I know, I know, try ignorance. But I do think education is expensive. Especially when the cute little calculator on savingforcollege.com just told me I should start packing away $623 a month for the next 17 years if I want my child to receive a college education (well actually, I have two weeks until he's born).

They should call them 623 plans and not 529 plans. I can't open the account just quite yet because then I would have to name the beneficiary. That would mean Charles Schwab would know my son's name before my mom and then I'd surely miss being invited to next Sunday's dinner.

I'm trying to do the right thing here by planning early and saving often. I think just the simple act of putting aside money each month as our son grows up will be helpful to his education. It will keep us ever mindful of our educational goal.

I'd like to set it up to be an automatic investment. Just like Ron Popeil says, "Set it and forget it." I'll also have to pick one of 10 investment flavors. My man Charles Schwab doesn't want me to get too "willie nillie" with the education money if you know what I mean. I could just pick the date that he'll graduate high school and Schwab will do the rest. Makes you wonder what the management fees are on those things. It looks like Schwab has got to put his kids through college too.