What’s the formula for saving for college? You might think it’s:

Recurring Savings + Lots of Time = Enough Money Saved for College

But what if there’s more to it than that? What if it’s:

Mindset + Determination + Automated Savings + Lots of Time = Enough Money for College?

Some experts weighed in on exactly what families need to do to plump up those accounts for their college-bound kids.

What else do you need to possess in order to save for college? A particular mindset, determination, etc.?

“Saving for college is undoubtedly challenging. One of the best things to do is work out a budget and find colleges that fall within that. The key is to limit debt and remain open to alternative options such as online college, community college or others.”

— Grant Aldrich, CEO of OnlineDegree.com

“It takes a lot of awareness to think of creative ways to save for college. For example, shopping for things on sale allows more money to be allocated to savings.”

— Crystal Olivarria, Better Decisions Matter

“You must have the determination to see the hard days through and the willingness to make your goals a reality. You will experience hard days, and it will make you want to give up but you just always hold on to your dreams.”

— Lewis Keegan, Skillscouter.com

“When it comes to saving for college or really any kind of financial process, people tend to become overwhelmed. ‘I’m no good with numbers,’ they say. Well, I have news for you: You really don’t need to be! There are so many free tools and calculators out there that all you really need is a basic understanding of math, and you can make any financial goal a reality. What do you need? A long-term mindset. When we’re faced with a huge number like $50,000, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and think that we can never reach that goal. But by starting to save early enough, even seemingly small amounts can grow substantially over time.”

— Tim Stobierski, founder of StudentDebtWarriors.com 

“Saving for college is a long term game, and it can be very tempting to spend what we earn now to ‘treat ourselves’ instead of tucking it away in a college fund for years. By being able to delay gratification and control our impulses, we can be more disciplined about saving for college. Also, there’s an overwhelming amount of information out there about saving for college and it takes an analytical (and determined!) mind to read up and do research, compare options and finally decide on the best option.”

— Foster Mendez, founder of Spear Mortgage

What does goal-setting have to do with saving for college?

“Setting a goal is pretty straightforward. You would set a goal, say 10 percent of your income, and set up automatic contributions to a college savings plan.”

— Ann Garcia, CFP, Independent Progressive Advisors

“Goal-setting is a surefire way to maintain productivity and motivation over a long period. Goal-setting can be like a reference sheet when you feel lost or lacking direction. You can always look at your goals and work backward.”

— Grant Aldrich, CEO of OnlineDegree.com

“Setting mini goals can be more motivational than setting a big goal. For example, money saved this year will pay for a meal plan may seem easier to save for than the big goal of saving to pay for all college expenses.”

— Crystal Olivarria, Better Decisions Matter

“Simply put, if you don’t know what you’re working towards, you’ll never know how you’re doing. When we have a goal, we can measure our progress toward that goal. If we aren’t where we thought we would be at a certain point in time, we can then pivot our strategy in order to do better. Without a goal, we’re just wishing for the best.”

— Tim Stobierski, founder of StudentDebtWarriors.com

“Think of goal-setting as the road, and you — the one saving money — as the car… Goal-setting tells you where you need to go and gets you there safely. However, you as the driver need to make sure you follow the directions and stay on course.”

— Drew Cheneler, founder of www.simplemoneylyfe.com

What Personality Types Do Best?

“MBTI personality types with the judging trait are more conservative with their money and better at planning their finances. They tend to prioritize putting away money for the things they need before spending it, while Perceivers are more likely to spend on impulse. Out of the 16 MBTI personality types, ESTJs, ESFJs, ISFJs, and ISTJs tend to make very detailed budgets and plan ahead so they are the best at saving for college.”

— Foster Mendez, founder of Spear Mortgage

“I’m struggling to say what personality types have the easiest time-saving. The ones that have the hardest time are the ones who struggle with decisions in general — usually because they have to do too much research before acting. Again, the perfect being the enemy of the good. They’ve heard that Utah and Nevada have great plans so they need to research that before they can invest. Then they hear that savings will cost them financial aid so they second-guess saving. Then they can’t pick an investment portfolio because they all have tips and they don’t want tips…”

— Ann Garcia, CFP, Independent Progressive Advisors

“Mathematicians and accountants are most likely to start saving for college sooner, because they are aware of just how much it will cost. People who plan are also more likely to save.  Impulsive people are less likely to save.

