How Much College Savings You Should Have by Age

The College Savings by Age Rule of Thumb

A college savings rule of thumb turns one large number, your total cost target, into four smaller checkpoints tied to your child's age. Pick your target first: the cost of an in-state public school, a private school, or something in between. Then apply the same four checkpoints to that number.

Here is the benchmark:

• By age 5: about 20% of your target saved.
• By age 10: about 50% of your target saved.
• By age 15: about 80% of your target saved.
• By age 18: the full target saved.

The curve is not a straight line on purpose. A dollar saved when your child is a baby has 18 years to grow, so it does more work than a dollar saved at 15. Families who start late are not doomed. A bigger monthly contribution in the last few years can still close a real gap, just not the whole gap through growth alone.

When we reviewed this rule of thumb ourselves, the detail families miss most is that building the habit of saving something every month, even a small amount, counts more in the early years than hitting the dollar figure exactly. The percentage catches up once contributions grow with income.

These percentages describe today's dollars, the cost if your child started college this year. Real tuition tends to rise faster than everyday prices, so a target set in today's dollars will look low by the time your child actually enrolls. Our 529 savings calculator lets you plug in a future tuition-inflation rate and see the adjusted number in real terms.

Why In-State Public and Private Costs Point to Different Targets

An in-state public college costs roughly half of a private nonprofit college, so the two targets should never share one savings plan. The College Board's own Trends in College Pricing report puts the average total cost of attendance, tuition, fees, room and board, books, and personal expenses, for the 2025-26 school year at about $29,910 a year for an in-state public four-year school. A private nonprofit four-year school runs about $62,570 a year over the same period.

Multiply each figure by four years and the gap turns into real money. A public in-state degree lands near $120,000. A private degree lands near $250,000, more than double. Out-of-state public tuition sits in between, closer to the private number than most families expect, since a public school with no in-state discount can cost nearly as much as a private one once room and board are added.

Pick one target early, even a rough one. The age-based percentages only work once you know what number they are a percentage of. Most families plan around the in-state public figure and treat anything beyond that, a private school, an out-of-state acceptance, as a stretch goal covered by loans, aid, or a change in plans. That is a reasonable default. It keeps the monthly contribution affordable, and a public school remains the outcome for most students regardless of what a family saves toward.

Milestones in Dollars for Ages 5, 10, 15, and 18

Applying the 20/50/80/100 curve to both cost targets shows exactly how far apart the two savings paths really are. A family saving toward an in-state public school and a family saving toward a private school are running two different races, even though both use the same formula.

For a $120,000 in-state public target:

• Age 5: about $24,000 saved.
• Age 10: about $60,000 saved.
• Age 15: about $96,000 saved.
• Age 18: about $120,000 saved.

For a $250,000 private target:

• Age 5: about $50,000 saved.
• Age 10: about $125,000 saved.
• Age 15: about $200,000 saved.
• Age 18: about $250,000 saved.

The private-school family needs to save more than double at every single checkpoint. That gap does not close on its own. A family aiming for a private school but contributing at the public-school pace will land closer to the public target at 18. Closing that gap takes higher contributions, financial aid, merit scholarships, or a lower-cost first two years.

What to Do If You Are Behind Schedule

Falling behind one of these checkpoints is common, and it is fixable in more than one way. Most families do not save in a straight line. A layoff, a move, or a second child can knock a plan off track for a year or more. That does not mean the goal is out of reach.

A few moves close the gap:

1. Raise the monthly contribution. Even $50 more a month, invested for 5 to 10 more years, compounds into thousands more by 18.
2. Lower the target itself. Community college for the first two years, then a transfer to a four-year school, can cut the total bill by tens of thousands of dollars while producing the same degree.
3. Apply for aid you have not requested yet. Filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens the door to grants and work-study, not just loans, and many state and school-specific scholarships use the same form.
4. Accept a smaller share of the total cost. Covering half the bill and letting the rest come from federal loans, a part-time job, or the student's own savings is still a workable plan.

None of these require catching up to the original number by 18. The goal is a plan you can fund. The percentage on a chart is only a starting point.

Why Retirement Savings Should Come Before College Savings

Retirement savings should come before college savings because a family can borrow for college and cannot borrow for retirement. A federal Direct Loan, a Parent PLUS loan, a private student loan, a scholarship, or a work-study job can all help cover a tuition bill that falls short. Retirement has no equivalent loan. Social Security replaces only part of a pre-retirement paycheck, a 401(k) loan just moves money out of your own account and has to be repaid, and a reverse mortgage taps home equity rather than adding new money.

This is why the standard order of operations puts retirement first. Capture a full employer 401(k) match before adding a single dollar to a 529. A match is an immediate, guaranteed return that a college account cannot match. Build a starter emergency fund next, so a car repair or a medical bill does not force an early withdrawal from either account. Only after those two boxes are checked does it make sense to fund a 529 or another education account at the pace this rule of thumb describes.

A Roth IRA sits between the two goals. Contributions can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free for any reason, including college, while any money left untouched keeps growing toward retirement. Some families use a Roth IRA as a second account for exactly this reason: it does not force a choice between the two goals as hard as a 529 does.

Who This Approach Is Not For

This age-based savings formula is not for a family carrying high-interest debt or one that has not started retirement savings yet. Credit card debt at 20% or more in interest costs more every month than any 529 account is likely to earn, so paying that down comes first, dollar for dollar. A household with no retirement contributions at all is in a similar spot. Money put into a child's 529 before the parents' own retirement is funded can turn into a bigger bill later, when that same child may need to help support them. A family without even a starter emergency fund should build that first too. An unfunded emergency forces most early withdrawals from a 529 or a retirement account, and both carry a tax penalty on the way out.

What Would Change This Answer

A large enough shift in a child's path can move the entire target, not just the dollar amount inside it. A student who earns a merit scholarship worth several thousand dollars a year, or a full-ride award, reduces the family's real cost well below the public or private figures used here. Continuing to save at the original pace stops making sense once that award is confirmed. A student who chooses a two-year community college route, a trade program, or a state school with a tuition guarantee changes the target the same way, often by tens of thousands of dollars.

Family size changes the plan too. A 529 account can be transferred to a sibling without tax consequence, so a family with more than one child sometimes saves toward a shared, lower per-child target rather than a full amount for each. Military service also changes it. The education benefits that come with it can replace a large share of a four-year target on their own.

Treat every number here as a starting point. Adjust it as the real picture comes into focus, instead of treating it as a fixed rule to hit exactly. Run your own numbers with the 529 savings calculator to see how your college savings compare at each age, today.

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