K-12, Not Only College
A 529 is no longer only a college account, and no longer only about private school tuition.
Families can now withdraw up to $20,000 per student per year against a wider set of K-12 expenses: tuition, curriculum materials, tutoring, online learning programs, standardized test fees, dual-enrollment coursework, and educational therapies for students with disabilities. A family with a public-school student paying for tutoring or therapy is often eligible to fund it from a 529 and rarely knows it.
Spending it early costs something. State rules do not always follow the federal ones, and a dollar spent at fourteen stops compounding at fourteen. We weigh both before recommending it.
More on what changed and when, on Law Changes.
ABLE Accounts
For a family supporting a child or adult with a disability, an ABLE account can matter more than any other account here. It lets you save without the balance counting against most means-tested benefits. That protection has limits, and how much you keep in the account is part of the planning. As of January 2026, eligibility reaches anyone whose disability began before age 46, raised from 26. That brings many more people within reach. If you were told years ago that an ABLE account was not open to you or a family member, it’s worth checking again. Rollovers from a 529 are permanent now too, so education savings set aside for a child whose path changed aren’t stranded.
We don’t open these accounts; you set one up through a state program. What we bring is the strategy. Which program fits, whether an account belongs in your plan at all, how much to contribute and when, how a 529 rollover works, and how the account sits alongside a supplemental needs trust. The trust itself is work for an estate attorney. We’ll work with yours.
More on the eligibility change, on Law Changes. · More on the 529 rollover, above.