FAFSA - is middle-class waste time applying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many likely were not taught to save.

That is not a character flaw, but it is an obstacle.

My DH and I were not taught this either, but being married and working together we have improved our financial literacy over decades and are lucky to have DCUM UMC salaries.

We are terrible savers, but if we can automate and never see the money that works for us.

I think the “pay yourself first”, meaning savings, mentality is great but hard for many people who don’t think long term to execute. This is not something taught in school or society. People do not talk about money and people don’t like feeling as if they do not make as much as their friends and neighbors. It is hard for many to say “I cannot afford that” because of shame.

It is easier to live on a salary of $150K than to have a salary of $300K and live on a salary of $150K.

Those that are better at savings appear to balance the pain of frugality with the joy of experiencing superiority.

People feel bad that private college is expensive and they cannot afford to give that to their children. College is crazy expensive. There are less expensive options.

Our children will be better off for not getting everything they want.

No, it’s easier to live off $300k and save a lot than 150k. Your poor choices are not colleges problem. It’s yours. We talk about money in our home all the time.

+1

Most seem to forget that life is all about choices. They could live off $150K easily. They just chose to spend more and save less. In fact, it would only take a few years living off $150K and they would have enough front loaded for college to increase their living up to $200K and still contribute to college and everything else.

There is so much holier than thou on this forum.

It takes resolve that many people do not have to earn $300K and live like year earn $150K.

Why don’t the people that make $150K live like they make $75K and save the difference? You could say this at any income level.

Look, I am not saying that people that make $300K should qualify for financial aid. They should not.

And there is a range of circumstances of families that have saved various amounts and will choose a variety of schools.

But all this condescension implying it is so easy ignores many of the realities of life. What is easy for one person is hard for another.

What an idiotic post. Sure, and the people making 70k could just live like they make 35k -- your relativism may suit your justification of your wealth, but it makes no sense.

Poor poor people making 300k. Their lives are so hard. Those of us at 150k have it so easy. Good grief.

What I said was:

Families with HHIs of $300K/year or higher will not and should not be awarded financial aid.

All of the people assuming what others could have done differently are not living those people’s lives. The condescension is not necessary.

Savings and lifestyle habits are taught/learned and many people are doing their best with the knowledge and resources they have.

I am not complaining about my income. We do not apply for or receive financial aid.

If you are capable of earning $300K, I sure as hell hope you're capable of understanding/self teaching yourself to understand that you can continue to live on "the $150K you previously were living on" and not spend every extra dollar you are earning. If you are dumb enough to let lifestyle creep happen and not focus on saving your new income towards retirement and college (if you have kids), then that is a YOU issue.

We grew up poor (both me and my spouse). We came out of college with $60K+ debt over 30 years ago. We spent our first 3-4 years intensely focused on paying off that debt. We drove old cars (mine had no AC in an area that we needed it), we didn't take vacations, we packed our lunches most days and took snacks/sodas to the office to save money. We went out to eat maybe 2 times per month with friends and maybe 2-3 lunches at work over the month (once again with groups of coworkers). We lived in an okay apartment, but could have "afforded a much nicer one". Instead, we worked to live on one income and save the other for debt repayment. If we got a bonus, it went directly to debt. Once we paid that debt off we saved for downpayment. Sure, most of the coworkers are age were living differently and it would have been nice to do that. But owning a home at age 28 and having no other debt was worth it. And even then we bought a decent house but did not stretch. That way we could continue to save.

Sure I would have loved to spend the extra $40-60K/year for those years on myself rather than saving. But it was the responsible thing to do to save and get rid of debt.

Good for you. You made choices that made sense to you. No one is asking you to feel sorry for anyone with a $300K HHI. I was simply suggesting that you have not walked in everyone’s shoes and there are other options than feeling of superiority and expressions of condescension.

if that person is complaining they cannot afford to send Larlo to a 90K university and it's not fair, then I'm entitled to express my opinion. My above examples is to show that yes, I have "walked in shoes of low income and having major debt". And the responsible adult solution is to work your ass off to pay it off while living as cheaply as possible. It is not to complain that "it's not fair My kid cannot go to a 90K university, how could we possibly afford that?" when in reality it would not have been that difficult for them to afford it. They would have still been living very nicely while saving responsibly for college.

[Anonymous]

$300k is not middle income.

You should have been able to put some aside in 529s over the past 18 years to make everything doable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would like to hear more from UMC people about how College is a special consumer good where family income shouldn’t matter and the net price should be essentially zero when literally everything else in the world is allocated by family wealth, including “free” public school (you have to be able to afford to live in the district).