Unfortunately, there’s nobody telling parents about the need to save for college. When you get a new job, the HR staff tell you about the need to save for retirement. But, your obstetrician, midwife or doula doesn’t tell you about the need to save for college, nor does your kindergarten teacher or principal.”

— Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and and vice president of research, Savingforcollege.com

What’s the Secret to Saving for College?

“The secret is to have a side hustle in order for you to have a source of income and use the income you earn to fund your education.”

— Lewis Keegan, Skillscouter.com

“The secret to saving for college is to start early and save often. Ask friends and family to contribute to your child’s college savings plan instead of giving birthday and holiday presents. (Or sell the presents to raise money for college savings.) Use cashback credit cards to earn rebates to help your college savings grow.”

— Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research, Savingforcollege.com

“The secret to saving for college? This question always reminds me of ‘Kung Fu Panda’: ‘The secret ingredient is nothing!’ You just have to do it. Open a 529 account. Set up a monthly contribution. Pick an age-based portfolio. Ideally, come back every year and increase your contribution.”

— Ann Garcia, CFP, Independent Progressive Advisors

 “Consider a parent with a newborn. They want to help their child save for college, so they decide to invest $100 each month in a college fund for their child from the day they were born up until their 18th birthday. Now let’s say that the investment account yields a modest (and totally achievable) 6% annual rate of return. On the child’s 18th birthday, they would have $38,735 in their college fund.If the account earns a more aggressive, but still achievable, 8% annually, they would have just under $50,000.

Now, let’s say that the parent delays opening a college savings fund until their child is five years old. All things being equal ($100 contributed monthly, 6% rate of return), they would have $23,544 on their child’s 18th birthday. That’s more than $15,000 less — and most of it in the form of lost growth.

If they wait until the child is 10 years old to start? They’ll only have $12,282. They would need to save more than $300 each month and earn that same 6% return just to end up with the same amount. What do you need? A long-term mindset.”

— Tim Stobierski, founder of StudentDebtWarriors.com

What’s Your Own Personal Approach?

“I personally waited to go to college until I was able to save money. Though it was difficult, I worked what jobs I could to save money to pay for as much of college as I could on my own, since I come from a single parent home. I even worked during college to afford expenses while there.”

— Mason Miranda, Credit Card Insider

“I started my kids’ college funds when they were born. Before this I had researched extensively about ways to save up for college and even for an ex-financial professional, this can be a lot of information to get through and analyze! I also spoke with friends and family members who were thinking of or already had college funds for their kids to get their insights. Often, they have already done their own research and planning, and it can be much easier to leverage their knowledge to make your own plan for saving up for college.”

— Foster Mendez, founder of Spear Mortgage

“My own experience (as a mom to twins who just finished their first year in college) is the best thing to do is to do what you can. As advisors we tend to approach savings goals as though they’re completely linear: every year you contribute X percent of your income to Y goal. But life doesn’t work that way. My husband and I always had a monthly contribution set up, but we changed it a lot (Laid off? Decrease. Bonus? Increase. Birthday money? increase. Big family vacation? Decrease.) Look closely at your cash flow/family budget to see if you can peel off $20 a month somewhere and then just throw it at college savings.”

— Ann Garcia, CFP, Independent Progressive Advisors

There’s No One Way

There’s no one way to save for college, nor is there one mindset or personality type that perfects saving for college. However, invest early and invest often are the biggest takeaways — and most of these experts expressed that impulsivity decreases savings success. Even with savings of less than $500, a child is 25% more likely to enroll in college and 64% more likely to graduate than a child with no savings, according to a study from the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL).

Clearly, savings matters.

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Written by Melissa Brock

Melissa Brock is the Money Editor at Benzinga and founder of College Money Tips. She enjoys writing about the intersection of personal finance and higher education.