529 plans and college savings, in the order to read them

How much to save for your kid each month: a dollar a day from birth to 18 grows to about $348,300 by 65 at 7%. $100 a month from birth reaches $43,072 at 18.

Should I save for retirement or my kid's college? We ran $150 a month 5 ways. With a 50% match it hit $96,912 by the kid's 18. The 529 alone hit $64,608.

We ran $150 a month through both for 18 years. For college, the 529 nets $64,608 and the Trump Account $62,922.

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Run your own numbers through a Trump Account, a 529 and a custodial Roth IRA. We tax the exit at 18 and at 60 and show what each one nets.

UTMA vs 529, run on the same $150 a month. The kiddie tax drag came out at $0. The 4-year FAFSA gap came out at $21,323. Here is what each one nets.

UGMA vs UTMA: what each can hold and when the kid gets it. We read 5 state statutes and priced the handover: $64,608 at 18, $105,311 at 25.

A baby's Roth cap is $0 until the kid earns pay. We ran both, plus the 529 to Roth IRA rollover worth up to $35,000.

Why 529 plans are a bad idea, tested in dollars: we priced 6 common objections on $150 a month. 4 fall apart. 2 hold, and the math shows when.

No single plan wins for every family. We ran state deductions against fees: a 0.49-point fee gap costs about $3,167 by 18 on $150 a month.

A 529 plan for a grandchild can sit in the grandparent's name or the parent's. On $150 a month for 18 years, that moves the Student Aid Index by up to $3,644.

The annual gift tax exclusion for 2026 is $19,000 per giver, per kid. Math on what 2 grandparents can give, 529 superfunding and when Form 709 kicks in.

On the 2027-28 FAFSA a parent 529 is reported at question 40 and adds at most 5.64% of its value. A kid's UTMA adds 20%.

The 529 plan withdrawal penalty is 10% of the earnings, not the balance. We ran $150 a month for 18 years: cashing out $64,608 costs $7,086 at a 12% rate.