Is anyone not saving to pay for all of their kids' college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how they are taking tax breaks for 529 contributions when you say they’ve liquidated the accounts. They have to pay penalties for that AND, at least in VA repay the tax break they took if they withdraw for a non qualified expense as you’ve described they have done.

This is true. They have undoubtedly paid significant penalties, but what do they care? None of the money was supposed to be theirs to begin with. I don’t know when they started liquidating, honestly. They’re very secretive about finances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you come up with a greed based scheme to try to get money out of your parents with a stupid gag baked crack pot idea and now your mad it backfired? You sound like you’re cut from the same cloth.

And you sound like a selfish and entitled Boomer.

I gave my parents all the tools they needed to make an honorable contribution to the broader family. At a minimum, they could have just taken the money, invested as they saw fit within their own 529, pocketed the $460/year they saved on VA taxes, and then offered up some help for college as a graduation present or whatever. Hoping that instead of pocketing the $460 in tax savings, they might toss that in as well makes me greedy?!? My parents would still have been out absolutely $0 net…but I’m being greedy?!? If my kids get scholarships and we have too much in aggregate between all the 529 plans, my parents would have able to keep all the excess without tax penalty…but I’m being greedy?!? My parents accepted over $120,000 from me and my DH over the course of 17 years but have no intention of contributing even 1 cent to their grandchildren’s college education…and I’m being greedy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought college will be free and all college debt will be erased...per the Dems, no?

Yeah some progress in that direction would be the case if Republicans stopped being such myopic arseholes and would stop blocking every bit of progress ever.

That's not progress. Nothing is 'free' in this world. Why should I pay for students loans for someone who went to Brown University to get an art history degree, to have a low income job. Think about your notion of free being progress. Does progress mean getting strapped with others' debt? If so, not smart nor advisable. Go to a school you can afford or don't complain about your student loans or expect someone else to pay YOUR obligation. Do you go into a restaurant and order whatever you want and expect the table across the room to pay your tab?!?

I agree to be an extent but we are talking about 17-18yos here, many of whom have never even taken a financial literacy class. They should not be allowed to take on that much debt to begin with. I would much rather congress focus on making college more affordable for future generations than forgiving existing debt, but something has to be done. The current system is not sustainable. And I say this as someone who stupidly took out a lot of loans and have since paid them back. Saving what we can because I do not want to put my kids in that position.

It’s easy to say go to a school you can afford when for a lot of kids across the country that would mean community college only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought college will be free and all college debt will be erased...per the Dems, no?

Yeah some progress in that direction would be the case if Republicans stopped being such myopic arseholes and would stop blocking every bit of progress ever.

That's not progress. Nothing is 'free' in this world. Why should I pay for students loans for someone who went to Brown University to get an art history degree, to have a low income job. Think about your notion of free being progress. Does progress mean getting strapped with others' debt? If so, not smart nor advisable. Go to a school you can afford or don't complain about your student loans or expect someone else to pay YOUR obligation. Do you go into a restaurant and order whatever you want and expect the table across the room to pay your tab?!?

I agree to be an extent but we are talking about 17-18yos here, many of whom have never even taken a financial literacy class. They should not be allowed to take on that much debt to begin with. I would much rather congress focus on making college more affordable for future generations than forgiving existing debt, but something has to be done. The current system is not sustainable. And I say this as someone who stupidly took out a lot of loans and have since paid them back. Saving what we can because I do not want to put my kids in that position.

It’s easy to say go to a school you can afford when for a lot of kids across the country that would mean community college only.

I'd argue that while they are 17/18, they are headed to college. If they cannot understand simple financial issues such as loans, then they shouldn't be taking them. These are kids in the top 50% of students since they are heading to college. There should be a mandatory online financial course of 1 hour for anyone taking student loans, to go over the implications for those that aren't aware, IMO. Nobody should take 100K in loans IMO, not even for an engineering degree, because there are many places that are more affordable to get that degree.

