How to plan for vacations and not be a jerk parent.

[Anonymous]

A little bit of a s/o on the other newly divorced thread. I'm 48 and my two teens will go to college in 3 and 5 years. Retirement is good and basic expenses are budgeted for, but college funds are light. ExDH hated travel, so it's been about 18 years since I've gone abroad or done any big vacations. Before marriage, I lived abroad, learned languages, and would so love to do a bit of that again. But also know I need to either save more for kids college or pull from retirement to do so.

Help me set a plan for college saving and still be able to travel. Or tell me I'm being a jerk parent.

I have about 800/month I could allocate to: 529s, more retirement, or saving for vacations.

1M retirement Roth/tIRA
30k emergency fund
100k per child 529s

Monthly income covers mortgage & expenses, with that 800 leftover. Plan on working for at least 10 more years.

[Anonymous]

College funds are "light". What does this mean? You could pay for 2 years in state? You can pay for in state if they live at home? You can pay for a semester of community college? They each only have $1000? What's in the custody agreement regarding dad paying for anything towards college?

$800/month is $10kish a year. That's not enough to do the kind of vacation you want anyway. Put it all in college funds, have fun day trips with kids. At high school age there isn't a ton of time for cool trips anyway if they're involved in sports or activities.

In 9 years when they are out of college, you can start budgeting for travel again. If they happen to get scholarships and the college fund is freed up, take a vacation with them to celebrate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College funds are "light". What does this mean? You could pay for 2 years in state? You can pay for in state if they live at home? You can pay for a semester of community college? They each only have $1000? What's in the custody agreement regarding dad paying for anything towards college?

$800/month is $10kish a year. That's not enough to do the kind of vacation you want anyway. Put it all in college funds, have fun day trips with kids. At high school age there isn't a ton of time for cool trips anyway if they're involved in sports or activities.

In 9 years when they are out of college, you can start budgeting for travel again. If they happen to get scholarships and the college fund is freed up, take a vacation with them to celebrate.

Ugh, JK...I didn't finish reading. $100k each isn't awful. I'd budget $3-4k per year for a beach week and the rest goes to college.

[Anonymous]

You cannot afford expensive vacays, my dear. You need more in your retirement and your kids must apply to in-state colleges only, hopefully with financial aid or merit (because 100K per kid isn't enough for the average in-state flagship). You need to travel at off times and look for super deals, which when kids are still in school, is really difficult. I'm sorry, I get the hankering for new places and new sights. Our parents live in Europe and my cousins are in East Asia. We don't see them nearly enough. I haven't seen my cousins in 11 years!

[Anonymous]

I think you need more college savings.

Have you calculated what your basic living expenses are compared to likely SS payments? 1m would generate 40k a year at 4% withdrawal rate, so it's hard to know if you're in good shape for retirement or not without more info.

Can your X contribute to a 529?

How many months of expenses would your emergency fund cover if you lost your job? I would aim for at least 6 months especially as a single person.

I would hold off on vacation spending for now.

[Anonymous]

What does your divorce agreement say about further saving for college for each parent?

[Anonymous]

Why not focus on Mexico and Montreal? Different languages, different cultures, not too far.

[Anonymous]

I was able to use some of the child support money for extracurriculars on vacations. Is that possible for you op?

[Anonymous]

I'd be done adding money to 529. Take the vacations and then add to regular investment account. Kids may not want to vacation with you as they get older. They may only take the one trip.
How is $100k not enough for each child?
4-year college for DC costs me $20k in total. Not my idea, but DC is reasonable. He even tried to make a case for DC Tag.
Your children need to see the world more than think that $100k+ invested for them is normal.

[Anonymous]

If you're planning to retire at age 58 as you say in your original post, I'd be worried that retirement savings aren't sufficient.

As for college funds, $100k per kid is a decent amount for in state educations. If that is what you are intending to give your kids, then you're on target. If you want something different, you need more money because in state is about the lowest cost (absent aid, which we can't give an opinion about since we don't know your income and/or your kids' academic and sports abilities).

Personally, I'd change my retirement goal and plan to work longer if the payoff is getting to travel now when you know you are healthy and capable of enjoying it. At age 62, you can draw some social security and 67 you can draw the full amount. I'd also shoot for state schools for my kids unless they have some good reason for something more expensive - like they are brilliant and get into MIT or they have special needs and need a different level of support.

[Anonymous]

I'd do the trips. Life comes at you once.

[Anonymous]

Can you travel with the kids in a more budget friendly way? I'd plan to take one trip in the next year abroad. It's important to teach your kids how to do trips abroad, so I'd frame it from there.

$1M for one person is a great retirement account 10 years out. Don't let the insanely rich people on here sway you from that. Don't stop contributing, but it's also ok to balance doing some travel now why you're healthy and younger. Maybe work an extra year or 2 to cover it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be done adding money to 529. Take the vacations and then add to regular investment account. Kids may not want to vacation with you as they get older. They may only take the one trip.
How is $100k not enough for each child?
4-year college for DC costs me $20k in total. Not my idea, but DC is reasonable. He even tried to make a case for DC Tag.
Your children need to see the world more than think that $100k+ invested for them is normal.

You are completely out of touch. UMD is 30K a year. UVA is 40K a year. Sure, maybe with financial aid OP can get everything squared away for 100K or less, but we don't know all her financial details.

[Anonymous]

Not everyone has full pay college for kids.
Go on a few good vacations.
Then see about saving more.

[Anonymous]

Look into the Academic Common Market for in-state tuition options in other states. My kid went to Tennessee which was cheaper than any Virginia state school would have been.

For travel, start researching churning credit cards. Since my divorce it’s the only way I travel. For a few years I probably took $15k-$25k worth of travel for free on credit card points. Learn the ins and outs. Look into the Southwest Airlines companion pass which allows for a buy one get one free flight that you can use points for (and SW flies direct to multiple places in the Caribbean from BWI). Focus on points that transfer to Hyatts- they give the best return. It’s a part time hobby but can be very fruitful.