So how does a two-Fed family that gets fired send a kid to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Send the kid to community college. Mine is going there. No essays, not even doing the FAFSA.
No way am I paying $30-$40k for year 1 and 2.
CC is so cheap that the kid can work and pay for it and I will help.
You were two FEds? My ex never worked a day in his life and I was a server. I invested $400 a week since 2007 and it has done well in the market. Doesn't mean I will waste it on college.
Your $400 a week invested is somewhere in your house, in retirement account, or investment account. Mine is in 529, Roth, and regular investment account. Very easy to get it out.

dp.. as a single low income earner, your kid can get FA. Dual income earners who get laid off right now aren't going to get any FA for the first two years because they look at tax returns from the previous year.

Also, college isn't a waste. I grew up lower income, and college was my ticket out. Sounds like your kid needs to do the same.

But, I do agree with the CC route if you can't afford college. My sibling did that.

[Anonymous]

I assume you are a higher GS level feds? What are your savings like? In theory if you have a kid heading off to school now, you should have been saving all these years. If you haven't been. With your income history you should have access to a lot of loan options. People with far less $$ figure this out. It will be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

Many high achievers go to state colleges as that is what their parents can afford. Mine will.

it is the smart path. In reality, unless you have the $90K/year saved and can also assist your kid with professional/grad school, you probably shouldn't be paying $90K/year for college. Pick a school that showers your kid with merit or a state U that is half the cost. Your kid will be better off without debt and with a car when they graduate or grad school paid for. But going into debt for undergrad is not a smart path, not even for a T10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

Lol imagine bragging about all of the college saving you’ve done—and thinking you are superior in some way—because you’re “adult enough” and not “financially irresponsible” and then admitting your kid is at their in-state flagship.

DP: when your state flagship is a T25-40 school, you would be stupid not to seriously consider it. Why pay double for something that isn't much better (if it's better at all)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

I'm glad you're proud of your son - sounds like he's achieved a lot. I wonder if he's proud of you? Would he be proud of you spending your free time on a message board being cold and condescending to someone worried about losing their job? If so, then trust me when I say that something went wrong in parenting.

DP: once again, if you are a double fed, most likely making $300K+ for several years, the fact you don't have $$$ saved for college is a bit ridiculous. So yes, I have empathy for people, but not for people who choose to not plan and live within a reasonable budget (which should include college savings, retirement savings, and building a 12 month+ emergency fund).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop with the preaching. Let’s offer concrete advice for the now?

Advice (if you REALLY have to ask): Get new jobs, get college loans, kid gets job, use your college savings.

Yup! You work whatever job you can get, even if it's not what you want. And you keep looking for the "better job in your field".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

I'm glad you're proud of your son - sounds like he's achieved a lot. I wonder if he's proud of you? Would he be proud of you spending your free time on a message board being cold and condescending to someone worried about losing their job? If so, then trust me when I say that something went wrong in parenting.

DP: once again, if you are a double fed, most likely making $300K+ for several years, the fact you don't have $$$ saved for college is a bit ridiculous. So yes, I have empathy for people, but not for people who choose to not plan and live within a reasonable budget (which should include college savings, retirement savings, and building a 12 month+ emergency fund).

Nowhere is it said that there is no money saved for college. That that’s your takeaway/assumption says a lot about your desire to be condescending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

Lol imagine bragging about all of the college saving you’ve done—and thinking you are superior in some way—because you’re “adult enough” and not “financially irresponsible” and then admitting your kid is at their in-state flagship.

new poster here
WTH?
UVA is definitely something to "brag about."

They aren’t bragging about UVA, they’re bragging about how great they are at saving and then sent their kid to a tuition-controlled, taxpayer- subsidized school.

UVA is great. But don’t think you’re superior in some way because you saved for a school that half the people here could cash flow.

Except, if you don't have a job, then cash flow is difficult. Hence why financially smart people save for college (and other things) while they have the chance, so that should something happen their kids can still attend a 4 year college. It's called planning. And half the people here might be in trouble with cash flowing if they don't have a job, or if both don't have a job.

So yes, they are superior in that they have successfully planned

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

Lol imagine bragging about all of the college saving you’ve done—and thinking you are superior in some way—because you’re “adult enough” and not “financially irresponsible” and then admitting your kid is at their in-state flagship.

new poster here
WTH?
UVA is definitely something to "brag about."

They aren’t bragging about UVA, they’re bragging about how great they are at saving and then sent their kid to a tuition-controlled, taxpayer- subsidized school.

UVA is great. But don’t think you’re superior in some way because you saved for a school that half the people here could cash flow.

Except, if you don't have a job, then cash flow is difficult. Hence why financially smart people save for college (and other things) while they have the chance, so that should something happen their kids can still attend a 4 year college. It's called planning. And half the people here might be in trouble with cash flowing if they don't have a job, or if both don't have a job.

