Focus Partners Wealth’s Jeffrey Levine tells advisors to keep college savings in 529 plans

College saving is still better solved in most cases by a 529 plan than by a Trump Account, according to Jeffrey Levine, chief planning officer at Focus Partners Wealth. Distributions from Trump Accounts are generally taxable when the child turns 18, while 529 withdrawals for higher education expenses are tax-free, he told InvestmentNews.

Treasury has said automatic enrollment is complete, giving every eligible child under 18 with a valid Social Security number an account. The administration put enrollment at roughly 70 million children on Oct. 7, according to InvestmentNews. The account must be claimed before any individual or employer money can go in; parents complete the claim through Treasury's app.

Families of children born from 2025 through 2028 must separately elect the $1,000 federal seed. Temporary Treasury regulations issued in late September 2026 opened the door to donations of publicly traded U.S. stock to groups of at least 5,000 children, with the shares held for five years, per InvestmentNews.

JPMorgan Chase, Intel, Steak 'n Shake, Robinhood and Schwab are among the companies that have committed to matching employee contributions to Trump Accounts, according to InvestmentNews. Rules for employer contributions of up to $2,500 a year are still being finalized.

The question Levine said he hears most from clients is how Trump Accounts fit alongside 529 plans. "There's about five different contributions," he said, running through an individual's own contributions, employer contributions, the $1,000 government contribution and charitable gifts. The free money, he said, is the draw.