College Savings Planner

You can use this calculator to determine the monthly savings deposit required to build a college savings fund sufficient to pay a designated percentage of projected college costs. The calculator computes values for taxable and tax-free college savings accounts and assumes the taxpayer makes savings deposits at the beginning of each month until the start of the final year of college.

To open this calculator, click Calculators in the toolbar, and then click Personal Finance > College Savings Planner in the left panel.

You can export the data as a PDF file or clear all data that you entered. For more information, see Financial calculators.

Example

What are the total funds necessary to send a newborn to a four-year university costing $50,000 a year, where the cost of college tuition rises 2.3% per year using a non-taxable section 529 plan?

Field Input
Years until higher education begins 18
Years of higher education 4
Annual college cost (in Today's Dollars) $50,000
% of cost to be funded by savings (goal) 100%
College cost inflation factor 2.3%
Rate of return on college funds 6.25%
Combined federal and state tax rate 28%

In this example, available funds total $311,706. To reach the goal of accumulating enough savings in 18 years, a taxpayer must save $662 per month in a tax-free savings account or $799 per month in a taxable savings account.

Internal notes


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