529 College Savings Calculator and IRR Calculator answer different questions. 529 College Savings Calculator lives in Investing & FIRE and produces college savings balance, tuition coverage, while IRR Calculator lives in Business & SaaS and produces internal rate of return.
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529 College Savings Calculator computes 529 college savings directly in your browser. It is built for us college savings projection and uses compound growth in a state-specific 529 plan based on the inputs you provide.
IRR Calculator computes internal rate of return from cash flow stream (initial outflow then inflows). Runs entirely in your browser
| Attribute | 529 College Savings Calculator | IRR Calculator |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Investing & FIRE | Business & SaaS |
| Primary input | Annual contribution, years to college, expected return | Cash flow stream (initial outflow then inflows) |
| Primary output | College savings balance, tuition coverage | Internal rate of return |
| Math model | Compound growth in a state-specific 529 plan | NPV root finding |
| Best for | US college savings projection | Single-rate-of-return summary |
| Runs in browser | Yes, no data leaves your device | Yes, no data leaves your device |
| Login required | No | No |
| Cost | Free | Free |
Under the hood, 529 College Savings Calculator uses compound growth in a state-specific 529 plan fed by annual contribution, years to college, expected return. IRR Calculator uses npv root finding fed by cash flow stream (initial outflow then inflows). The two are not substitutes; they answer adjacent questions in your workflow.
Pick 529 College Savings Calculator when your question is about 529 college savings and your inputs are annual contribution, years to college, expected return. Pick IRR Calculator when the question shifts to irr and your inputs become cash flow stream (initial outflow then inflows). If neither matches what you need, the Investing & FIRE category hub lists every tool we have for related questions.
Your task is long horizon planning and retirement targets and you already have contribution, return, time horizon, inflation. The output you need is a future value, withdrawal amount, retirement age.
Your task is founders sizing saas or service businesses and you have mrr, arr, churn, customer count. The output you need is a ltv, cac payback, runway.
Browse the Investing & FIRE hub for related tools, or the Business & SaaS hub for the other side.
529 College Savings Calculator is designed to answer questions about 529 college savings using annual contribution, years to college, expected return. IRR Calculator is designed for irr using cash flow stream (initial outflow then inflows). They are complementary tools that target different inputs and outputs.
Use 529 College Savings Calculator when your task is us college savings projection and you need a college savings balance, tuition coverage from annual contribution, years to college, expected return.
Use IRR Calculator when the question is single-rate-of-return summary and your inputs are cash flow stream (initial outflow then inflows). The result is a internal rate of return.
Yes. Both run entirely in your browser, require no login, and are free to use without limits. Your inputs are not transmitted to any server.
Accuracy depends on the inputs you provide, not on the tool. 529 College Savings Calculator uses compound growth in a state-specific 529 plan and is accurate for 529 college savings when its inputs are correct. IRR Calculator uses npv root finding and is accurate for irr under the same condition.