Automating the Nest Egg: A Set-It-and-Forget-It Guide to Saving for Your Child

Most parents don’t need convincing that saving for their child matters. The hard part is doing it again and again, month after month, when every paycheck seems to arrive already spoken for. Good intentions have a poor track record here. When economists surveyed employees of a large U.S. company about retirement saving, 68% felt they were saving too little and 24% planned to start saving more soon. Only 3% actually followed through, according to a research summary from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

The fix isn’t more willpower. It’s making the decision once and letting a schedule carry it out. An automatic transfer timed to payday moves money into your child’s account before everyday spending can claim it, whether you remember or not, through busy seasons and exhausted weeks alike. At a hypothetical 7% average annual return, $100 a month invested that way from birth grows to about $42,100 by age 18.

This guide, part of our Ultimate Guide to Building a Generational Nest Egg for Your Child, explains why automation works, how to line up transfers with your pay schedule, how to set them up for a 529 plan, custodial account, or Trump Account, and what still deserves a yearly look after you “set it and forget it.”

Why willpower isn’t a savings plan

Saving for a child runs into the same mental shortcuts that trip up retirement saving. Behavioral economists have studied them for decades, and three of them explain why “I’ll move something over at the end of the month” so often doesn’t happen, and why automation works so well.

Present bias: later always sounds better

Present bias is the tendency to give what we want today more weight than what we want for the future, even when we know better. It’s why starting next month sounds reasonable every single month. Economist David Laibson explored this in a 1997 paper with a fitting title for anyone building a nest egg: “Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting.” His model shows why present-biased people have a reason to tie their own hands, and how an illiquid asset, one that takes time and effort to cash out, can work as a commitment device. For families, a 529 plan or custodial account plays that role: money that’s easy to add to and a little harder to spend on everyday things.

Inertia: the power of doing nothing

Inertia cuts both ways. When saving takes action every month, inertia means it often doesn’t happen. When saving happens by default, inertia keeps it going. That’s the lesson of automatic enrollment in workplace retirement plans. Economists Brigitte Madrian and Dennis Shea studied a large U.S. company that began enrolling new hires in its 401(k) automatically. Participation among employees three to 15 months into the job rose from 37% to 86%, according to the NBER summary, even though the switch changed nothing about the plan’s economics, only which choice happened by default.

A quarter century later, the pattern still holds. In 2025, employees in Vanguard-administered plans with automatic enrollment participated at a rate of 94%, compared with 64% in plans where they had to sign up on their own, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America’s summary of Vanguard’s How America Saves 2026.

The research carries a warning, too: defaults stick, even when they’re too low. In the original study, nearly two-thirds of automatically enrolled workers hadn’t opted out or changed their contribution rate or investments when researchers checked, three to 15 months after they were hired. An automatic transfer will keep sending exactly the amount you set, year after year, until you change it. That’s why the amount you choose, and a plan to raise it, matter as much as the automation itself.

Mental accounting: money with a name stays put

People treat money differently depending on the mental “account” they file it in, a habit behavioral economists call mental accounting. You can make it work for you. In a field study of 146 laborers’ households in rural India, marketing professors Dilip Soman and Amar Cheema had each family’s weekly savings sealed in envelopes. Families saved more when the money was split between two envelopes instead of pooled in one, and envelopes with photographs of the family’s children pasted on them were less likely to be opened, especially when the savings goal was modest, as Soman describes. You probably won’t use envelopes, but the lesson carries over. Money sitting in a separate account with your child’s name on it is harder to raid than a number in your checking balance.

Pay your child first: why timing matters

Most families save the way the month unfolds. The paycheck arrives, the bills go out, the spending happens, and whatever is left gets saved. The trouble is how little is usually left. Using daily bank and credit card records covering more than a million people, economist Matthew Shapiro and his colleagues found that spending jumps when paychecks arrive, as Shapiro explained in an NBER summary of work first published in Science. Much of that jump is rent, mortgage payments, utilities, and other bills timed for payday. But households with thin cushions also spend more freely right after the paycheck lands, and by the days just before the next one, the typical household in the middle third of their data had only about five days’ worth of spending left in checking and savings.

