If you have a little excess cash flow, if you're already meeting your own retirement goals, and you've got a plan for education funding, it could be a great place to just save those additional dollars and really get your child set up for success. And I'm kind of optimistic about these accounts because the government has made 529 plans more and more favorable and flexible over time. And these accounts, the Trump accounts, could be really powerful if they end up doing the same. Yeah, I know that we're following it very closely, especially on your team.

Yes, the SECURE Act expanded the list of eligible rollover beneficiaries to include siblings, cousins, and even in-laws of the original beneficiary. So if you have leftover funds after paying off student loans, you are not stuck. You can move that money to another family member's education fund without triggering taxes. It keeps the wealth circulating within the family's human capital investments.

It really does feel like we are seeing a maturation of the 529 product. It is no longer just a rigid tuition box; it is becoming a flexible education funding vehicle.

Agreed. And that flexibility is crucial in an economy where education costs continue to rise but wage growth stagnates.

How do you handle that? Do you keep separate sub-accounts for each child?

You can, but many modern 529 platforms allow you to designate multiple beneficiaries under one master account. This simplifies management. You see one dashboard, one set of statements. But you can assign different investment portfolios to each beneficiary based on their age. Older child gets a more conservative, mature portfolio; younger child gets a growth-oriented aggressive portfolio.

That sounds like the best of both worlds. Simplicity for the parent, customization for the timeline.

It is. And it prevents the mistake of having a five-year-old’s funds sitting in a conservative bond portfolio when they shouldn’t be touched for fifteen years, while the older child’s funds are stuck in risky equities.