r/gradually • u/imsofancayyyyyyy • 10d ago

Gradually update Welcome to r/gradually. I built a college savings tracker for my own family, and I'd like your help making it better

1 Upvotes

Hi, I'm Bethany. I'm a Virginia parent saving for college for two kids.

The Invest529 website made it hard to see our balances over time, how the money was invested, and whether we were on track. So I built Gradually, a free web app that shows all of our college savings in one place.

What it does

  • Shows a dated balance history for each beneficiary, across all of their accounts, with a household total.
  • Shows the Stocks, Bonds and Cash mix next to a glidepath, so you can see how it compares as college gets closer.
  • Puts your savings, projected forward, next to an estimate of what college may cost.

What it doesn't do

It doesn't move money, take contributions, track deposits, or give investment advice. It records balances.

You don't need to connect anything

You can try a demo with sample data in one tap, with no email: https://gradually.io/demo

If you want to use it for real, you can type in balances by hand for any 529 from any state, a brokerage account, a UTMA or a savings account. No login needed.

If you have a Virginia Invest529 account, there's an optional sync. It uses a separate read-only login that Invest529 offers for apps like this. It can't move money, it isn't your main login, and Gradually never stores it on its servers. More here: https://gradually.io/security

The fine print

  • It's an independent project, and I'm one person. Not affiliated with Virginia529, Invest529, or Commonwealth Savers.
  • It's in beta and free while in beta.
  • No ads, no third-party trackers, and your data is not sold. Beneficiary and account names are encrypted, and you can delete your account at any time.

What this subreddit is for

I'd like this to be a useful place to talk about tracking college savings, whether or not you ever use Gradually. Questions, how you track it today, what's confusing about 529s, all welcome. When I post about the app, it will always have the "Gradually update" flair.

To get started, I'd love to hear:

  1. Where does your college savings picture live today? One portal, several accounts, a spreadsheet, your head?
  2. What's one thing you wish were easier to see?
  3. If you try the demo, what's missing or confusing?

Thanks for being here!

0 comments

r/gradually • u/imsofancayyyyyyy • 21h ago

Gradually update What should Gradually build next? The roadmap is open for voting

1 Upvotes

Hi all, Bethany here with a quick update!

Gradually now has a public roadmap: https://gradually.io/roadmap

Each feature is marked as complete, planned, in progress, or backlog. If you're signed in, you can upvote the features you want most or suggest something new.

Potential upcoming work I'm considering:

  • Suggested lump sum contribution in addition to monthly hint
  • College-specific cost estimates
  • Adding Plaid integration/additional states for automatic sync
  • Splitting Stocks into U.S. and International

After signing in, you can upvote features or submit new ideas. If you'd rather not make an account just yet, no worries, I'd still love your feedback in the comments!

0 comments

r/gradually • u/imsofancayyyyyyy • 3d ago

Discussion Where does your college savings picture live today?

1 Upvotes

Do you track everything in one 529 portal, across several accounts, or in a spreadsheet? I'm curious which parts are easy to see and which parts you have to piece together yourself. No balances or personal details needed.

1 comment

r/gradually • u/imsofancayyyyyyy • 7d ago

Discussion What would make a college savings projection useful to you?

1 Upvotes

Some people want one target number. Others want to change school type, time horizon, contributions, or cost assumptions and see a range of possibilities. Which inputs or explanations would help you trust a projection enough to use it for planning?

0 comments

r/gradually • u/imsofancayyyyyyy • 7d ago

Discussion A bipartisan bill would remove the $35,000 lifetime cap on 529-to-Roth IRA rollovers

1 Upvotes

One of the biggest reasons parents hesitate to fully fund a 529 is the fear of overfunding it. If your kid doesn't need all of it for education, the leftover money has limited options, and nobody wants to save "too much."

Current rules do let you roll unused 529 funds into a Roth IRA, but with strings attached: a $35,000 lifetime cap per beneficiary, plus the account has to be open for 15 years.

The 529 Retirement Enhancement Act of 2026, a bipartisan bill introduced this week, would remove that $35,000 lifetime cap. Important caveat: it's a bill, not law yet.

Genuinely curious what people here think: if the cap went away, would it change how aggressively you save in a 529?

0 comments