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College 529s
One card per child projecting their 529 to high-school graduation and comparing it with the cost of college. The section is hidden if the plan has no children.
The Budget buttons at the top of the section are the same as in Budgeting: switching here switches everywhere.
| Control | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Monthly contribution | Read-only: the child's 529 line in Budgeting › Savings, where it can be a fixed amount, % left or rest. The balance today comes from Settings. |
| School | School type buttons (e.g. Public in-state, Private). Picking one sets the cost. |
| Cost per year today | Full cost of attendance (tuition, housing, food) in today's dollars. Edit it to fine-tune. |
| Investment return | Expected yearly return of the 529. |
| College cost inflation | How fast college costs grow each year (historically faster than general inflation). |
Click a preset to set both sliders at once, then fine-tune. A preset is highlighted while both sliders match it. The list starts with:
| Preset | Return | College cost growth |
|---|---|---|
| Pessimistic | 4% | 5% |
| Mid (starting point) | 6% | 4% |
| Optimistic | 8% | 3% |
Edit presets turns the list into rows you can change: label, return and inflation. × removes
one (the starting ones too), + Add preset adds one with the current slider values, Done
finishes. You can keep any number of presets, or none. The list is shared by every child's card and
saved with the plan; the first time, it comes from assumptions.college.presets.
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Covered | 529 at graduation ÷ total cost of college, with a bar (green at 100%+). |
| 529 at graduation | Today's balance plus contributions, grown monthly at the return rate. |
| N-year cost | The yearly cost grown to each college year and added up. |
| Surplus / shortfall | The difference, in future dollars… |
| …in today's dollars | …and converted back at the college-cost growth rate. |
| Monthly needed to fully fund | The contribution that would make the shortfall zero. |
Formulas: How the Numbers Work.
Each card shows when the child finishes high school. It's the hs_graduation month you set, or, if
empty, June of the year they reach the graduation age (18 by default). These are the years of saving
before the money is spent. Contributions stop then, and
Spending Over Time counts the child as "out" from then.
The school types, their costs, the starting presets, the graduation age and the number of college
years are in Settings › Assumptions (or assumptions.college in the
config).
- Costs are full cost of attendance with no financial aid or scholarships.
- The comparison uses the balance on graduation day and ignores growth while the money is spent during college.
- Some schools lock tuition per entering class, so real costs may come in a little lower.