If your HHI is between 200-300k, how much will you have saved for college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we assume a 6% rate of return and an increase in costs of 5% per year like the calculators say, we will have $275k for our oldest and $350k for our youngest based on current balance and savings rate.

Neither of those amounts would come close to being able to full pay at a private school. We live in DC so no instate option and many of the really good state flagships are in the mid $50s to high $60s with room and board today…we’d be highly short of schools comparable to UVA.

The younger will have more because we upped our rate of savings when the youngest was 4 and the oldest was 9, so the youngest will have many more years to benefit from that (coinciding with the end of daycare which freed up $2k a month in our budget). We currently save $1000/month/child. Prior to about a year and a half ago we saved $4k/year/child.

Do you treat the accounts as separate? Although our oldest has more money in his accounts, we will ensure they both receive the same level of support.

[Anonymous]

2 kids in elementary - we have prepaid tuition for in state college fully funded for each and 25k each in 529s. We aren't adding anything more to this.

[Anonymous]

Aiming for 100 k per kid (x3) and hoping it becomes more affordable. Kids are under 5

[Anonymous]

Goal was $80k In each by their 4th birthday. Now that we’re up to 3 kids I feel like I’m funding a revolution.

Have gotten darn close - then the market softened. But still steaming away - all of the calculators have it at $500-600k by our target year(s) & out of state publics - so the previous poster isn’t wrong.

I was given four years room and board out of state and will do the same for my brood. If they don’t use it all it can grow like their own educational trust or they could blow it on a grad degree.

[Anonymous]

8K per kid per year.

[Anonymous]

175k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not your responsibility to pay for college, OP. Adults are responsible for themselves. If you are 18, you are an adult. I raised independent adults who pay their own way for everything. If you want to go to college, you'll figure it out. If you do not want to go, you'll also figure that out.

You and I are totally on different wavelengths about parenting.

OP - I'm trying to give my kids a gift of being debt free to start their adult life. That said, I don't plan to fully fund anything. I'll save about 250k, and they will likely go to grad school like my spouse and I did. We both had some scholarships and grad school was fully funded through our grad advisors' projects. We also worked a little for extra money on the side.

[Anonymous]

We are closer to $100k and we save at least $4k per year per child, additionally throwing bonuses and other money in there, too. We will have about $100k in there for each of them.

We know it’s not enough.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Are you all between the 200-300k HHI? I feel like everyone on this board makes so much more than that. We have about 65k for the oldest-6 more years to go until college. I started contributing more this year. At the end, it will probably be just under 100k/kid.
For the PP who said we don’t have to pay for college. I would like to help my kids at least not graduate with debt. It feels like so many kids already have a leg up in other ways bc of parental help. This seems like the least we can do.

[Anonymous]

If you're managing your finances wisely you should be able to pay as you go through your excess annual cash flow. During the college years you'll not be able to put as much aside in savings and investments, but unless you regularly spend everything you earn, part of your normal annual cash flow can just be directed to college expenses for 4 years before being returned to normal savings/investments. That's the approach I took, although you certainly can also save/invest smaller amounts annually specifically for college over a longer period of time in advance if you prefer.

[Anonymous]

We put $210 in their accounts each month, and have about $100k in their accounts by college (thank you stock market and compounding intetest).

DC1 is going OOS and got a merit scholarship, costs about $35k per year. We paid the first semester out of cash flow, and the rest from 529 (which we still contribute $210 a month and is still earning interest). Any leftover will go to grad school. DC 2 goes in a week. Payment plan, as their college costs over $70k annually (no merit). We paid $20k from 529 and are doing the rest from cash flow. DC 3, don't know yet, a sophomore in HS this year, but hoping for a low cost school like DC 1, but we will figure it out, whatever they choose.

[Anonymous]

According to the MD529 calculator we'll have a little over 100% of four years of in state costs at our current contribution rate for our 4 and 9 yos. We may up it later if we can afford it and will cash flow the rest.

[Anonymous]

Our income is between 200K-300K. We have contributed $5000 per child per year to a 529 since they were born. That’s the amount that our state income taxes (MD) allow for a state deduction.

[Anonymous]

Aiming for $160k per; hoping for $200k.

[Anonymous]

We are about $325k (but one income) and will have about $200k per kid (we have 2.)