College Savings Calculator (529 Planning)
Enter your child's age, your target, and what's saved so far. You'll get the monthly amount that reaches the goal by enrollment, with growth doing its share of the lifting.
4-year total you want ready
Keeps the target in today's dollars; 4% suits age-based mixes
Monthly amount needed
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Enter a savings target
You'll have contributed
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Years until enrollment
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Starting early beats saving hard
Run the same $100,000 target through this calculator twice. From age 3, at a 4% real return, it asks for roughly $405 a month. From age 12, the ask jumps to about $1,230, three times the monthly lift for the same diploma. Nothing about the family's income changed; only the number of months compounding gets to work. This is the general shape of compound interest: the early dollars are the cheap ones. Even $50 a month opened in the newborn year buys down the teenage-years panic at a steep discount.
The 529, in one honest paragraph
A 529 plan is the standard vehicle for this money: contributions grow tax-free and come out tax-free for qualified education costs, many states sweeten it with a deduction, and age-based portfolios handle the stocks-to-bonds glide path automatically. The honest part: fees vary by state plan and are worth checking, non-qualified withdrawals give back the tax break with a penalty on earnings, and the flexibility valves (beneficiary swaps, the scholarship exception, limited Roth rollovers) cover most but not all what-ifs. For money needed within a couple of years, a high-yield savings account is the simpler home.
Retirement still outranks college
The order of operations matters more than the account choice: emergency fund, employer match, high-interest debt, retirement, then college, a sequence our save-or-invest guide walks through. College has loans, grants, work-study, and two-years-community-college paths; retirement has none of those. Once the monthly number above is set, it becomes one more named goal alongside the others, which is exactly how Stoia treats it: a target, a date, and a monthly pace you can actually see against your real accounts. The savings goal calculator runs the same math for any other target with a deadline.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I save for college?
There's no single number; sticker prices range from roughly $25,000 a year all-in at an in-state public school to more than double that at private colleges, and many families pay less after aid and scholarships. A common approach is targeting a third to a half of the projected 4-year cost, with the rest from current income, aid, and the student.
Why does the calculator ask for a return after inflation?
Because college costs inflate too, historically faster than most prices. Using an after-inflation return keeps your target in today's dollars: whatever tuition becomes, the plan holds. A 4-5% real return is a reasonable planning figure for the stock-heavy early years of an age-based mix, which shifts conservative as enrollment nears.
What is a 529 plan?
A tax-advantaged investment account for education. Money grows tax-free and comes out tax-free for qualified education expenses like tuition, housing, and books, and many states add a deduction or credit for contributions. Non-qualified withdrawals owe income tax plus a 10% penalty on the earnings portion only.
What if my child gets a scholarship or skips college?
529s are more flexible than their reputation. You can change the beneficiary to another family member, withdraw up to the scholarship amount penalty-free (earnings are taxed but not penalized), use funds for trade schools and apprenticeships, or roll a limited lifetime amount into the beneficiary's Roth IRA if the account is old enough and other conditions are met.
Should I save for college before retirement?
Retirement first, almost always. Students can borrow for college at regulated rates and repay over decades of earnings; nobody lends you a retirement. A parent on track for their own future is also the best protection against becoming a financial burden later, which is a bigger gift than a paid tuition bill.
Does this calculator save my numbers?
No. Everything runs in your browser and disappears when you leave. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
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