I’m really surprised how many people don’t save for college

[Anonymous]

I hate when people say Only go to public school. My kid went to public primary school and is going to a public in state university. We paid off our debts and didn’t fund college. That is totally on him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

Oh geez here we go again. Clueless. Here’s a thought - you could simply take the 15% in additional income tax that you would forfeit in said nameless romanticized country, pop it into a 529 for 15 years and you’d be good to go. Then once junior is in college, you could spend the rest of your life enjoying that extra 15% which you would NOT enjoy in your glorified wealthy nation because you would be charged 45-50% in income tax FOREVER.

Signed someone who has lived in those countries.

Not to mention, your kid was not pigeoned holed into their "path in life" when they were 10/11, as happens in many of those countries. Here in the USA, a kid can start to excel in HS or later and still go on to attend university and get a great college degree. In those countries, if you are not tracked for engineering at age 11, you won't be able to attend in country. Not something I want for my family personally.

So yeah, I would rather save myself for my kids than have the govt controlling it.

[Anonymous]

I know! Parents are creating lazy children that aren’t expected to get a job and save to pay for college. So sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand saving for college.

We just pay for it out of our income.

We only make $250 but $60K / year is not that big of a deal once your kid did private school for 12 years. It’s just part of the budget.

Well, not everyone makes $250K/year--very out of touch if you think that. And not everyone is already paying for private school.

But yes, if you are paying private school already, you can easily fund state university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I plan to be retired when my first gets to college age. Not really saving specifically for college. Will also not have much funds in liquid accounts. Net worth would be in real estate. Income when Retired will be 40k, so we should get a good financial aid package. 2 kids 2 years apart.

I know a guy who got to go to college for free because his single mom got laid off right before he went to college. The timing worked out well. Because his mom’s income was 0, his tuition was 0 and he was a RA and housing was also free.

If the mom got a new job, I’m sure they would have had to take out a lot of loans.

[Anonymous]

This was 20 years ago, but I paid for my own college with a part time job. My parents paid about $1500 total. State school. No debt after college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

THIS^^^ I do not want my kids "pigeon holed" at age 11/12 as to whether they get to attend university, whether they will follow STEM/Premed or humanities. It really is NOT greener in those European countries with "free university". I'd prefer to be taxed less, save on my own and let my kids blossom when they are ready, not having to push, push push them at age 5 so they will be on track for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people say Only go to public school. My kid went to public primary school and is going to a public in state university. We paid off our debts and didn’t fund college. That is totally on him.

Same. Many of our friends that went to VA state colleges (the horror!) are making 7 figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand saving for college.

We just pay for it out of our income.

We only make $250 but $60K / year is not that big of a deal once your kid did private school for 12 years. It’s just part of the budget.

Well, not everyone makes $250K/year--very out of touch if you think that. And not everyone is already paying for private school.

But yes, if you are paying private school already, you can easily fund state university.

Op specifically said people making 200K-400K.

So no I’m not out of touch I’m just answering her specific question about people making that much money.

We are a GS-14 and a cop so not exactly an insane amount of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I plan to be retired when my first gets to college age. Not really saving specifically for college. Will also not have much funds in liquid accounts. Net worth would be in real estate. Income when Retired will be 40k, so we should get a good financial aid package. 2 kids 2 years apart.

I know a guy who got to go to college for free because his single mom got laid off right before he went to college. The timing worked out well. Because his mom’s income was 0, his tuition was 0 and he was a RA and housing was also free.

If the mom got a new job, I’m sure they would have had to take out a lot of loans.

Exactly. If you know what financial aid need calculation is based on, it is somewhat easy to work it to your advantage. When my kid is 16, all my funds will be in retirement accounts or real estate or low annual pension. We will be low income and need financial aid even net worth should be around 3.5M.

[Anonymous]

The answer is pretty simple. A 529 is a tax-deferred savings vehicle, but so is my 401k and my wife’s 401k. If I have limited savings, I’m going to max out my 401k before funding a 529. Also, if you fund a Roth, you can take money from there before 59 1/2 for education. Finally, VA has great in-state colleges. Go to one and you’ve already saved a ton relative to your friend who sent their kid to a no-name SLAC. At $300-400k, I can cash flow a public, in-state school. The only people who must save for college are those who seek the right “fit” at an overly expensive college. You may think that’s worth it, but a lot of people don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I plan to be retired when my first gets to college age. Not really saving specifically for college. Will also not have much funds in liquid accounts. Net worth would be in real estate. Income when Retired will be 40k, so we should get a good financial aid package. 2 kids 2 years apart.

I know a guy who got to go to college for free because his single mom got laid off right before he went to college. The timing worked out well. Because his mom’s income was 0, his tuition was 0 and he was a RA and housing was also free.

If the mom got a new job, I’m sure they would have had to take out a lot of loans.

Exactly. If you know what financial aid need calculation is based on, it is somewhat easy to work it to your advantage. When my kid is 16, all my funds will be in retirement accounts or real estate or low annual pension. We will be low income and need financial aid even net worth should be around 3.5M.

Your situation is different. You are trying to game the system. It sounds like you can afford to pay tuition. You would rather stop working and have a low income than pay college tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was 20 years ago, but I paid for my own college with a part time job. My parents paid about $1500 total. State school. No debt after college.

Wow! Where did you go to college?
I was in college 25+ years ago, and my parents also did not pay. It was a state school, but in a relatively HCOL area. I worked full time while going to school just to pay for basic living expenses, tuition, and books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people say Only go to public school. My kid went to public primary school and is going to a public in state university. We paid off our debts and didn’t fund college. That is totally on him.

Same. Many of our friends that went to VA state colleges (the horror!) are making 7 figures.

I know 2 Towson U grads who were multi-millionaires by 40. I'd call that successful. They are where they are in life because of their drive and determination---didn't need to attend HYP to achieve success (I Know, shocking, isn't it)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Ummm...so I don't think the OP is talking about someone saving $18K per year per kid.

+1. Assuming this was since early childhood, she’s saved enough. Humblebrag.