When Should You Start Saving for College?

The best time to start saving for college was the day your child was born. The second best time is today.

You've probably heard some version of that before. It's true, but it's not very useful if you're sitting here with a ten-year-old wondering if you've already blown it. So let's look at what the math actually says about starting at different points — and what you can do if you're getting a late start.

What Starting Early Actually Buys You

Compound interest is the reason starting early matters so much, and it's worth seeing the numbers rather than just hearing the principle.

Say your goal is $100,000 saved by the time your child starts college. Here's roughly what you'd need to contribute monthly, assuming a 6% average annual return:

• Starting when your child is a newborn (18 years): about $270/month
• Starting at age 5 (13 years): about $430/month
• Starting at age 10 (8 years): about $780/month
• Starting at age 13 (5 years): about $1,430/month
• Starting at age 15 (3 years): about $2,570/month

The difference between starting at birth versus age 10 is roughly $510 per month — for the same $100,000 outcome. That's the price of waiting a decade.

What those numbers also show: starting at 10 is still meaningfully better than starting at 13, and starting at 13 is still better than starting at 15. Every year of additional compounding helps. "Too late to bother" is almost never true.

The Sweet Spot Nobody Talks About

Most of the advice about college savings focuses on the very beginning — open a 529 when your baby comes home from the hospital. But there's a period that often gets overlooked: the middle years, roughly ages 8-12.

This is when many families have more financial stability than they did with a newborn. Childcare costs are dropping. Careers are further along. You might finally have some breathing room in the monthly budget. And you still have 6-10 years of compounding ahead of you — which is genuinely meaningful.

If you've been meaning to start but haven't, and your kid is somewhere in elementary or middle school, this is actually a great time to begin. You're not too late. The accounts have real time to grow. And you can often make up ground by contributing more consistently than you might have been able to in the newborn years when expenses were higher.

If You're Starting Late

Let's define "late" as starting when your child is in high school — say, 13 or older, with fewer than 5 years until college.

The math gets harder, but it doesn't become useless. A few realities:

A 529 still makes sense even with a short runway. Even three years of tax-free growth is better than zero. And if you overfund slightly, you can roll unused balances to a Roth IRA for your child (as of 2024 rules) or transfer to a sibling.

You probably can't save enough to cover everything — and that's okay. Adjust your target. Maybe the goal is covering 40% of costs from savings, with the rest coming from income during college years, financial aid, and some responsible borrowing. A partial plan that you can actually execute is worth more than a perfect plan that's mathematically impossible.

Consider front-loading contributions aggressively in the years just before college. If your child is 15 and you have two or three years before they start, putting $10,000-$15,000 into a 529 in year one is more valuable than spreading smaller contributions over several years. The earlier dollars compound longest.

Look at other liquid assets. Maybe you have a brokerage account, some cash savings, or assets you've been meaning to invest. These can be redirected toward college costs even if they're not in a designated college account. The account type matters less than the amount saved.

The Order of Priority Question

One thing that comes up for families starting late: should I cut retirement contributions to save more for college?

In almost every case, the answer is no. This sounds harsh, but it's the right call.

Your retirement accounts have tax advantages that can't be undone once a year passes. There are no loans available for retirement. Your children can borrow for college at reasonable rates and pay it off over time — that's a real and legitimate option. You cannot borrow your way through your seventies.

The one exception some advisors make: if your retirement savings are genuinely on track and you have excess cash flow, directing some of it toward college rather than taxable savings makes sense. But retirement contributions shouldn't be the source.

What to Do Right Now

If you haven't started, open a 529 this week. Not this month — this week. You don't need to fund it immediately. Most states let you open an account with as little as $25-$50. Getting the account open removes the friction. You can add money over time.

Then use a calculator to find your real monthly number — not a generic estimate but one based on your specific child's age, your target, and any accounts you already have. The Fair College Funding Calculator does this for free, and if you have multiple kids it handles the full multi-child picture including overlap years.

Once you have a number, set up an automatic monthly transfer to the 529. Automatic is the key word. The families who successfully fund college savings are rarely the ones who remember to transfer money manually each month. They're the ones who set it up once and forget about it.

The bottom line: the right time to start was earlier. The right time to start if you haven't yet is now. The math gets harder with every year you wait, but it never becomes hopeless until you give up.