Saving whatever is left means saving at the moment there’s the least left. Paying your child first flips the order. The transfer goes out as soon as the paycheck lands, like any other bill, and you budget with what remains. Because the money is gone before it ever looks available, it doesn’t have to survive a hectic week, a tempting sale, or a surprise expense.

There’s a quieter benefit, too. The question of whether to save for your child this month has already been answered. You answered it once, on a calm day, and you don’t have to answer it again when money is tight or the headlines are scary.

Match transfers to your pay schedule

The simplest rule is to schedule your child’s transfer for the business day after payday. How that looks depends on how often you’re paid. Every two weeks, or biweekly, is the most common schedule, used by an estimated 43% of private-sector worksites, followed by weekly pay at 27%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay twice a month on set dates, or once a month, is less common. Here’s what to send each payday to reach a monthly goal.

Amounts per paycheck that add up to $600 or $1,200 a year. Rounding up to an even number, such as $25 or $50 a paycheck, adds a little extra. Some years include a 53rd weekly or 27th biweekly payday.

Matching your pay rhythm can quietly add up. If you’re paid every two weeks and send $50 each payday, you’ll contribute $1,300 a year instead of the $1,200 you’d send at $100 a month, because most years include two months with a third paycheck. At a hypothetical 7% return, that difference adds about $3,600 by age 18, and you won’t notice it in a typical month.

Investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule this way is what the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor.gov calls dollar-cost averaging: equal amounts at regular intervals, regardless of what the market is doing. Because the dollar amount is fixed, each transfer buys more shares when prices are down and fewer when they’re up, and you never have to decide whether now is a good time to buy.

Why the day after payday?

Payroll direct deposits are available at the opening of business on payday in virtually all cases, according to Nacha, the organization that governs the network that moves direct deposits and automatic transfers. So why not schedule your child’s transfer on payday itself? Because employers and plans don’t always shift dates the same way when a scheduled day falls on a weekend or holiday. J.P. Morgan’s Future Path 529 moves a draft that falls on a non-business day to the next business day, according to its recurring contribution form, while Merrill’s 529 program moves it to the prior business day, per its enrollment form. A draft scheduled for payday could occasionally arrive before your paycheck does. A one-day cushion prevents that.

Two more timing tips. Avoid scheduling on the 29th through the 31st, which don’t exist in every month. Fidelity, for one, generally processes investments scheduled for those dates on the next business day, according to its automatic investments form. And if your bank offers early direct deposit, which can make pay available up to two days early, key your transfer to your official payday anyway. Banks that offer it release the money as soon as the payment clears rather than on a fixed date, Bankrate explains, so the early posting day isn’t guaranteed.

If your income isn’t steady

Freelancers, gig workers, and anyone paid on commission can still automate. Set a baseline transfer small enough to cover in your leanest month, and schedule it for a time of the month when few other automatic payments go out, as a University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension guide suggests for people whose pay varies. Then give yourself one simple rule for good months: when an unusually large payment arrives, send a set share of it, such as 5% or 10%, to your child’s account as a one-time contribution on top of the baseline.

Three ways to automate your child’s savings

There’s more than one way to put your child’s savings on autopilot. Which fits best depends on your employer and the account you’ve chosen, and you can combine them.

Split your direct deposit

More than 93% of respondents to the American Payroll Association’s 2022 “Getting Paid in America” survey are paid by direct deposit, Nacha reports. Many employers let you divide each paycheck among two or more accounts, sending a fixed amount or a percentage to one account and the rest to another. For that to work, your employer has to offer both direct deposit and the option to split it, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes. Look in your payroll portal under direct deposit or payment settings, or ask HR. You’ll need the routing and account numbers for the receiving account.

A split deposit into a separate savings account works well as a holding tank if you’d rather move money into your child’s investment account in larger chunks. Just pair it with a scheduled transfer onward, or the money will sit in savings indefinitely.

Send part of each paycheck straight to a 529 plan

Many state 529 plans can receive money directly from your paycheck through the same direct deposit system your employer already uses for payroll. New York’s 529 Direct Plan, for example, asks employers to submit a single form through their existing payroll system and sets no minimums, according to its employer page. Missouri’s MOST 529 accepts as little as $1 per pay period, and Ohio’s CollegeAdvantage plan as little as $25.