And yes, for many affordable college means starting at CC. But it's a means to an end--and education is the ultimate goal. 2 years at CC and transfer to state 4 year means you ultimately get a degree from the 4 year college. Nobody really cares that you went to CC. what you get is an affordable education and not being saddled with $1000/month loan payments for 10+ years often for a degree that only gets you $30K/syear income starting out.

Yes, it sucks if your parents couldn't/wouldn't save for college. But going into major debt isn't the solution. Getting an affordable education is. There are plenty of good colleges that are ~$25K/year all in. Pick one, work breaks and during school (P/T) and you don't need $100K in loans. Or start at CC which is only $5K/year, live at home, cash flow those 2 years and save the extra, then college is only $50K total for the last 2 years. With what you saved you only need $30K in loans at most. There are ways to do it without major debt, it just may not be the path you envision. But it's available

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two kids (now 15 and 17), each with a VA 529 plan; DH is the owner, children are beneficiaries. Contributed $4,000 per child per year since they were born and they have balances of about $99,000 and $114,000, respectively. I doubt this will cover any school in full without a substantial scholarship or out of pocket augmentation.

Most annoying is that DH and I have gifted nearly $8,000 per year over the same 15-17 years to my parents with the mutual understanding that they would use the offset to establish and fully fund additional 529 plans for our children. We learned over Christmas, however, that they’ve liquidated those accounts over the years to take luxury cruise vacations and buy a couple of nice Mercedes convertibles for themselves. Thanks, Boomer parents…. They took both the VA tax breaks every year as well as all the contributions and gains.

What's that again?

What?

Why on earth did you do that? That's insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how they are taking tax breaks for 529 contributions when you say they’ve liquidated the accounts. They have to pay penalties for that AND, at least in VA repay the tax break they took if they withdraw for a non qualified expense as you’ve described they have done.

This is true. They have undoubtedly paid significant penalties, but what do they care? None of the money was supposed to be theirs to begin with. I don’t know when they started liquidating, honestly. They’re very secretive about finances.

Maybe they never contributed to begin with.

If your parents have historically pretended to foot the bill while invoicing you and DH behind the scenes, why did you trust them to follow through on this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you come up with a greed based scheme to try to get money out of your parents with a stupid gag baked crack pot idea and now your mad it backfired? You sound like you’re cut from the same cloth.

And you sound like a selfish and entitled Boomer.

I gave my parents all the tools they needed to make an honorable contribution to the broader family. At a minimum, they could have just taken the money, invested as they saw fit within their own 529, pocketed the $460/year they saved on VA taxes, and then offered up some help for college as a graduation present or whatever. Hoping that instead of pocketing the $460 in tax savings, they might toss that in as well makes me greedy?!? My parents would still have been out absolutely $0 net…but I’m being greedy?!? If my kids get scholarships and we have too much in aggregate between all the 529 plans, my parents would have able to keep all the excess without tax penalty…but I’m being greedy?!? My parents accepted over $120,000 from me and my DH over the course of 17 years but have no intention of contributing even 1 cent to their grandchildren’s college education…and I’m being greedy?

And immature. You are a real piece of work. You got exactly what you deserve. You’re half baked crack pot idea failed. This is just about the dumbest thing I’ve read in this site. I’d say that’s your greatest accomplishment in this entire thing

[Anonymous]

Boomer Troll wrote:And immature. You are a real piece of work. You got exactly what you deserve. You’re half baked crack pot idea failed. This is just about the dumbest thing I’ve read in this site. I’d say that’s your greatest accomplishment in this entire thing

Sounds like PP was giving money to her parents to help subsidize their lifestyle of sloth and excess. Perhaps to provide them with the means necessary to save face and give back to the extended family through vacations, holidays, and college contributiions that were apparently sponsored by them as the loving and thoughtful grandparents. Didn't work out, no suprise there. An expensive but valuable lesson for the kids...don't trust Boomers! This clip summarizes it quite nicely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hekDuCBxCc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you come up with a greed based scheme to try to get money out of your parents with a stupid gag baked crack pot idea and now your mad it backfired? You sound like you’re cut from the same cloth.

