Saving for kids and college sparks plenty of debate. Ask three financial advisors the same question and you may get three different answers, which makes it genuinely difficult to know how much to set aside.
In the case of one Redditor in r/fatFIRE, his post tells us he has put away almost $1 million between two children for their education. His question is how best to keep contributing to those accounts, even as the numbers already suggest the job is done.
What makes this post worth examining is the father’s honesty about his own uncertainty. It takes real self-awareness to ask for outside input when the balance sheet, on paper, looks perfectly fine. His instinct to over-provide for his children is admirable. The math, however, suggests he can stand down.
The Scenario
The Redditor is a 47-year-old widower raising two children. The older child is in 10th grade and the younger is in 7th, so college is a near-term reality for at least one of them. His $9.7 million net worth was built largely on two household incomes; now he is the sole earner, bringing in $450,000 a year.
The balance sheet breaks down as follows: a home valued at $2.1 million with $953,000 still owed on the mortgage, $4.6 million in taxable investments, a retirement account worth $2.9 million, and a combined 529 balance of $1 million split between the two children. After taxes, medical costs, retirement contributions, and 529 contributions, his net take-home runs about $260,000 a year.
The Recommendation
The short answer to his core question is that the job is already done. With $1 million sitting in 529 accounts for two children, he has far more than enough to cover even the most expensive private college experience. According to the College Board, the average published tuition and fees at a private nonprofit four-year school reached $45,000 for the 2025-26 academic year, with total cost of attendance (tuition, room, board, and other expenses) running $65,470. A $500,000 per-child 529 balance covers four years of that all-in cost more than three times over, even without further investment growth. The case for stopping all new 529 contributions is overwhelming.
There is also a practical tax consideration. The IRS treats 529 contributions as gifts, so any amount above $19,000 per beneficiary per year in 2025 requires filing a gift tax return. With the accounts already heavily funded, continuing to contribute creates unnecessary paperwork and potential gift-tax exposure with no meaningful benefit.
One development worth knowing: under the SECURE 2.0 Act, which took effect in January 2024, families can roll up to $35,000 of unused 529 funds into a Roth IRA owned by the beneficiary, provided the account has been open for at least 15 years and the annual rollover does not exceed the Roth IRA contribution limit for that year. That annual ceiling was $7,000 in 2025 and rose to $7,500 in 2026, and it will adjust upward as Roth IRA contribution limits increase over time. There is an important catch for high earners: IRS Notice 2024-73 confirmed that the standard Roth IRA income phase-outs apply to these rollovers as well. At $450,000 in annual income, this father would likely be phased out of the rollover benefit entirely during his peak earning years, so the provision is more relevant to his children once they are out of school and working at lower income levels. Any funds the children do not use for school can eventually be redirected into their own retirement savings once their incomes qualify.
On the retirement side, the Redditor has projected that a 4% annual growth rate on his retirement account would take it to $10 million by the time he turns 75. At that point he anticipates a required minimum distribution of roughly $376,000. Under current law, RMDs from traditional retirement accounts begin at age 73, so he would actually begin drawing down his account two years earlier than his model assumes. After taxes, his after-RMD income would land around $253,000 a year, which is more than sufficient, particularly as his mortgage and child-related expenses wind down over time.
The Takeaway
This father deserves credit for thinking ahead. His children will enter adulthood without student loan debt, which is a gift whose value many people only fully appreciate years later. The question of whether he over-contributed to the 529 accounts is largely academic: he has already said he is open to passing any surplus to future generations, so no money is truly wasted.
The more interesting question is what he does with the freed-up cash flow once he stops 529 contributions. At 47, with a $9.7 million net worth and no young dependents on the horizon, there is a strong argument that working until a traditional retirement age is entirely optional. A sabbatical, a period of travel, or simply a slower pace of life while the kids finish high school and college are all within reach. The empty-nest years will arrive sooner than expected, and his financial position gives him plenty of room to enjoy them on his own terms.
Editor’s note: This update corrects the average total cost of attendance at a private nonprofit four-year college to $65,470 for 2025-26, per College Board’s Trends in College Pricing report, up from the previously cited $60,920. It also adds that the 529-to-Roth IRA annual rollover ceiling rose from $7,000 in 2025 to $7,500 in 2026, and notes that IRS Notice 2024-73 confirmed income phase-outs apply to these rollovers, which would likely exclude this father at his current earnings level.
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