NEW YORK (Money magazine) -- Q: My wife and I could use the funds in our 5-year-old son's money-losing Ohio state 529 account to pay off my wife's $25,000 Stafford loan. Any reason not to? -- Joseph Kim, Sandusky, Ohio
A: Yes.
Pillaging your kid's account means you'll have to start from square one for saving for his education, says Kalman Chany, author of "Paying for College Without Going Broke."
Also, you'd be disallowed any Ohio state income tax deduction you took in years you funded the account (or planned to carry over for future years), which means you might have to cough up several hundred dollars.
You don't have to worry about federal income taxes or penalties on withdrawals, however, since the account has lost money. 
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