So yes, they are superior in that they have successfully planned

Again, no one said there are no college savings. That you want to assume that says a lot about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

Plenty of them had to pay off at least ten years of student loans themselves. Some may have had high healthcare expenses (the ACA didn't exist when today's HS seniors were born). Some families may have other children with special needs. Still others may have struggled during the crash that happened when these seniors were toddlers and found themselves deep in recovery for years.

It's so easy to sit on the internet and be high and mighty but it's just as easy to have compassion if you try even a little bit.

Based on my life experience, most people are not in this position because of healthcare or other expenses. They are there because they live above their means and do not prioritize savings. We both had student loans. But we continued to live like poor grad students until we paid them off---drove entry level cars, lived in 1 bedroom apartment, brown bagged our lunches 9 out of 10 days, at most dinners at home, shared one cell phone (mid 90s, we worked for a cell company and only paid $10/month for service and got the phones for $50, but we chose not to have 2 as extra expenses). So it's a mindset to build your lifestyle around paying off debt and saving first.

So yes, it's difficult to have compassion for people who most likely simply chose to spend on "wants" rather than saving. Fact is if you were a 2 fed family for at least 10+ years (and it sounds like they were), then you most likely had the opportunities to save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

I'm glad you're proud of your son - sounds like he's achieved a lot. I wonder if he's proud of you? Would he be proud of you spending your free time on a message board being cold and condescending to someone worried about losing their job? If so, then trust me when I say that something went wrong in parenting.

DP: once again, if you are a double fed, most likely making $300K+ for several years, the fact you don't have $$$ saved for college is a bit ridiculous. So yes, I have empathy for people, but not for people who choose to not plan and live within a reasonable budget (which should include college savings, retirement savings, and building a 12 month+ emergency fund).

Nowhere is it said that there is no money saved for college. That that’s your takeaway/assumption says a lot about your desire to be condescending.

Well if you have a fully funded 529 for college for your kids, then you use it for college, that's the purpose, even if you "don't have your fed job anymore". You fund college with the savings while you continue to search for a new job for yourself. THat's the entire point of saving, so that if an "emergency happens" you still can make life happen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

Lol imagine bragging about all of the college saving you’ve done—and thinking you are superior in some way—because you’re “adult enough” and not “financially irresponsible” and then admitting your kid is at their in-state flagship.

new poster here
WTH?
UVA is definitely something to "brag about."

They aren’t bragging about UVA, they’re bragging about how great they are at saving and then sent their kid to a tuition-controlled, taxpayer- subsidized school.

UVA is great. But don’t think you’re superior in some way because you saved for a school that half the people here could cash flow.

Except, if you don't have a job, then cash flow is difficult. Hence why financially smart people save for college (and other things) while they have the chance, so that should something happen their kids can still attend a 4 year college. It's called planning. And half the people here might be in trouble with cash flowing if they don't have a job, or if both don't have a job.

So yes, they are superior in that they have successfully planned

Again, no one said there are no college savings. That you want to assume that says a lot about you.

And once again, the fact they are worried about not being able to "afford college" if without a job does imply that they dont' have college fully saved for. Otherwise, you use your savings for the intended purpose and continue to search for a job. That is precisely why you save for college and for a 12 month emergency fund. So that life doesn't have to change drastically if the unforgettable happens.

[Anonymous]

You get new jobs like the rest of the world does.

[Anonymous]

CC and jobs for student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two fed families have had 18yesrs to save for college. This is what a 529 is for. I’m sorry for people who are well paid white collar workers too financially irresponsible to have planned for their kids education.

And we are sorry that your kids are not high achievers.

well i have one at UVA and he was. National Merit Scolar. He’s such an under achiever🤣. Despite all we were adult enough to start putting whatever could into the 529 from the time i found out i was pregnant.

I'm glad you're proud of your son - sounds like he's achieved a lot. I wonder if he's proud of you? Would he be proud of you spending your free time on a message board being cold and condescending to someone worried about losing their job? If so, then trust me when I say that something went wrong in parenting.

DP: once again, if you are a double fed, most likely making $300K+ for several years, the fact you don't have $$$ saved for college is a bit ridiculous. So yes, I have empathy for people, but not for people who choose to not plan and live within a reasonable budget (which should include college savings, retirement savings, and building a 12 month+ emergency fund).

Nowhere is it said that there is no money saved for college. That that’s your takeaway/assumption says a lot about your desire to be condescending.

Well if you have a fully funded 529 for college for your kids, then you use it for college, that's the purpose, even if you "don't have your fed job anymore". You fund college with the savings while you continue to search for a new job for yourself. THat's the entire point of saving, so that if an "emergency happens" you still can make life happen

Ah, okay, so people are only worthy if they have managed to save enough to fully fund college for all of their kids, including by having enough foresight to accurately predict the extent of real increases in tuition and fees over two decades. Any less and they are deserving of condescension. Got it, makes total sense.