at any of Virginia's schools which I am pretty convinced is going to be much less than college in 18 years considering how much the price of college has been inflating over the last 20 years. Even if it isn't and school is free or our kid doesn't get in (he better ) then we can at least get our money back as it's a risk free account. A quick back of the envelope using 18 years comes out with a 5.6% rate of return on the investment which is pretty damn good.