Two differences from a 401(k) are worth knowing. First, these contributions come out of your paycheck after taxes. There’s no federal tax deduction for 529 contributions, Savingforcollege.com notes, though more than 30 states offer a deduction or credit on the state return. Second, some plans require you to own the account. Washington’s WA529 Invest, for instance, won’t accept payroll deposits into an account owned by a spouse or anyone else, according to its payroll direct deposit page. If your employer isn’t set up for 529 deposits, recurring contributions from checking get you the same result.

Schedule recurring contributions from checking

The most universal option is a recurring contribution set up with the account itself. 529 plans often call it an automatic investment plan, and brokerage firms that hold custodial UTMA and UGMA accounts offer the same feature. You link your checking account, choose an amount, a frequency, and a start date, and the plan pulls the money on schedule. Minimums are small: J.P. Morgan’s Future Path 529 sets a $15 monthly minimum, and Ohio’s CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 a $25 minimum, according to the plans’ forms.

The official Trump Accounts app works the same way for the new children’s accounts. Parents can schedule recurring contributions, though only from a linked bank account rather than a debit card, according to the Trump Accounts help center. Contributions from parents, relatives, and employers are capped at a combined $5,000 per child for 2026. If a recurring schedule reaches that limit, it pauses automatically and resumes the following year, the help center’s contributions FAQ explains.

How to set up automatic contributions, step by step

Most families can set this up in a single sitting. Here’s the order that works best.

Step 1: Choose where the money goes

Pick the account before you pick the amount. A 529 plan offers tax-free growth for qualified education expenses and, in many states, a state tax break on contributions. A custodial UTMA or UGMA account can pay for anything that benefits your child, but the money legally becomes your child’s, and they take control at an age your state sets. A Trump Account works like an IRA for your child, with contributions from family and employers capped at $5,000 a year. Our account comparison walks through the trade-offs. If you’re undecided, start with one account. You can add another later.

Step 2: Pick an amount you can keep up in a lean month

An automatic transfer only works if it survives your tightest month. If it overdraws your account, or you cancel it in a panic, the habit breaks. In the envelope study, households given the more ambitious savings target usually ended up opening their envelopes, likely because the amount was too much to spare, Soman wrote. Start with an amount you won’t miss, even $25 or $50 a month, and raise it later. If you’re not sure where the money will come from, Finding the Funds shows where most families can free up $50 to $100 a month.

Step 3: Pick the date

Schedule the contribution for the business day after payday, and skip the 29th through the 31st. If you’re paid every two weeks or twice a month, you can match every paycheck or choose one payday a month. Either works. What matters is that the money moves right after you’re paid.

Step 4: Link your bank account and schedule it

Log in to your 529 plan, brokerage account, or the Trump Accounts app, link your checking account, and set the amount, frequency, and start date. Linking can take a few days if the provider verifies your account with small test deposits, and some plans need notice before the first draft. Merrill’s 529 enrollment form, for example, asks for the request at least 10 business days before the start date. If the app lets you nickname the account, use your child’s name. Then put a reminder on your calendar to confirm that the first contribution arrives.

Step 5: Make sure the money gets invested

This is the step people miss. In a 529 plan, each contribution is typically invested automatically according to the portfolio you chose. Ohio’s plan, for example, invests automatic contributions according to the allocation instructions on file. In a brokerage account, including most custodial UTMA and UGMA accounts, a transfer usually lands in cash first. At Fidelity, automatic investments into a brokerage account are placed in the account’s core cash position unless you name the funds to buy, according to the same Fidelity form. Trump Account contributions are invested for you, because the law requires the money to be held in a diversified index fund of U.S. stocks during the account’s growth period, which runs until the start of the year the child turns 18, as the Congressional Research Service explains.

Uninvested cash is a common and costly mistake. In a Vanguard analysis of money added to its IRAs in 2022, 55% of investors who made direct contributions still held it in cash or cash equivalents 12 months later. The fix is simple. Alongside the transfer, schedule an automatic purchase of the fund you’ve chosen, such as a broad, low-cost index fund, then check your first statement to confirm it bought what you intended.

