👶 Calculator · Kids & Family

Kid Account Chooser: Trump Account vs 529 vs Custodial Roth vs UTMA

Four accounts, four sets of tax rules. Enter your child’s birth year, what you can put in and what the money is for; the calculator puts the same dollars in each account and shows the balance at 18, what’s left after tax when it’s used, and how each one counts for financial aid.

✍️ Built by DigitalWealthSource

🔍 Reviewed by Derek Giordano

📅 Updated Sep 28, 2026

🔒 Runs in your browser

The Trump Account cap and seed come from our figures registry and the IRA limit from the IRS’s 2026 figures; the growth rate and tax rates are yours to set.

Your child and your money

Child’s birth year

…

Put in now ($)

Add each year until 18 ($)

Employer money for a Trump Account, per year ($)Counts toward the Trump Account’s yearly cap

Child’s earned income per year ($)A job or documented self-employment; assumed to repeat each year until 18

What the money is for

Age when it’s used

Assumptions

Growth per year (%)Same for all four accounts; illustrative

Child’s tax rate when the money is used (%)For Trump Account withdrawals and taxable 529 or Roth earnings

Tax rate on UTMA gains when sold (%)0% for many young adults; the kiddie tax can apply your rate to students under 24

Your state’s 529 deduction: your state tax rate (%)0 if your state gives no deduction

The deduction’s yearly limit ($)

The whole balance is assumed to be used at the age you pick. Figures are before any fees and ignore yearly taxes on UTMA dividends. Nothing you type leaves your browser. Education, not tax advice.

How the Chooser Works

The same money goes into each account at the start of each year until the child turns 18, grows at your rate, and is used all at once at the age you pick. The rules applied:

529 plan: no tax on growth used for qualified education. Used for anything else, the earnings are taxed at the rate you enter plus a 10% penalty. Your state deduction is added up separately.
Trump Account: family and employer money together can’t exceed the yearly cap, and contributions stop the year before the child turns 18. Children born from 2025 through 2028 get the $1,000 seed. Withdrawals follow traditional IRA rules: everything but your own contributions is taxed as income, plus 10% before 59½ unless an exception applies (higher education; a first home, up to $10,000).
Custodial Roth IRA: only up to the child’s earned income and the IRA limit each year. Contributions come back out tax-free; earnings are tax-free at retirement, taxed but not penalized for college, tax-free up to $10,000 for a first home, and taxed plus 10% otherwise.
UTMA/UGMA: no limits and any use that benefits the child, but it belongs to the child at 18 or 21. Gains are taxed when sold, at the rate you enter.

The financial aid row uses the FAFSA’s standard asset rates: up to about 5.64% of a parent-owned 529 and 20% of a student-owned UTMA. The full rules are in our Trump Account vs 529 vs custodial Roth vs UTMA guide, and the Trump Accounts guide covers opening one.

Reading the Result

For college money, the 529 usually comes out on top: tax-free growth and a light aid effect. The Trump Account wins when free money is involved, the seed or an employer’s contribution, and for long-term money when there is no earned income. A custodial Roth beats everything whenever the child has earned income, because its growth can stay tax-free for life. The UTMA’s appeal is flexibility, bought with the aid hit and the loss of control at 18 or 21.

What the Chooser Leaves Out

Yearly taxes on a UTMA. Dividends are taxed each year, and above $2,700 of unearned income in 2026 the kiddie tax uses your rate.
Partial withdrawals and timing. Everything comes out at one age; real withdrawals spread over years and may land in lower brackets.
The 529-to-Roth rollover. Up to $35,000 of unused 529 money can move to the beneficiary’s Roth IRA, with conditions; it isn’t modeled.
Fees, state 529 rules and gift tax. Plan fees vary, some states don’t follow the federal K-12 rules, and gifts above $19,000 a year per child need a gift tax return.
Rule changes. Trump Accounts are new, and investment and aid guidance is still coming.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which account should a child’s first dollars go to?

Claim the $1,000 Trump Account seed if your child was born from 2025 through 2028. If the child has earned income, a custodial Roth IRA up to that income comes first. For school, a 529 is next. Then Trump Account contributions for long-term money and any employer contributions, and a UTMA last, for money the child can use for anything.

Is a Trump Account better than a 529 for college?

Usually not. A 529’s growth is tax-free for qualified education, while Trump Account earnings are taxed as ordinary income when they come out; using the money for higher education only avoids the 10% early-withdrawal penalty. Nothing can come out of a Trump Account before the year the child turns 18. Its edge is free money: the seed and employer contributions.

Can a child with no job have a Roth IRA?

No. Contributions can’t exceed the child’s earned income for the year, up to the IRA limit ($7,500 for 2026). Wages count, and so does documented self-employment such as babysitting or mowing lawns. A parent can supply the dollars.

What happens when my child turns 18?

Trump Account withdrawals can start in the year the child turns 18, under traditional IRA rules. A UTMA or UGMA passes to the child at 18 or 21, depending on your state, and a custodial Roth passes to the child at the state’s age of majority. A 529 stays with its owner, usually a parent.

How do these accounts affect financial aid?

On the FAFSA, a parent-owned 529 counts as a parent asset, assessed at up to about 5.64% a year. A UTMA counts as the student’s asset, at 20%. Retirement accounts, including Roth IRAs, aren’t reported as assets. For Trump Accounts, wait for Education Department guidance before counting on how they’re treated.

What growth rate does the calculator use?

6% a year by default, as an illustration, not a forecast. You can change it; the same rate applies to all four accounts so the comparison is about taxes and rules, not investments. Trump Accounts must hold U.S. stock index funds with fees of 0.1% or less.

Sources: IRS: Trump Accounts · IRS Form 4547 · IRS Pub. 970 (529s and education exceptions) · IRS Pub. 590-B (IRA withdrawals) · IRS: 2026 IRA limit · Rev. Proc. 2025-32 · StudentAid.gov. Checked Sep 28, 2026.

📚 Related

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Where a Child’s First $5,000 Goes

The four accounts compared, with a worked example

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Trump Accounts Guide

Form 4547, the seed, employer money, investments

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FAFSA 2027–28

What changed and the mistakes that cost aid