Did you folks not do ANY saving?

[Anonymous]

DH and I paid $42,000/yr for 2 kids in daycare when we were just starting out and barely had anything saved. We lived paycheck to paycheck. If we could make it through that time, I'm not seeing how college after 10 yrs of saving could be that much harder? We'll be making more than we were then, and our kids can also work and make some?

[Anonymous]

My cousin’s family with a kid going to college next fall. What happened was cultural - dad didn’t have parental help going to college and mom was from overseas where college costs was not as astronomical as in the US. They have nothing saved. Do I feel sorry for them? I would if they hadn’t sold their house for a huge gain couple of years ago and used that money to upgrade their house and bought fancy cars and furniture. Mom is SAHM while Dad has a senior position. They are now looking for merit aid but unfortunately touring ivies and top 20 schools. My suggestion of looking at our state school and lower tier schools were not received well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are two things going on here and both can be true:

1. The cost of college has far outpaced inflation and wages. This makes it extremely difficult for most people to afford to send their kids to college and pay for it 100%

2. In this area, there are many people making strong UMC incomes who are terrible with money and don't save as much as they can/should for college. Instead they try to keep up with the Joneses and go on tons of vacations, update their homes and kitchens every few years, etc etc. They may get financial aid that they truly don't deserve because they have been completely irresponsible about saving. But, life's not fair and some people game the system. Just be happy that you don't have to live that life. Money is just a tool and watching many friends live this way I've realized just how stressful it is. It's better just to do your own best and focus on what you can control: Saving enough for your own kid and living within your means.

Not too likely if they are high HHI, parental assets in retirement accounts are not counted at all, and 529s and taxable accounts are counted at a 5.64% rate so savings don't make a huge difference. HHI at the time of completing FAFSA/CSS profile matters most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most people still working when their kids are in college? I'm saving for both my kids, but I'm also assuming that large amounts of my paycheck during their college years will be going towards paying their college expenses. Why are people thinking they need to have saved the total amount by the time their kids start college?

+1. By the time my kids go to college, we're projecting that'll we have saved about half about their college expenses. Which makes it easier to pay the rest from our salaries. If college is $74k a year, half of that is $37k, which is basically what we paid during the daycare years with no savings at all, and when we both earned so much less than we do now.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, it’s difficult for even UMC American families to compete with full pay foreign money that drives the sticker price up every year. Why should we live an impoverished lifestyle just to be able to afford a private college in our own country? We need and deserve all the help we can get!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it’s difficult for even UMC American families to compete with full pay foreign money that drives the sticker price up every year. Why should we live an impoverished lifestyle just to be able to afford a private college in our own country? We need and deserve all the help we can get!

Full pay international students are one of the few things holding the price down right now--especially at public schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it’s difficult for even UMC American families to compete with full pay foreign money that drives the sticker price up every year. Why should we live an impoverished lifestyle just to be able to afford a private college in our own country? We need and deserve all the help we can get!

Full pay international students are one of the few things holding the price down right now--especially at public schools!

I was talking about private, but yes, they should subsidize US students so we do not have to save to pay full freight.

[Anonymous]

Bunch of UMC people who didn't save for college? More like, bunch of people who COULDN'T save for their kids' college. Get off your privileged toilet seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it’s difficult for even UMC American families to compete with full pay foreign money that drives the sticker price up every year. Why should we live an impoverished lifestyle just to be able to afford a private college in our own country? We need and deserve all the help we can get!

You can't be serious. Because you want a luxury good offered by a private corporation, and it's on you to pay for it. If you aren't willing to save for it, don't go. If you can't save for it, you can't afford it. You may need help, but you sure as hell don't deserve it if you are UMC, especially with this attitude.

I am all for giving deserving students aid for college, but I'll be damned if I want tax dollars going to UMC kids whose parents don't want to save because they don't want to live a lifestyle they this is beneath then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most people still working when their kids are in college? I'm saving for both my kids, but I'm also assuming that large amounts of my paycheck during their college years will be going towards paying their college expenses. Why are people thinking they need to have saved the total amount by the time their kids start college?

+1. By the time my kids go to college, we're projecting that'll we have saved about half about their college expenses. Which makes it easier to pay the rest from our salaries. If college is $74k a year, half of that is $37k, which is basically what we paid during the daycare years with no savings at all, and when we both earned so much less than we do now.

I opted to be a SAHM. I only recently began working. Not sure how we will make it since we are by definition a donut hole family. Seems unfair that our current income is counted against us. Considering staying home, again, until kids are out of college. May make more sense, tbh. Then we can get FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most people still working when their kids are in college? I'm saving for both my kids, but I'm also assuming that large amounts of my paycheck during their college years will be going towards paying their college expenses. Why are people thinking they need to have saved the total amount by the time their kids start college?