Step 6: Put the first raise on the calendar

Before you log out, decide when your contribution will go up next. Your child’s birthday is a good choice, for reasons the next section explains. Then set a yearly check-in for the same day.

Automate the raises, too

A transfer that never changes slowly shrinks in importance as your income grows and prices rise. The fix is to automate the increases as well, so saving more doesn’t depend on remembering or on feeling flush.

Economists Richard Thaler and Shlomo Benartzi built a program around this idea called Save More Tomorrow. Employees committed in advance to steering part of each future raise into savings, and those who joined raised their average savings rate from 3.5% of pay to 13.6% over about 40 months, the authors reported in the Journal of Political Economy. Automatic increases now do much of the work in workplace plans. In 2025, 31% of participants in Vanguard-administered plans saw their savings rate rise through an automatic annual increase, more than twice the 14% who raised it on their own, according to Vanguard’s preview of How America Saves 2026.

For parents, a child’s birthday makes a natural trigger. Researchers call dates like these fresh starts, moments that feel like a new beginning. In a field experiment with more than 6,000 university employees, John Beshears, Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman, and Shlomo Benartzi found that describing a future savings increase as starting after a fresh start date, such as the employee’s next birthday or the first day of spring, made people more likely to sign up for it than describing the same increase as starting in a set number of months. Overall, that framing raised retirement plan contributions over the following eight months.

• What you contribute
• Investment growth

Hypothetical example: deposits at the end of each month from birth through age 18, a 7% average annual return compounded monthly, and no fees or taxes. Each raise takes effect on the child’s birthday, so the monthly amount reaches $135 or $220 only in the final year. Not a prediction or guarantee.

Show the numbers

Plan	Final monthly amount	You contribute	Value at 18
Starting at $50 a month
Never raised	$50	$10,800	$21,046
Raised $5 each birthday	$135	$19,980	$35,194
Raised $10 each birthday	$220	$29,160	$49,342
Starting at $100 a month
Never raised	$100	$21,600	$42,092
Raised $5 each birthday	$185	$30,780	$56,240
Raised $10 each birthday	$270	$39,960	$70,388

Raising a $50 monthly transfer by $10 on each of your child’s birthdays would grow to about $49,300 by age 18 at a hypothetical 7% return, more than double the roughly $21,000 you’d have if the transfer never changed. You would contribute more along the way, about $29,200 instead of $10,800, but each year’s increase is small enough to absorb, and the monthly amount doesn’t reach $220 until the final year. Even $5 raises push the total to about $35,200.

Birthdays aren’t the only trigger. If you get an annual raise at work, send part of it to your child’s account starting with the first bigger paycheck, before your budget adjusts to the new number. And when a baby expense ends, such as diapers or full-time child care, redirect some of that money too, as we suggest in Finding the Funds.

One practical note: not every platform lets you edit a recurring amount. In the Trump Accounts app, you can’t change the amount or frequency of an existing schedule. You create a new schedule instead, according to the help center, so check that the old one is canceled and you don’t double up.

Automation traps to avoid

Automation removes most of the effort, but a few problems can quietly undo it.

• Overdrafts. A draft that hits a nearly empty account can cost more than it saves. The average overdraft fee was $26.77 in 2025, and 94% of the accounts surveyed still charge one, according to Bankrate’s annual fee study. Keep a small cushion in checking, schedule transfers after payday, and ask your bank about linking a savings account to cover shortfalls.
• Money that never gets invested. A transfer into a brokerage account isn’t an investment until it buys something. Check your first statement, and look again after any change to the plan.
• Limits and tax rules. Contributions to a 529 plan or custodial account are generally treated as gifts to your child. For 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per child without dipping into your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, according to the IRS’s 2026 inflation adjustments, so a transfer of a few hundred dollars a month stays well under the line. Trump Accounts cap most contributions at $5,000 per child per year. A custodial Roth IRA is the exception to set-it-and-forget-it: a child’s 2026 IRA contributions can’t exceed $7,500 or their taxable compensation for the year, whichever is less, according to the IRS. The right amount changes as their paychecks do.
• Stale bank details. If you switch banks, update every automatic plan before you close the old account. A draft against a closed account fails, and some providers unlink your bank after repeated failed contributions, as the Trump Accounts help center warns.

