Should I front-load a 529 while my child is young or spread contributions out?

Front-loading gives compounding the most time to work, which is the single biggest driver of 529 growth. A dollar invested at birth has roughly 18 years to grow tax-free, so early contributions do far more heavy lifting than catch-up contributions later. Steady automatic monthly contributions are usually the realistic sweet spot: they capture most of the time-in-market benefit while smoothing your cash flow and dollar-cost averaging into the market. If you receive a windfall and are confident about future college costs, superfunding (using the 5-year gift election) accelerates this further. Just don't front-load a 529 at the expense of your own retirement or emergency fund. Model different start dates and monthly amounts with the College Planner at wealthserene.com/tools/college-planner.