And you sound like a selfish and entitled Boomer.

I gave my parents all the tools they needed to make an honorable contribution to the broader family. At a minimum, they could have just taken the money, invested as they saw fit within their own 529, pocketed the $460/year they saved on VA taxes, and then offered up some help for college as a graduation present or whatever. Hoping that instead of pocketing the $460 in tax savings, they might toss that in as well makes me greedy?!? My parents would still have been out absolutely $0 net…but I’m being greedy?!? If my kids get scholarships and we have too much in aggregate between all the 529 plans, my parents would have able to keep all the excess without tax penalty…but I’m being greedy?!? My parents accepted over $120,000 from me and my DH over the course of 17 years but have no intention of contributing even 1 cent to their grandchildren’s college education…and I’m being greedy?

And immature. You are a real piece of work. You got exactly what you deserve. You’re half baked crack pot idea failed. This is just about the dumbest thing I’ve read in this site. I’d say that’s your greatest accomplishment in this entire thing

Yeah this pretty much takes the cake for the dumbest financial move I’ve ever read on DCUM. Just naive and dumb.

[Anonymous]

DH took a year of salary when DS was 6th grade and invested it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah this pretty much takes the cake for the dumbest financial move I’ve ever read on DCUM. Just naive and dumb.

I suppose this comes as no surprise from a forum operated by and filled with godless, elite liberals that have earned all their money through undeserved inheritance, vile deception, and shameless malfeasance. Honor thy father and mother? Not on DCUM! The crowd here always has one hand pleasuring themselves while the other is deep in the pocket of their friends, family, and co-workers. Why work for a living when you can simply steal from those around you? The rapaciousness of the prototypical DCUM knows no bounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you come up with a greed based scheme to try to get money out of your parents with a stupid gag baked crack pot idea and now your mad it backfired? You sound like you’re cut from the same cloth.

And you sound like a selfish and entitled Boomer.

I gave my parents all the tools they needed to make an honorable contribution to the broader family. At a minimum, they could have just taken the money, invested as they saw fit within their own 529, pocketed the $460/year they saved on VA taxes, and then offered up some help for college as a graduation present or whatever. Hoping that instead of pocketing the $460 in tax savings, they might toss that in as well makes me greedy?!? My parents would still have been out absolutely $0 net…but I’m being greedy?!? If my kids get scholarships and we have too much in aggregate between all the 529 plans, my parents would have able to keep all the excess without tax penalty…but I’m being greedy?!? My parents accepted over $120,000 from me and my DH over the course of 17 years but have no intention of contributing even 1 cent to their grandchildren’s college education…and I’m being greedy?

And immature. You are a real piece of work. You got exactly what you deserve. You’re half baked crack pot idea failed. This is just about the dumbest thing I’ve read in this site. I’d say that’s your greatest accomplishment in this entire thing

Poster was trying to be cleaver and hide the money for financial aid. The entire situation makes zero sense to hand over money for them to get minimal tax savings to save for the kids. Your kids come first. Very greedy to expect financial aid when you can afford to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought college will be free and all college debt will be erased...per the Dems, no?

Yeah some progress in that direction would be the case if Republicans stopped being such myopic arseholes and would stop blocking every bit of progress ever.

That's not progress. Nothing is 'free' in this world. Why should I pay for students loans for someone who went to Brown University to get an art history degree, to have a low income job. Think about your notion of free being progress. Does progress mean getting strapped with others' debt? If so, not smart nor advisable. Go to a school you can afford or don't complain about your student loans or expect someone else to pay YOUR obligation. Do you go into a restaurant and order whatever you want and expect the table across the room to pay your tab?!?

I agree to be an extent but we are talking about 17-18yos here, many of whom have never even taken a financial literacy class. They should not be allowed to take on that much debt to begin with. I would much rather congress focus on making college more affordable for future generations than forgiving existing debt, but something has to be done. The current system is not sustainable. And I say this as someone who stupidly took out a lot of loans and have since paid them back. Saving what we can because I do not want to put my kids in that position.