The once-a-year check-in

“Set it and forget it” is the right attitude for the monthly decision, not for the whole plan. Once a year, perhaps on your child’s birthday when the automatic raise kicks in, set aside 15 minutes to do the following:

• Confirm the basics. Check that every scheduled transfer went through and that the money was invested, not parked in cash.
• Raise the amount. Add your birthday increase, plus more if a raise or a finished expense has freed up room.
• Check the investment mix. As college gets closer, a portfolio meant for tuition should gradually shift toward bonds and cash. Our guide to building a target-date glide path explains how.
• Mind the calendar. In most states, 529 contributions must be made by December 31 to count toward that year’s state tax deduction or credit, though a handful of states allow until April, according to Savingforcollege.com. Steady monthly transfers mean you aren’t scrambling in December.
• Update the paperwork. Confirm beneficiaries and successor custodians, and update your linked bank account if it has changed.

Between check-ins, resist the urge to watch the balance. Checking often tends to make normal market swings feel worse and tempts you to react to them, as we explain in The Psychology of Generational Wealth.

Where GoodNest fits

Automation takes care of your own contributions. GoodNest helps with everyone else’s. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends can mark birthdays and milestones with a contribution toward your child’s future, often paired with a small keepsake like a book, instead of another toy. GoodNest doesn’t hold or invest the money. Family send gifts straight to you by Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal, and you decide where they go next.

That makes one more habit worth adding to your system. When gift money arrives, move it into your child’s 529 plan, custodial account, or Trump Account within the week, as a one-time contribution on top of your regular transfer. Money that lingers in checking tends to blend into everyday spending. There’s little reason to dribble a gift in over several months, either: Vanguard research found that investing a lump sum all at once has beaten spreading it out about two-thirds of the time, because stocks have outpaced cash in most periods.

The bottom line

Saving for your child shouldn’t depend on remembering, on feeling flush, or on winning a monthly argument with yourself. Decide once, on a calm day, how much to save and where it goes. Schedule the transfer for the business day after payday, make sure it gets invested, and set it to rise on your child’s birthday. Then let it run, and check in once a year. At a hypothetical 7% return, $50 a month raised by $10 on each birthday could grow to about $49,300 by age 18. For the full plan, from choosing accounts to eventually handing the money over, head back to The Ultimate Guide to Building a Generational Nest Egg for Your Child.

Frequently asked questions

How do I set up automatic savings for my child?

Choose the account first, such as a 529 plan, a custodial UTMA or UGMA account, or a Trump Account. Then log in to that account, link your checking account, and schedule a recurring contribution for the business day after each payday. If your employer allows it, you can instead split your direct deposit or send part of each paycheck straight to a state 529 plan. Confirm that the money is invested once it arrives, and plan to raise the amount each year, for example on your child’s birthday.

Should I contribute to my child’s 529 every paycheck or once a month?

Either works. What matters most is that the transfer happens automatically, right after you’re paid. At a hypothetical 7% return, splitting $1,200 a year into 26 biweekly transfers instead of 12 monthly ones changes the balance at age 18 by less than $100. Matching your pay schedule can still help, though: $50 every two weeks adds up to $1,300 a year, $100 more than $100 a month.

Can I contribute to a 529 plan through payroll deduction?

Often, yes. Many state 529 plans accept payroll direct deposit through your employer’s existing direct deposit system. Minimums are low: none at New York’s 529 Direct Plan, $1 per pay period at Missouri’s MOST 529, and $25 at Ohio’s CollegeAdvantage. Unlike 401(k) contributions, the money comes out of your paycheck after taxes, and some plans require you to own the account. If your employer doesn’t offer it, recurring contributions from checking work just as well.

Is automatic investing the same as dollar-cost averaging?

In effect, yes. Dollar-cost averaging means investing equal amounts at regular intervals regardless of what the market is doing, and an automatic transfer from each paycheck does exactly that. It simply puts your savings to work as soon as you have them. A lump sum is different: Vanguard research found that investing a windfall all at once has beaten spreading it out about two-thirds of the time.

How often should I review my child’s automatic savings plan?