You thought it was fair when you bought your way into everything else in your lifestyle, well now welcome to the big leagues.

I don't think UMC families are saying that they should be given aid. Just lamenting that they cannot afford it, even if some insist that they can. Many of us have 529 accounts, but those funds didn't grow that much, even putting in more than $2500 per year per account, and we have multiple kids. It's enough for in state, but not 80k per year. When we started saving college was a bit cheaper. Several years ago, when my DC was in MS, we looked at an expensive private. It was $60K/year. Now it's closer to $85k per year. Saving $240k is doable. Saving closer to $350K is much harder.

If you still have 20 working years, I could see how you think you can afford to pull back on funding retirement, and save later, but if you are 55+, you don't have that luxury.

Obviously, saving only $2500/year/kid is not going to produce enough for $80K/year schools in 18 years (which will cost way more than 80K then).

Majority of kids have to pick schools they can afford, most cannot afford 80K/year, or they could but smartly realize that saved money would be nice to have for grad school.

Read bolded.. we saved way more than $2500 per year per account. We have two accounts per child. Still not enough to cover $80K per year per child given that the 529 didn't grow that much.

So why write it that way? How much did you save per year? Why did the 529 not grow that much? If you dont have it all in the growth market, it may not. But that is on you, as there are 529s that allow you to do that. You can pick one (may not be your state's) that allows you to select the MF to invest in. American Funds in VA is an excellent example. My kid's funds earned 8-9% annual on average during the aggressive years. We didn't pull back until age 15/16 to less aggressive.

DP. Even with 8-9% growth, saving 20K year since 2007 only gets you to ~600K after you factor in expense ratios etc. Not enough to cover 2 kids at 80-90K schools (and that is not even Harvard but say Amherst/Colorado College.) And this simple calculation doesn't actually account for the real fluctuations (e.g. crash in 2008/2009 and again in 2020. Yes, there were rebounds, but plugging in actual numbers and accounting for management fees only gets you to the number I quoted above. Colllege costs are ridiculous right now. And before you jump in with state options, DC doesn't have a state university (obv) and DCTAG helps but not as much.

If you chose to live in DC and have kids, you know there is no state option. So you have 18 years to consider moving to MD/VA if you want that option. It's all about choices, but this wasn't a surprise to you.

Yes college costs have increased drastically. But there are still plenty of excellent options for attending with no or minimal debt. Search merit at "2nd tier" schools or lower. My own 1500/3.98UW/9 AP kid got $42K/year at a T50 so instead of 80k+/year it would only be $40K. Could have gotten even more if they'd searched schools in the 60-120 range (didn't Because we don't need the merit, but point is they could find plenty of good options if needed).
So if you take off the blinders of believing you need to attend a T25 school, you can find something affordable for you.

For the life of me I cannot understand why the residential areas of DC aren't just returned to Maryland. DC is basically a Maryland city. They should be Maryland residents.

I agree. DC residents should have a "state option" for college. However, if you do that, then they would have to be paying taxes to that state. But there could be a plan to direct a portion of DC taxes towards MD for education for residents.

DC pays $10K/yr. Something but not enough to cover the difference between instate and outstate tuition at UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$300k is not middle income.

You should have been able to put some aside in 529s over the past 18 years to make everything doable

They weren't making $300K 20 years ago.

But they can get loans.

Or just not buy a luxury college. They made it to upper middle class, so they don't need a college to help their kids break into it.

[Anonymous]

300K is RICH. You people have no sense pf reality.

My daughter and I do just fine on my 85K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would like to hear more from UMC people about how College is a special consumer good where family income shouldn’t matter and the net price should be essentially zero when literally everything else in the world is allocated by family wealth, including “free” public school (you have to be able to afford to live in the district).

You thought it was fair when you bought your way into everything else in your lifestyle, well now welcome to the big leagues.

I don't think UMC families are saying that they should be given aid. Just lamenting that they cannot afford it, even if some insist that they can. Many of us have 529 accounts, but those funds didn't grow that much, even putting in more than $2500 per year per account, and we have multiple kids. It's enough for in state, but not 80k per year. When we started saving college was a bit cheaper. Several years ago, when my DC was in MS, we looked at an expensive private. It was $60K/year. Now it's closer to $85k per year. Saving $240k is doable. Saving closer to $350K is much harder.

If you still have 20 working years, I could see how you think you can afford to pull back on funding retirement, and save later, but if you are 55+, you don't have that luxury.

Obviously, saving only $2500/year/kid is not going to produce enough for $80K/year schools in 18 years (which will cost way more than 80K then).

