College Savings Calculator

Project your 529 balance and find out how much to save monthly to cover tuition costs.

🎓 College Savings (529)
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529 College Savings Plans

A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged savings account specifically for education expenses. Named after Section 529 of the IRS code, these plans offer powerful benefits for families saving for college.

Key Tax Benefits

  • Tax-free growth: Investment earnings grow without federal taxes.
  • Tax-free withdrawals: Qualified education expenses are completely tax-free.
  • State tax deductions: Most states offer a deduction or credit for contributions (check your state).

What Are Qualified Expenses?

Tuition, fees, room & board, books, supplies, computers, and K-12 tuition (up to $10,000/year). Thanks to the SECURE 2.0 Act (2024), unused 529 funds can now be rolled over into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary (up to $35,000 lifetime, after 15 years of account ownership).

Superfunding a 529

You can front-load 5 years of annual gift tax exclusions into a 529 at once — $18,000 × 5 = $90,000 per parent ($180,000 from a couple) without gift tax consequences. This gives your money more years of tax-free compounding.

Average College Costs (2024–2025)

  • 4-year public university (in-state): ~$27,146/year
  • 4-year public university (out-of-state): ~$45,708/year
  • 4-year private university: ~$59,003/year
  • 2-year community college: ~$10,000–$15,000/year

Source: College Board "Trends in College Pricing" 2024–2025.

FAQs

You can: (1) change the beneficiary to another family member, (2) use it for trade school or vocational programs (also qualified), (3) roll up to $35,000 into a Roth IRA (SECURE 2.0), or (4) withdraw non-qualified funds (pay taxes + 10% penalty on earnings only, not contributions). 529s are more flexible than ever.
Parent-owned 529s count as a parental asset on the FAFSA, reducing aid eligibility by up to 5.64% of the account value (much less than student-owned assets at 20%). Grandparent-owned 529s have been improved under the new FAFSA rules (2024) and no longer count as student income.
As early as possible. You can even open one before your child is born (use yourself as beneficiary, change it later). Every extra year of tax-free compounding matters significantly. A $5,000 investment at birth grows to over $40,000 by age 18 at 6% — without adding a dollar more.
There's no annual contribution limit set by law, but you should stay within the annual gift tax exclusion ($18,000/person in 2025) to avoid gift tax implications, unless you use the 5-year superfunding election. Each state sets its own account balance limit (typically $300,000–$550,000).

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