It’s easy to say go to a school you can afford when for a lot of kids across the country that would mean community college only.

Community college is not a bad choice. In fact, it’s a smart option I will highly encourage my children to consider. I went to two years of community college tuition free and earned an associate degree. I then transferred easily to a state school with all my credits transferring. Earned a double major with zero debt. Nobody once seemed to care about the years of community college when was applying to internships and jobs. What propelled me was my willingness to take a lowly paid internship after graduating and work my tail off making connections. I was making 100k at age 26 and investing heavily in retirement and savings. It worked out great for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought college will be free and all college debt will be erased...per the Dems, no?

Yeah some progress in that direction would be the case if Republicans stopped being such myopic arseholes and would stop blocking every bit of progress ever.

That's not progress. Nothing is 'free' in this world. Why should I pay for students loans for someone who went to Brown University to get an art history degree, to have a low income job. Think about your notion of free being progress. Does progress mean getting strapped with others' debt? If so, not smart nor advisable. Go to a school you can afford or don't complain about your student loans or expect someone else to pay YOUR obligation. Do you go into a restaurant and order whatever you want and expect the table across the room to pay your tab?!?

I agree to be an extent but we are talking about 17-18yos here, many of whom have never even taken a financial literacy class. They should not be allowed to take on that much debt to begin with. I would much rather congress focus on making college more affordable for future generations than forgiving existing debt, but something has to be done. The current system is not sustainable. And I say this as someone who stupidly took out a lot of loans and have since paid them back. Saving what we can because I do not want to put my kids in that position.

It’s easy to say go to a school you can afford when for a lot of kids across the country that would mean community college only.

Community college is not a bad choice. In fact, it’s a smart option I will highly encourage my children to consider. I went to two years of community college tuition free and earned an associate degree. I then transferred easily to a state school with all my credits transferring. Earned a double major with zero debt. Nobody once seemed to care about the years of community college when was applying to internships and jobs. What propelled me was my willingness to take a lowly paid internship after graduating and work my tail off making connections. I was making 100k at age 26 and investing heavily in retirement and savings. It worked out great for me.

Smart choice! The ultimate goal should be to get a degree/education. If you have a way to do it debt free, that's an even better plan. If you can afford a 4 year university, great. But if not, what you did was incredibly smart. And you are right, nobody cares that you attended a 2 year college first---they only care that you can do the job in front of you and have a great work ethic (and I'd argue most who attend a 2 year and transfer simply because it's the affordable option do have a great worth ethic)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you come up with a greed based scheme to try to get money out of your parents with a stupid gag baked crack pot idea and now your mad it backfired? You sound like you’re cut from the same cloth.

And you sound like a selfish and entitled Boomer.

I gave my parents all the tools they needed to make an honorable contribution to the broader family. At a minimum, they could have just taken the money, invested as they saw fit within their own 529, pocketed the $460/year they saved on VA taxes, and then offered up some help for college as a graduation present or whatever. Hoping that instead of pocketing the $460 in tax savings, they might toss that in as well makes me greedy?!? My parents would still have been out absolutely $0 net…but I’m being greedy?!? If my kids get scholarships and we have too much in aggregate between all the 529 plans, my parents would have able to keep all the excess without tax penalty…but I’m being greedy?!? My parents accepted over $120,000 from me and my DH over the course of 17 years but have no intention of contributing even 1 cent to their grandchildren’s college education…and I’m being greedy?

And immature. You are a real piece of work. You got exactly what you deserve. You’re half baked crack pot idea failed. This is just about the dumbest thing I’ve read in this site. I’d say that’s your greatest accomplishment in this entire thing

Poster was trying to be cleaver and hide the money for financial aid. The entire situation makes zero sense to hand over money for them to get minimal tax savings to save for the kids. Your kids come first. Very greedy to expect financial aid when you can afford to pay.

Yup and the poster got indignant when called out in her failed greedy attempts. I love that she was the one who got screwed in the end.