Background: I'm a 33 year old poker pro with no dependents. I will most likely never have any dependents outside of taking care of my and my longtime girlfriend's retirement.

My sister and her husband are hard working and provide for their 3 daughters, but they don't have enough money to save for their daughter's college yet. The girls are 8, 5, and 2.

My idea is that I will start the 8 year old with the most, and the 5 year old with the next most. Then on their birthday I will contribute their age x 100. I'm hoping to contribute enough so the girls can start out their post-college lives with little or no debt.

I need advise on both the amount I should contribute, as well as the best way to invest. My personnel investment strategy is generally S&P and world index funds. I would like it set up so the girls couldn't use the money for anything except college and I wouldn't be able to withdraw the money, only contribute or maybe move the money to a different investment.

Another consideration is that I would like it to be as advantageous for tax purposes as possible. If that means giving my sister cash and having it in her name, that's okay, so long as she doesn't run into tax problems later.

Thank you for reading. Any advise at at all is very much appreciated.

529 is what you are looking for. They aren't incredibly complicated but I would def have someone (financial adviser) walk you through it.

Do a 529 for each of them. Vanguard had target 529 index plans. Just like a retirement target fund, they slide to more conservative each year as college approaches. Seems like the easiest plan.

Also contributing $800 now and gradually moving up to $1,800 when she's 18 is not going to be anywhere near enough for her to be debt free. Depending on investment returns and her school, that will likely be 1.5 years worth of expenses. Still huge, but just an fyi.

I have a niece who is 14 and I also plan to help her with college. I hope to be able to help at somewhere between 50-100% of costs.