Once a year is enough for most families. Pick a date you’ll remember, such as your child’s birthday. Confirm that the transfers went through and the money is invested, raise the amount if you can, make sure the investment mix still fits your child’s age, and check that you’re within any contribution limits. Checking far more often rarely helps and can make normal market swings feel worse.

Sources

• John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian, “Influencing Retirement Savings Decisions with Automatic Enrollment and Related Tools”, NBER Reporter 2024, no. 3 (October 22, 2024).
• David Laibson, “Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 112, no. 2 (1997): 443–477.
• Plan Sponsor Council of America, “Automatic Enrollment Has Sent Participation Rates Soaring” (June 2026), summarizing Vanguard’s How America Saves 2026.
• Dilip Soman, summary of research with Amar Cheema on earmarking savings, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. The study was published as “Earmarking and Partitioning: Increasing Saving by Low-Income Households,” Journal of Marketing Research 48 (2011): S14–S22.
• Matthew D. Shapiro, “How Economic Shocks Affect Spending”, NBER Reporter 2016, no. 2 (July 8, 2016).
• Michael Gelman, Shachar Kariv, Matthew D. Shapiro, Dan Silverman, and Steven Tadelis, “Harnessing Naturally Occurring Data to Measure the Response of Spending to Income”, Science 345, no. 6193 (2014): 212–215.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Length of Pay Periods in the Current Employment Statistics Survey” (February 2023 data).
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov, “Dollar Cost Averaging”.
• Nacha, payments myth-busting fact sheet (2020).
• J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Future Path 529 Plan recurring contributions and electronic bank transfer form.
• Merrill, 529 AFS Enrollment/Change Authorization form.
• Fidelity Investments, Automatic Investments form.
• Bankrate, “What Is Direct Deposit?”.
• University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension, “Automatic Savings” (2022).
• Nacha, “Direct Deposit Stays on Top in New Survey on Getting Paid” (September 20, 2022).
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Looking for an Easy Way to Save Money? Make It Automatic”.
• NY 529 College Savings Program, “Employers”.
• MOST – Missouri’s 529 Education Plan, “Information for Employers”.
• Ohio 529 CollegeAdvantage, “Employer Sponsored Plan: Payroll Deductions”.
• Savingforcollege.com, “Are 529 Contributions Tax Deductible? State-by-State Guide and What It’s Worth”.
• Washington College Savings Plans (WA529), “Payroll Direct Deposit”.
• Ohio 529 CollegeAdvantage, CollegeAdvantage Direct 529 Savings Plan Automatic Investment Plan/Electronic Bank Transfer Form.
• Trump Accounts Help Center, “Make a Contribution”.
• Trump Accounts Help Center, “Contributions FAQ”.
• Congressional Research Service, “Trump Accounts: Overview and Policy Considerations” (R48910).
• Vanguard, “The Sticky IRA Cash Trap” (2024).
• Richard H. Thaler and Shlomo Benartzi, “Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving”, Journal of Political Economy 112, no. S1 (2004): S164–S187.
• Vanguard, “Previewing How America Saves: Participant Resiliency, Stronger Outcomes” (March 4, 2026).
• John Beshears, Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Shlomo Benartzi, “Using Fresh Starts to Nudge Increased Retirement Savings”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 167 (2021): 72–87.
• Bankrate, “ATM Fees Hit Record High for Third Consecutive Year”, 2025 Checking Account and ATM Fee Study (September 10, 2025).
• Internal Revenue Service, Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments, October 2025).
• Internal Revenue Service, “Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits”.
• Savingforcollege.com, “529 Plan Contribution Deadlines for 2026” (January 1, 2026).
• Vanguard, “Cost Averaging: Invest Now or Temporarily Hold Your Cash?”.

This article is for general educational purposes only and is not investment, tax, or legal advice. Examples are hypothetical, assume a steady 7% average annual return unless noted, and don’t reflect fees, taxes, or any specific investment. Plan features, minimums, and policies described here come from each provider’s published materials and can change, so check your own plan’s current terms. Tax figures reflect 2026 federal rules, which can change. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. GoodNest does not provide investment advice and does not hold or invest funds. Consider consulting a qualified professional about your family’s situation.