<p>Anyone can open a 529 for himself/herself. Any state’s plan can be used; you are not obligated to attend college in the state of the plan. Look for funds with the lowest fees; they might not be your state funds anyway.</p>
<p>You have a choice of how to invest the funds; most plans have age-based funds where the assets are allocated across a broad class of investments. Most plans also have a money market-type option where the funds are basically kept in cash; those have little upside, but the capital will not be lost so they’re very risk-free. Those who lost money in their 529s 2-3 years ago were probably weighted more in stocks than in cash accounts. You can choose how the funds are invested.</p>