Direct Answer
Sourced profiles for education and minor-beneficiary accounts: 529 plans, ABLE accounts, UTMA, UGMA and Trump Accounts.
Education & Minor Account Profiles
Sourced profiles for accounts designed to hold assets for minors or fund education expenses. These accounts range from irrevocable gifts to minors (UTMA/UGMA), to tax-advantaged college savings (529), to disability savings (ABLE) and the new Trump Account for children under 18, with a pilot deposit for children born 2025 through 2028. 2026 limits are sourced from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (gift tax annual exclusion) and applicable statutes. These pages do not provide personalized investment advice.
Education Savings Accounts
- 529 Education Savings Plan, state-sponsored tax-advantaged plan; contributions grow tax-free; qualified withdrawals (college, K-12 up to $20,000/year, student loans up to $10,000 lifetime, apprenticeships) tax-free; no federal annual contribution limit; gift-tax treatment applies; 529-to-Roth IRA rollovers permitted under SECURE 2.0 (15-year rule, annual Roth IRA limit cap).
- ABLE Account (529A), tax-advantaged savings for individuals with qualifying disabilities; 2026 annual limit $19,000 (gift tax exclusion equivalent); ABLE-to-Work extra contributions up to the Federal Poverty Level for employed beneficiaries; aggregate base $20,000 (state may allow more); funds used for qualified disability expenses are tax-free.
Minor-Beneficiary Accounts
- UTMA Account, Uniform Transfers to Minors Act custodial account; irrevocable gift to minor; custodian manages until state age of majority (18-25, varies by state); kiddie tax applies to unearned income above threshold; broad asset eligibility (real property, royalties, etc. beyond UGMA).
- UGMA Account, Uniform Gifts to Minors Act custodial account; original, narrower statute than UTMA; eligible assets limited to financial assets (cash, securities, insurance policies, annuities); irrevocable gift; no annual contribution limit; kiddie tax applies.
- Trump Account (Money Account for Growth and Advancement) , new account type for children under 18 with a Social Security number; annual contribution limit $5,000 for 2026 and 2027; one-time $1,000 federal pilot deposit for U.S. citizen children born 2025 through 2028; employers may contribute up to $2,500/year; invested in a diversified index fund; cannot access before age 18 (limited exceptions); no income limit for eligibility.
Kiddie Tax
The kiddie tax (IRC Section 1(g)) taxes a child's net unearned income above a threshold at the parent's marginal rate. For 2026, the first $1,350 of a child's unearned income is offset by the standard deduction and the next $1,350 is taxed at the child's rate, so the parent's rate applies to net unearned income above $2,700. "Net unearned income" means investment income (dividends, capital gains, interest) in excess of the child's standard deduction from investments. It applies to:
- Children under 18, 18 year olds whose earned income is no more than half of their support, and full-time students under 24 under the same support test, who have at least one living parent, and
- Children whose unearned income exceeds the threshold.
The kiddie tax affects UTMA and UGMA accounts because those assets belong to the child but are typically invested to produce unearned income. It does not apply to 529 or ABLE distributions for qualified expenses.
Source: IRS: Topic No. 553, Tax on a Child's Investment and Other Unearned Income (Kiddie Tax).
Related Resources
- Investment Account Profiles Hub, all account categories.
- Investment Account Types Overview, full comparison of tax-advantaged account types.
- U.S. Rule & Limit Tracker, searchable registry of current 529 and ABLE rules.
- Retirement Investing Hub, Roth IRA eligibility and rollover rules relevant to 529-to-Roth conversions.