This week’s Money Management tips focus on saving for college. In a nutshell, the message is this: If you have young children and haven’t started thinking about paying for college, you’d better start.

Let’s use my daughter as an example. She’s about to turn 5, which puts her on track to enter college in 2020. According to The College Board, the total cost of a four-year public university education in 2020 will be $160,341. If she chooses (God help us) a private university, the projected four-year bill will be $345,593.

Which brings us to this week’s tips:

• “Paying for a child’s college education when you’ve failed to save enough” offers advice on how to take advantage of various loans, grants, scholarships and payment plans — and how not to pay for college. “
• “The pros and cons of 529 college savings plans” examines the good and bad points of these increasingly popular savings vehicles.

You’ll find more advice from CPAs about how to save for college here. Spread the word …