@THATmanMANNY, good advice above
find a financial planner to find the best 529 for your situation, we used Nevada if I recall, but very limited since too much in 529 will effect financial aid. I highly recommend
@Bike N Gear 's strategy to use family to feed into 529s for you since they don't look at the financials outside of the immediate family. At the end of day the school doesn't care who writes the checks to them. We also bought a bunch of bonds for them till they were about 5. Matures just when they need it the most, last year in school or graduate school if they go the route.
Also financial aid is sham for those living in the tri-state. Sucks that we have to compete with families who live in Nebraska in houses twice our size with half of the income.