When grandparents are given the gift of grandchildren, they are often filled with the desire to do anything they can to help--financially and beyond. In fact, according to the Senior List, grandparents spend an average of $4,000 a year on their grandchildren. ¹

One of the most important gifts a grandparent can give is to provide funding for their grandchildren’s educational needs.

Section 529 of the IRS Code provides a tax-advantaged savings vehicle that allows grandparents to establish a 529 plan account and appoint a grandchild as the beneficiary.

While 529 plan accounts were originally designed to provide for higher education/college funding, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expanded the scope of 529 plans to allow them to be now used to fund private K–12 education expenses as well.

Advantages of 529 Plan Accounts

There are several advantages to using 529 plan accounts from a grandparent’s perspective:

• Contributions are Treated as a Completed Gift: Each contribution that a grandparent makes to a 529 plan account is treated, for tax purposes, as a completed gift. In most States, the 529 plan contributions, by way of the completed gift, can accrue a state tax benefit for the grandparents (be sure to consult your local tax advisor to understand your state’s potential tax benefits). Each grandparent may contribute up to $19,000 per year ($38,000 per couple) to any individual grandchild’s account, the current federal gifting limit.
• Superfunding: This term is interchangeable with forward gifting or max-funding. However you coin it, there is a unique provision within Section 529 of the IRS Code that allows 529 plan account owners to gift up to five years’ worth of contributions within a single year. This superfunding provision means that grandparents can contribute up to $95,000 per beneficiary ($19,000 x 5 years) in a single year. That figure doubles to $190,000 if both grandparents contribute to an account for the same beneficiary.
• Maintaining control of your assets: In contrast with other types of gifts, 529 plan account contributions remain under the control of the account owner/grandparent and can only be used according to the will and by the direction of the grandparent. The beneficiary/grandchild cannot access the funds for any reason.
• Removing assets from your estate: This advantage is one that too few people consider when discussing opening a 529 plan account. Although the primary purpose of these accounts is to provide education funding for children/grandchildren, contributions to the 529 plan accounts are treated as completed gifts; all contributions have the effect of reducing a grandparent’s estate by the full amount of the contributions. Many states aggregate limits on the total amount you can contribute to a single beneficiary’s 529 plan, which ranges from $235,000 to $596,925.
• Tax-deferred growth: All investment gains, dividends, capital gains, and interest earned within a 529 plan account grow on a tax-deferred basis. Earnings are tax-deferred but can be withdrawn tax-free when used for permitted education expenses. If you take the money out for a non-permitted education expense or a different use, you pay a penalty plus taxes on the portion of earnings outside the deferred window.
• Tax-free withdrawals for qualified higher education (or K–12) expenses: In most states, any withdrawals made from a 529 plan account used for qualified higher education or primary (K–12) education expenses will be exempt from any tax burden.
• FAFSA Simplification Act: The new FAFSA rules, which will take effect in the 2024-25 school year, will no longer count withdrawals from 529 plans owned by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other non-parents against a student’s overall federal aid eligibility.

Things to Consider

The advantages of grandparent-owned 529 plans typically outweigh any potential issues with funding a grandchild’s education. Still, there are a few potential pitfalls that should be considered.

• Potential taxes on distributions: If withdrawals from the 529 plan account are used for any reason other than qualified education expenses, the earnings portion of the withdrawal would be subject to a 10% penalty and taxed at the grandparent’s ordinary income tax rate.
• If a grandparent chose to superfund a 529 plan account and they were to pass away during the five-year period, then a portion of the contribution would be “recaptured” into their estate for estate tax purposes.