+1. By the time my kids go to college, we're projecting that'll we have saved about half about their college expenses. Which makes it easier to pay the rest from our salaries. If college is $74k a year, half of that is $37k, which is basically what we paid during the daycare years with no savings at all, and when we both earned so much less than we do now.

I opted to be a SAHM. I only recently began working. Not sure how we will make it since we are by definition a donut hole family. Seems unfair that our current income is counted against us. Considering staying home, again, until kids are out of college. May make more sense, tbh. Then we can get FA.

Check NPC calculators for schools of interest on this. Financial aid really doesn't kick in unless you're firmly in the middle class range or lower except at the most expensive colleges and if you have multiple kids at the same time. And financial aid usually contains a loan burden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most people still working when their kids are in college? I'm saving for both my kids, but I'm also assuming that large amounts of my paycheck during their college years will be going towards paying their college expenses. Why are people thinking they need to have saved the total amount by the time their kids start college?

+1. By the time my kids go to college, we're projecting that'll we have saved about half about their college expenses. Which makes it easier to pay the rest from our salaries. If college is $74k a year, half of that is $37k, which is basically what we paid during the daycare years with no savings at all, and when we both earned so much less than we do now.

+2 If you could afford to pay a big childcare bill then you can cash-flow a good chunk of college expenses -- and could have saved for college once that daycare bill was done. (unless big things came up like job losses, medical bills, extraordinary child expenses, which certainly can derail the best plans for college savings)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most people still working when their kids are in college? I'm saving for both my kids, but I'm also assuming that large amounts of my paycheck during their college years will be going towards paying their college expenses. Why are people thinking they need to have saved the total amount by the time their kids start college?

+1. By the time my kids go to college, we're projecting that'll we have saved about half about their college expenses. Which makes it easier to pay the rest from our salaries. If college is $74k a year, half of that is $37k, which is basically what we paid during the daycare years with no savings at all, and when we both earned so much less than we do now.

I opted to be a SAHM. I only recently began working. Not sure how we will make it since we are by definition a donut hole family. Seems unfair that our current income is counted against us. Considering staying home, again, until kids are out of college. May make more sense, tbh. Then we can get FA.

Check NPC calculators for schools of interest on this. Financial aid really doesn't kick in unless you're firmly in the middle class range or lower except at the most expensive colleges and if you have multiple kids at the same time. And financial aid usually contains a loan burden.

+1 If your salary is substantial enough to make the difference between qualifying for some aid vs. not then you are probably better off putting your salary toward paying for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most people still working when their kids are in college? I'm saving for both my kids, but I'm also assuming that large amounts of my paycheck during their college years will be going towards paying their college expenses. Why are people thinking they need to have saved the total amount by the time their kids start college?

+1. By the time my kids go to college, we're projecting that'll we have saved about half about their college expenses. Which makes it easier to pay the rest from our salaries. If college is $74k a year, half of that is $37k, which is basically what we paid during the daycare years with no savings at all, and when we both earned so much less than we do now.

I opted to be a SAHM. I only recently began working. Not sure how we will make it since we are by definition a donut hole family. Seems unfair that our current income is counted against us. Considering staying home, again, until kids are out of college. May make more sense, tbh. Then we can get FA.

Holy crap. Read this again, PP.

You are complaining that it's unfair that your current income is counted against you, when you removed yourself from the workforce for years. Moreover, you're considering doing it again, so you can get aid?

You aren't ashamed of yourself, typing this out?

Since you went without your income for so long, and apparently comfortable doing so again, you should be able to direct that income entirely to college. That'll help.

Again, giving low income kids a hand - great. Giving "aid" to families who decided to not do all they can to pay for college themselves? No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, it’s difficult for even UMC American families to compete with full pay foreign money that drives the sticker price up every year. Why should we live an impoverished lifestyle just to be able to afford a private college in our own country? We need and deserve all the help we can get!

You can't be serious. Because you want a luxury good offered by a private corporation, and it's on you to pay for it. If you aren't willing to save for it, don't go. If you can't save for it, you can't afford it. You may need help, but you sure as hell don't deserve it if you are UMC, especially with this attitude.

I am all for giving deserving students aid for college, but I'll be damned if I want tax dollars going to UMC kids whose parents don't want to save because they don't want to live a lifestyle they this is beneath then.

But how else could I possibly go to Iceland AND Portugal this year?!