Paying for College 101

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

So you would say no to Wharton or Hopkins or Carnegie Mellon or Williams?

Yes! My parents did. I got into University of Chicago but ended up going to SUNY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

I saw that post and felt the same. Although I also wondered if they meant Penn State?

They clarified it was UPenn.

I don’t think “always UPenn” is always the answer either, but that site is very much about lowest dollar amount irregardless of other considerations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

Same. Thankfully- my senior got into UVA and WM last week. Unless HPY comes through it will be one of those. Truthfully, he may like the state options better which will be better for my pocketbook. The harder choice would be Brown/Dartmouth. Not sure if those are worth the $ over UVA/WM.

Employers will prefer the UVA/WM kid over the Brown kid. Brown has gone from being a place associated with excellence to a breeding ground for whiny litigiousness.

Nope. Simply wrong. If you want to make an argument that UVA/WM is a better deal for your financial situation, then ok. But otherwise, just dumb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

Where is the LLC post? I absolutely want to understand if anyone knows anything about how you can leverage your company.

I have never seen a Temple vs. UPenn post...maybe it was a thread that didn't look particularly interesting from the headline.

This LLC post is typical. Starts off with a low info question. Followed by hostile, low info answers. One person who knows what is what. One “known person” who gets a lot of respect but engages in non productive ways. And one nugget by someone who posts Colorado college info, which was interesting to me. Just not sure it’s worth the time to find that nugget
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PayingForCollege101/permalink/2447350038800406/?app=fbl

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

Where is the LLC post? I absolutely want to understand if anyone knows anything about how you can leverage your company.

I have never seen a Temple vs. UPenn post...maybe it was a thread that didn't look particularly interesting from the headline.

This LLC post is typical. Starts off with a low info question. Followed by hostile, low info answers. One person who knows what is what. One “known person” who gets a lot of respect but engages in non productive ways. And one nugget by someone who posts Colorado college info, which was interesting to me. Just not sure it’s worth the time to find that nugget
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PayingForCollege101/permalink/2447350038800406/?app=fbl

I guess we are mixing up websites. I thought OP was mad at DCUM, now we are bringing FB into it.

The thread is getting confusing.

[Anonymous]

OP no, I'm wondering if anyone has a good site about strategies for paying for college, beyond saving which I've done. But I have a solo LLC and my DH is an S corp.

The popular FB site about this, called Paying for College 101, is really mean and not useful

[Anonymous]

I like that group more than DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP no, I'm wondering if anyone has a good site about strategies for paying for college, beyond saving which I've done. But I have a solo LLC and my DH is an S corp.

The popular FB site about this, called Paying for College 101, is really mean and not useful

My own research says you can put your kid on the payroll and pay them a salary which you can then use for college, but they need to actually be doing something for your company and the degree needs to relate to your business. So, if you run your own CPA firm, then if the kid is getting an accounting degree and you have them help out, it would qualify.

I think if you pay them up to the maximum standard deduction ($25kish?), then they pay no federal tax. This of course only works if you are cash-flowing some portion of your kid's education (i.e., you can't get reimbursed from 529). If you have saved a bunch in the 529, you could max out this payment and then only pull the excess from the 529 and then perhaps rollover the 529 for either grad school or into a Roth. You can of course pay them the full tuition which again is tax deductible to you, but probably results in taxes for your kid. You need to make sure the kid is actually paying the tuition as well, and not you.

Obviously, if you say pay your kid $50,000 per year which they turn around and pay over to the college, then the net cost to you may only be like $30,000 if at a 40% tax rate...though in theory, you will probably reimburse your kid for the income tax...so the net benefit might be like $15k.

You can also contribute like $6,250 per year to an education credit account. Again, your kid has to be an employee of your company, but they can study anything. I believe this $6,250 could create taxes for your kid because it is not W2 wage, but you can deduct the $6,250 from your taxes.

I would imagine all of this may raise IRS red flags, so not sure the financial savings > the audit risk. I bet the $6,250 account is maybe an easier test but it's not a ton of money in savings to you.

I might talk to a CPA about the former option, and how much your risk of an audit increases when you put your kid on the payroll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We started contributing to our kid's 529 accounts right after they were born. My oldest is a Senior and we could now pay for in-state schools ($38k /yr and have some leftover).

Start putting a percentage of your salary into retirement as soon as you land your first job--every year. After your kid is born-- set up a 529 and start yearly contributions.

Always have health insurance. Don't spend wildly. Fiscal responsibility.

This. We started at birth and saved for a state college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP no, I'm wondering if anyone has a good site about strategies for paying for college, beyond saving which I've done. But I have a solo LLC and my DH is an S corp.

The popular FB site about this, called Paying for College 101, is really mean and not useful

My own research says you can put your kid on the payroll and pay them a salary which you can then use for college, but they need to actually be doing something for your company and the degree needs to relate to your business. So, if you run your own CPA firm, then if the kid is getting an accounting degree and you have them help out, it would qualify.

I think if you pay them up to the maximum standard deduction ($25kish?), then they pay no federal tax. This of course only works if you are cash-flowing some portion of your kid's education (i.e., you can't get reimbursed from 529). If you have saved a bunch in the 529, you could max out this payment and then only pull the excess from the 529 and then perhaps rollover the 529 for either grad school or into a Roth. You can of course pay them the full tuition which again is tax deductible to you, but probably results in taxes for your kid. You need to make sure the kid is actually paying the tuition as well, and not you.

Obviously, if you say pay your kid $50,000 per year which they turn around and pay over to the college, then the net cost to you may only be like $30,000 if at a 40% tax rate...though in theory, you will probably reimburse your kid for the income tax...so the net benefit might be like $15k.

You can also contribute like $6,250 per year to an education credit account. Again, your kid has to be an employee of your company, but they can study anything. I believe this $6,250 could create taxes for your kid because it is not W2 wage, but you can deduct the $6,250 from your taxes.

I would imagine all of this may raise IRS red flags, so not sure the financial savings > the audit risk. I bet the $6,250 account is maybe an easier test but it's not a ton of money in savings to you.

I might talk to a CPA about the former option, and how much your risk of an audit increases when you put your kid on the payroll.

If you can pay your kid 50k a year you can pay for college. You are out of touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

I saw that post and felt the same. Although I also wondered if they meant Penn State?

They clarified it was UPenn.

I don’t think “always UPenn” is always the answer either, but that site is very much about lowest dollar amount irregardless of other considerations

Yes, completely agree. And everyone religiously recommends Borrowed Future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t tell your kid they can go anywhere unless you are wealthy. That is stupid. Be forthright about what the budget is. We are actually wealthy Virginia residents and we told our kids it’s in state unless you get into HYPMS. The middling private schools are a huge waste of money imho. Higher ed is one big festering scam. Best to not lose your shirt over it.

Same. Thankfully- my senior got into UVA and WM last week. Unless HPY comes through it will be one of those. Truthfully, he may like the state options better which will be better for my pocketbook. The harder choice would be Brown/Dartmouth. Not sure if those are worth the $ over UVA/WM.

Employers will prefer the UVA/WM kid over the Brown kid. Brown has gone from being a place associated with excellence to a breeding ground for whiny litigiousness.

Nope. Simply wrong. If you want to make an argument that UVA/WM is a better deal for your financial situation, then ok. But otherwise, just dumb

Unless you're in Virginia, UVA is about the same price as Brown or any other private

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.. is this place crazy?

everyone is so mean. and usually wrong. Is this another site that's smart about actually paying for college for UMC families?

This site is definitely mean, but please explain how it is "usually wrong"?

like literally, "Temple for 30K or UPenn for 60K" and 99% will say Temple, for sure, no doubt, end of discussion. that was today or yesterday.

and then yes, that wrong post about LLCs. "that's fraud and it's a crime!" um, no, it's not.

Where is the LLC post? I absolutely want to understand if anyone knows anything about how you can leverage your company.

I have never seen a Temple vs. UPenn post...maybe it was a thread that didn't look particularly interesting from the headline.

This LLC post is typical. Starts off with a low info question. Followed by hostile, low info answers. One person who knows what is what. One “known person” who gets a lot of respect but engages in non productive ways. And one nugget by someone who posts Colorado college info, which was interesting to me. Just not sure it’s worth the time to find that nugget
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PayingForCollege101/permalink/2447350038800406/?app=fbl

I guess we are mixing up websites. I thought OP was mad at DCUM, now we are bringing FB into it.

The thread is getting confusing.

It’s only confusing if you’re not paying attention. Paying for College 101 is a FB group and that is what’s being referenced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure this is the best lead in to ask for help.

This is a post referring to the Facebook page by that name I think? There's also one called Paying For College for High-Income Families 101 (they define that as 150K and up). Haven't joined but wonder if it would be more focused on UMC issues.

I tried that site. It's run by a guy Mike who wants you to buy his services. Not helpful

The Paying For College site is run by a different set of grifters but they also want you to buy their services.

[Anonymous]

I learned about that FB page here and signed up. Wish I had done so sooner. Way more helpful information that this site, probably because the responders cannot be anonymous and they are from all over the country and SES.