College Savings Planner
Saving for your children's education requires a long-term plan. And, like saving for retirement, the earlier you start your plan the better. Use this calculator to help develop or fine tune your education savings plan.
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Definitions
Age
of children
Current age of your children. This calculator is based on
each child beginning their college education at age 18. The
difference between their current age and 18 is the number
of years you have to save.
Annual
tuition
Current estimated cost of one year of tuition and books. This
amount should be per child and be specific to the school they
may be interested in attending. The cost of college for the
1998-99 school year, including tuition, room and board, books,
supplies, transportation and other personal expenses, as reported
by the College Board was $10,458 for one year at a four-year
public college and $22,533 for one year at a four-year private
college.
Room
and board
Current estimated cost of one year room and board. Like tuition
and books, this amount should be per child and specific to
the school they may be interested in attending.
Education
cost inflation
This is the percentage that you expect educational costs to
increase per year.
Current
amount
The total amount you currently have saved for your child's
(or children's) education.
Monthly
contributions
The amount you plan to save per month toward your child's
(or children's) education.
Rate
of return
The annual percentage rate you expect to earn on your educational
savings. The average annual rate of return for the U.S. stock
market has been 11% for the last 75 years. You may wish to
use a more conservative rate of return if your child is within
10 years of enrolling in school. This calculator compounds
all growth annually.
Information and interactive calculators are made available to you as self-help tools for your independent use. We can not and do not guarantee their accuracy or their applicability to your circumstances.
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