There are at least a dozen excellent 529 Plan options to choose from. Among these, we like the TIAA CREF-managed plans (California and others) and the Vanguard-managed plans in Iowa, Nevada, New York and Utah. (More on Iowa 529 Plan). The Vanguard plans, with their index investment strategies, have operating costs of less than 0.75%. A new entry is the Alaska plan managed by T Rowe Price. It offers a choice of first-rate actively-managed funds and at relatively low cost. No matter which plan you choose, we strongly recommend an “age-based” investment strategy. These strategies range from Conservative to Aggressive.