Three ways to save for your child’s future

529 savers can now roll funds into a Roth IRA

One of the key disadvantages of a 529 college savings plan is the possibility a beneficiary doesn’t end up going to college. Nonqualified withdrawals are subject to a 10% penalty. However, as of 2024, the SECURE Act 2.0 started allowing 529 savers to roll over $35K into a Roth IRA.

529s vs. Roth IRA

Roth IRAs and 529 plans both offer tax advantages, but they serve different goals. 529s are state-run accounts meant for education, offering tax-free growth and withdrawals for qualified expenses. Roth IRAs are built for retirement, but can also be tapped for education, with more investment flexibility and fewer contribution limits.

Explore a guide to 529 college savings plans

Investors put after-tax dollars into these education-earmarked accounts, and like a 401(k) or IRA, they invest them into stocks, bonds, or funds. When it comes time to withdraw, investors do not pay any taxes on distributions. However, the money must be used for approved expenses like college tuition, textbooks, and trade schools.

Contributing to a friend’s child’s 529 Account

A podcast listener asks about contributing to a 529 savings plan for their friend’s child. The hosts go over the basics of what a 529 is and how it works, and then give advice on how the listener can contribute, touching on how to have conversations about money with friends.

A parent explains 529 plans and why they decided to start one

The parent explains the basics of what a 529 is, its advantages, and how it works, breaking down portfolio options for investing in 529 plans using Vanguard as a provider.

There are four main types of IRAs to choose from

Those types are traditional, Roth, SEP, and SIMPLE. While all IRAs can help you save for retirement, each type has its own tax advantages and eligibility requirements, such as employment type or income level.

Roth 401(k) plans vs regular 401(k) plans

A normal 401(k) defers tax payments to later, while a Roth requires no tax payments at withdrawal time. Financial experts often recommend investing in a Roth 401(k) plan or Roth IRA when someone first starts their career to lock in a relatively low tax rate.

529 plans can affect college financial aid

Income affects FAFSA financial aid determinations. FAFSA also takes 529 college savings plans into account. The percentage of savings it uses in its calculations depends on who owns the account (parent, student, or someone else). Other schools use a program called CSS to determine financial aid, and those determinations vary.

Having two retirement accounts has its pros and cons

Contributing to both an IRA and a 401(k) lets you increase your retirement savings by about 30% every year. However, you’ll also spend more time actively investing that money and pay more in fees.

You have to earn under a certain gross amount per year to be eligible for a Roth IRA

A Roth IRA might make the most sense for someone confident that they will have a higher income in retirement than they do now. For 2025, those allowed to contribute to a Roth IRA must have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of less than $150K.

If your job doesn’t offer a 401(k), you still have retirement savings options

Do you know more than a third of working adults aren't offered a 401(k) through their jobs? If you're part of that group, you still have options for retirement savings, including IRAs, taxable investment accounts, and more.

Spousal IRAs give spouses who do not work a way to save for retirement

In most cases, only working individuals can open and contribute to an IRA. But the IRS has a special exception for married couples: the spousal IRA. It lets the working spouse open and contribute to an IRA on behalf of their nonworking spouse.

Americans ages 30 to 34 have $44,800 in their 401(k) accounts on average

Americans ages 28 to 44 save about 13.5% of their pretax income on average, which is close to the recommended retirement savings rate of 15%.

The Roth IRA was named after Senator William V. Roth, Jr.

The Roth IRA was established by Senator William Roth in 1997 as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act. Roth IRAs differ from traditional IRAs in that they allow individuals to invest after-tax income for retirement rather than pre-tax income.

Connecticut recently became the first state to create and launch a baby bond program

The program invests $3.2K for a baby born after July 2023, who is covered by the state's Medicaid program. When the child turns 18, they can use the funds for college, retirement, to buy a home, or invest in a business.

There are three main ways to start investing in the bond market

Invest in the boind market through a brokerage, mutual fund or ETF, or the US government. Each has different steps and terms to follow, from starting rates to opening specific accounts. Some bonds are relatively easy to purchase, but the process differs depending on the type of bond you want.

Contrary to popular belief, trusts aren’t only for the wealthy

Trust funds can be expensive to set up, given that their establishment often requires paying a lawyer for their time. But for many, that expense might be worth it depending on the complexity of the assets and the ability to specify when, where or how an estate’s assets are used.

The best investing advice for new college grads

While new college graduates typically don't have much money to invest, creating a plan for the money they earn from their first job can set them up for a promising financial future. This list of investing advice for new grads includes recommendations like enrolling in their company's retirement plan as soon as possible, prioritizing building an emergency fund, and more. Read the full list here.

Savings accounts earn more interest and limit monthly transactions

While the checking account is many people's primary daily account, savings accounts can earn customers more in interest, though access to these funds is generally more limited. Customers can earn several percent interest in savings accounts compared to near-zero checking account rates.

In 2021, Social Security began drawing down trust fund reserves to help pay for benefits

The Social Security trust funds are invested solely in US Treasury bonds. Any Social Security tax revenue surplus has historically been invested in these bonds, which are non-marketable securities available only to trust funds. The interest on these investments also contributes to program income.

How to financially prepare if you think AI is coming for your job

One expert suggests contributing more money to an emergency savings fund and putting that fund in a high-yield savings account, maxing out employee benefits while still employed, and more.

Four popular budgeting strategies

While budgeting is an individualized process, there are a few tried-and-true budgeting methods people interested in saving money or paying down debt tend to use. These methods include the envelope method—where people budget for things like rent, savings, and food by putting cash in various physical envelopes—the 50/20/30 method, and others. Read about four popular budgeting strategies in this article.

Gifting money is one way to avoid death taxes

Gifting money while you're alive is one way people avoid estate and inheritance taxes. There is a yearly cap on how much you can give to a person before that money is taxed—but there isn't a cap on how many people you can give money to in a year.

As part of their donations to advancing education, Barbara and Ray Dalio have invested in Trump accounts

The Dalios have committed $250 per child to 300,000 children under 10 years old in Connecticut who live in ZIP codes where the median income is less than $150K—an expected total of at least $75M. The money is designated for "Trump Accounts," or investment accounts with $1K provided to children to put towards education or starting a small business.

Flexible spending accounts are operated by employers

Unlike health savings accounts, which can be opened at banks and credit unions, FSAs are employer-owned and operated—meaning you can only access an FSA through an employer benefit, and the account doesn't follow you if you move jobs. To use an FSA to pay for a medical service or product, purchases typically have to be uploaded, approved, and then employees can be reimbursed.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight