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529 College Savings Calculator

Project a 529 balance to college and compare it with the inflated cost, with the monthly needed to fully fund.

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College Cost CalculatorProjects tuition, housing and food, and books and other costs forward year by year at a cost-inflation rate you set, from the year the student starts through to graduation. Shows the year-by-year table, the first-year and final-year costs and the total, in your currency.Savings calculatorProject your savings from monthly deposits and an interest rate.Savings Goal CalculatorFind out how long it takes to reach a savings goal with regular contributions.Savings rate calculatorCompute what share of your income you save each month.Time to reach a savings goal calculatorFind how long it takes to reach a savings goal from a fixed monthly contribution.Acid-Test (Quick) Ratio CalculatorAdd cash, securities and receivables, divide by current liabilities, and see exactly what excluding inventory and prepaid expenses costs the ratio.Alimony / Spousal Support CalculatorRuns three published US guideline formulas side by side — the AAML 2007 guideline, the New York statutory maintenance formula and the Massachusetts Alimony Reform Act — so the spread between them is visible. Models the duration limits and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act split: agreements executed after 31 December 2018 are no longer deductible to the payer nor taxable to the recipient.Will asset distribution calculatorEstimate how an estate is shared out and what each heir actually receives after duty. Pick the country whose succession law applies: allowances and rate bands differ enormously by relationship, and forced-heirship rules limit what a will can do.

529 College Savings Calculator works straight from this page — free, instant, nothing to install. Its place is under Savings & budgeting; College Cost Calculator and Savings calculator answer the questions closest to this one.

How to use it

  1. Open the tool — no signup or install needed.
  2. Enter your input or adjust the available options.
  3. Get your result instantly, then copy or download it.

Frequently asked questions

What does 529 College Savings Calculator do?

Project a 529 balance to college and compare it with the inflated cost, with the monthly needed to fully fund.

When would I actually use this?

Planning a deposit, a safety net or a large purchase: how much to put aside each month, and how long a target takes at a given rate.

What is the most common mistake?

Reading a nominal rate as if it were real. Inflation is subtracted from the return, not from the capital, so a 3% account during 4% inflation loses purchasing power every year.

How is 529 College Savings Calculator different from College Cost Calculator?

They sit next to each other but answer different questions: College Cost Calculator is the one to open when you need it to projects tuition, housing and food, and books and other costs forward year by year at a cost-inflation rate you set, from the year the student starts through to graduation. Shows the year-by-year table, the first-year and final-year costs and the total, in your currency. Pick whichever matches what you're starting from — both are free.

Is there a tool for the next step?

Savings calculator is the closest one after this: Project your savings from monthly deposits and an interest rate.

What else is worth having open alongside it?

Savings Goal Calculator and Savings rate calculator — they come up in the same task often enough to be worth a second tab.

Where do the figures come from?

Compound interest is arithmetic, so the maths is exact for the rate you enter. Real accounts vary in compounding frequency, tax treatment and whether interest is credited before or after a deposit.

Further reading

All guides →
ExplainerThree Different Rules Get Called "The 529 Rule"Qualified expenses, the K-12 cap and state tax treatment are three separate rules, and only the first two are federal. The K-12 cap doubled to 20,000 dollars for tax years from 2026; a federally qualified withdrawal can still be a state recapture event.ExplainerCollege Costs Compound for Eighteen Years Before Anyone EnrolsA four-year public in-state budget is 30,990 dollars today. Eighteen years out at 4 percent cost inflation the same four years cost 266,593 — 2.15 times the sticker you can see now. And the sticker was never the price: the average net cost of attendance is 21,340.How-toHow Long to Reach a Savings Goal: A Step-by-Step MethodWork out exactly how many months a savings goal will take from your monthly deposit, starting balance and interest rate — with worked examples.How-toHow to Budget on an Irregular IncomeA practical method for freelancers and commission earners: baseline on your lowest month, run a buffer account, and pay yourself a steady salary.ExplainerWhat Is a Good Savings Rate? Benchmarks and Why It MattersYour savings rate decides how fast you reach financial independence. See how to calculate it, what benchmarks to aim for, and why it beats investment returns.ComparisonThe Same Flat, Three Countries: What a Child Really Pays to InheritOne flat worth 400,000 euros, one only child, three countries. France charges tens of thousands. Italy charges nothing. Spain charges anything from nothing to 76,000 euros depending on which of its seventeen regions the parent lived in — and that is not an exaggeration.