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Three ways to save
for a child.

A 529 plan, a custodial account and the new Trump account grow the same money under different rules. Tell us what the money is for; we show what each leaves after tax, and what each one asks of you.

2026 rules from the IRS and the 2025 law · After tax, for your use · The conditions in plain English

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Best fit for yeshiva tuition: a 529 plan

$32,495

Custodial, after tax

$31,625

Trump account

Locked until 2043

What the account leaves after tax when you spend it on what you chose.

Grown, and left after tax Grown to Left for your use

529 plan

Custodial

Trump account

An illustration, not tax advice. Returns are assumed, not promised. Trump account rules are new and parts are still in proposed or temporary regulations.

What you’ll save, and what for

The money is for
$/mo
years
Sets the child’s age when you use the money, and whether a Trump account and its $1,000 apply.
Fine-tune 5 more inputs
% a year
%
%
%

The same return is used for all three so the rules are the only difference. A Trump account must hold a U.S. stock index fund; a 529 or custodial account can hold whatever you choose.

Best fit

Left for yeshiva tuition

$32,495

You put in
$24,000
529 plan, after tax
$32,495
Custodial account, after tax
$31,625
Trump account, after tax
Locked until 2043

An illustration, not tax advice. Monthly deposits, monthly compounding at one assumed return for all three. Taxes are figured once, when the money is used, on the whole gain at once; spreading withdrawals over years can lower the tax on a custodial account. State taxes and yearly tax on dividends are left out.

529 plan

Grown to
$0
Left for your use
$0

    Custodial account UTMA or UGMA

    Grown to
    $0
    Left for your use
    $0

      Trump account

      Grown to
      $0
      Left for your use
      $0

        Figures checked November 2026. Sources

        1. Public Law 119-21 (July 4, 2025): section 70204 creates Trump accounts (Internal Revenue Code section 530A) and the $1,000 pilot program; section 70413 raises the 529 K–12 limit to $20,000 for tax years after 2025 and adds books, tutoring, tests and therapies.
        2. IRS Notice 2025-68 (December 2, 2025): Trump account guidance: $5,000 a year for 2026 and 2027, employer money up to $2,500 counts toward it, no contributions before July 4, 2026, no withdrawals before the year the child turns 18, taxed like a traditional IRA after that.
        3. T.D. 10056, temporary regulations (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-44): the growth period ends December 31 of the year the child turns 17; accounts opened automatically from about October 1, 2026.
        4. Proposed regulations on the $1,000 pilot program (March 9, 2026) and on eligible investments (August 21, 2026): proposed, not final. Form 4547 is the election.
        5. 26 U.S.C. 529 and IRS Publication 970: tax-free qualified withdrawals; on other withdrawals the earnings are taxed plus a 10% additional tax; changing the beneficiary to a family member; the 529 to Roth IRA rollover (15 years, $35,000 lifetime).
        6. IRS, 2026 IRA limit $7,500 · Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 kiddie tax amount $1,350, long-term gains taxed at 0% up to $49,450 of taxable income (single), gift exclusion $19,000.
        7. IRS Topic 553 and Form 8615 instructions: who the kiddie tax applies to; unearned income above $2,700 taxed at the parent’s rate (twice the $1,350 amount). IRS Publication 550: property given under the uniform gifts to minors acts becomes the child’s.
        8. IRS Publication 590-B: the 10% early withdrawal tax and its exceptions, including higher education and a first home (up to $10,000). 2027–28 FAFSA form: custodial accounts are the student’s asset; a 529 is a parent asset when the student reports parent information.

        Not settled yet. The $1,000 election and the investment rules for Trump accounts are in proposed regulations, and automatic accounts are in temporary ones. Whether a K–12 cost can escape the 10% tax on an IRA-type withdrawal is unclear: the statute points to colleges, while IRS Publication 590-B lists elementary and secondary school. It rarely matters here, because nothing leaves a Trump account before the child turns 18. The FAFSA form does not mention Trump accounts. State 529 deductions and how states treat K–12 withdrawals vary; check your state’s plan.