Financial Disclaimer

Using these tools does not create a client relationship, a fiduciary duty or any other professional relationship. We are not registered investment advisers, tax preparers, accountants or attorneys, and we are not acting as any of those on your behalf.

Every figure the site produces is the arithmetic consequence of assumptions — a return rate, a cost inflation rate, a time horizon — that you supply or accept as defaults. Change an assumption and the answer changes.

• Investment returns are not guaranteed. Markets fall as well as rise, and past performance does not indicate future results.
• College costs are projected from published averages. Your actual school may cost substantially more or less than any average.
• A projection reaching a target does not mean the target will be met. It means the assumptions, if they hold exactly, would produce that figure.

529 tax treatment depends on federal rules, on your state’s rules, on your plan’s terms and on facts about your situation that this site never asks for. The tools model federal treatment where it can be sourced and say so explicitly where it cannot.

Notably, state income tax benefits for contributions are not modelled at all, and several states’ treatment of withdrawals could not be verified against an official source. The methodology page lists these gaps in full.

Confirm any tax consequence with a qualified tax professional and with your plan administrator before you act on it. A withdrawal is difficult to undo.

529 Decision Center is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any 529 plan, plan administrator, state agency, brokerage or financial institution. No plan pays for placement, and no result is influenced by any commercial arrangement.

Where advertising appears on the site it is placed by a third-party advertising network, not selected by us. An advertiser appearing here is not an endorsement, and advertising has no effect whatever on what the tools calculate or how results are ordered.

The site is provided “as is” and without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, 529 Decision Center accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, anything published here. Decisions about your money remain yours, and are best taken with professional advice.