Aside from saving for retirement, developing a strategy for financing a college education may be one of the most important investment exercises you will ever undertake. This calculator can help provide some insight on the level of savings you will need in order to pay for your child or grandchild's education. To determine how much you'll need to save/invest annually to pay for your child's education, take a few minutes to fill out this worksheet. Current annual costs:*   Number of years in college: Amount you've already put aside: Your child's age now: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Four years of college will cost (a) The future value of your investment is (b) Your annual contribution needs to be College costs will increase 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 % a year Your investments will return 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 % a year after taxes. Your child will enter college at age 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24   This calculator is provided for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be representative of actual results. The information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy. Investment results can vary considerably depending on the type of securities involved, general market conditions and other factors. * According to the Annual Survey of Colleges, The College Board, New York, NY., the national average for the 2003-2004 school year is $10,636 for public school resident students and $26,854 for private college resident students, which includes room, board and tuition. (a) Based on assumptions used, this will be your college savings pool when your child enters college. (b) Amount to add to college savings fund at the start of each year.