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10 so far, plus a calculator. Each is a decision that landed on our desk first, run all the way to a number instead of stopping at “it depends”.
Same $150 a month through both. The kiddie tax drag came out at $0, the exit tax at $3,741 and the 4-year FAFSA gap at $23,194.
The same infant room runs $514 a month in Mississippi and $2,123 in DC. Here is every state, plus the 2026 tax rules that shrink the bill.
A baby's Roth IRA cap is $0 until the kid earns real pay. We ran both accounts, plus the 529 to Roth rollover worth up to $35,000.
A parent 529 adds at most 5.64% of its balance to the Student Aid Index. The same money in a UTMA adds 20%. We ran $10,000 and $50,000.
Same money, 3 accounts, taxed at the exit. Set the monthly amount, the birth date, the return and the tax rate, and see what each one nets at 18 and at 60.
One is a retirement account wearing a baby's name. The other is a college account. We ran $150 a month through both for 18 years.
Compounding does not care how much goes in. It cares how long it sits. A dollar a day from birth beats $10 a day started at 38.
Every calculator asks for 12 inputs and returns a number you do not trust. Here is the one-line version, and why the policy at work is not it.
You can use almost any state's 529, whatever state you live in. Most dads open the one their bank suggested and pay for it in fees every year until 18.
It is a guardianship decision wearing a paperwork costume. And your beneficiary designations quietly outrank it.
Everyone wants to buy you something. 4 of those lines are financial decisions in disguise, and the rest is stuff.
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