Majority of kids have to pick schools they can afford, most cannot afford 80K/year, or they could but smartly realize that saved money would be nice to have for grad school.

Read bolded.. we saved way more than $2500 per year per account. We have two accounts per child. Still not enough to cover $80K per year per child given that the 529 didn't grow that much.

So why write it that way? How much did you save per year? Why did the 529 not grow that much? If you dont have it all in the growth market, it may not. But that is on you, as there are 529s that allow you to do that. You can pick one (may not be your state's) that allows you to select the MF to invest in. American Funds in VA is an excellent example. My kid's funds earned 8-9% annual on average during the aggressive years. We didn't pull back until age 15/16 to less aggressive.

DP. Even with 8-9% growth, saving 20K year since 2007 only gets you to ~600K after you factor in expense ratios etc. Not enough to cover 2 kids at 80-90K schools (and that is not even Harvard but say Amherst/Colorado College.) And this simple calculation doesn't actually account for the real fluctuations (e.g. crash in 2008/2009 and again in 2020. Yes, there were rebounds, but plugging in actual numbers and accounting for management fees only gets you to the number I quoted above. Colllege costs are ridiculous right now. And before you jump in with state options, DC doesn't have a state university (obv) and DCTAG helps but not as much.

If you chose to live in DC and have kids, you know there is no state option. So you have 18 years to consider moving to MD/VA if you want that option. It's all about choices, but this wasn't a surprise to you.

Yes college costs have increased drastically. But there are still plenty of excellent options for attending with no or minimal debt. Search merit at "2nd tier" schools or lower. My own 1500/3.98UW/9 AP kid got $42K/year at a T50 so instead of 80k+/year it would only be $40K. Could have gotten even more if they'd searched schools in the 60-120 range (didn't Because we don't need the merit, but point is they could find plenty of good options if needed).
So if you take off the blinders of believing you need to attend a T25 school, you can find something affordable for you.

For the life of me I cannot understand why the residential areas of DC aren't just returned to Maryland. DC is basically a Maryland city. They should be Maryland residents.

Today, because DC wants to be a state, to tilt Congress and electoral College Democratic, and so the mayor can be a Governor.

The real question is why it didnt retrocede 100-200 years ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would like to hear more from UMC people about how College is a special consumer good where family income shouldn’t matter and the net price should be essentially zero when literally everything else in the world is allocated by family wealth, including “free” public school (you have to be able to afford to live in the district).

You thought it was fair when you bought your way into everything else in your lifestyle, well now welcome to the big leagues.

I don't think UMC families are saying that they should be given aid. Just lamenting that they cannot afford it, even if some insist that they can. Many of us have 529 accounts, but those funds didn't grow that much, even putting in more than $2500 per year per account, and we have multiple kids. It's enough for in state, but not 80k per year. When we started saving college was a bit cheaper. Several years ago, when my DC was in MS, we looked at an expensive private. It was $60K/year. Now it's closer to $85k per year. Saving $240k is doable. Saving closer to $350K is much harder.

If you still have 20 working years, I could see how you think you can afford to pull back on funding retirement, and save later, but if you are 55+, you don't have that luxury.

Obviously, saving only $2500/year/kid is not going to produce enough for $80K/year schools in 18 years (which will cost way more than 80K then).

Majority of kids have to pick schools they can afford, most cannot afford 80K/year, or they could but smartly realize that saved money would be nice to have for grad school.

Read bolded.. we saved way more than $2500 per year per account. We have two accounts per child. Still not enough to cover $80K per year per child given that the 529 didn't grow that much.

So why write it that way? How much did you save per year? Why did the 529 not grow that much? If you dont have it all in the growth market, it may not. But that is on you, as there are 529s that allow you to do that. You can pick one (may not be your state's) that allows you to select the MF to invest in. American Funds in VA is an excellent example. My kid's funds earned 8-9% annual on average during the aggressive years. We didn't pull back until age 15/16 to less aggressive.

DP. Even with 8-9% growth, saving 20K year since 2007 only gets you to ~600K after you factor in expense ratios etc. Not enough to cover 2 kids at 80-90K schools (and that is not even Harvard but say Amherst/Colorado College.) And this simple calculation doesn't actually account for the real fluctuations (e.g. crash in 2008/2009 and again in 2020. Yes, there were rebounds, but plugging in actual numbers and accounting for management fees only gets you to the number I quoted above. Colllege costs are ridiculous right now. And before you jump in with state options, DC doesn't have a state university (obv) and DCTAG helps but not as much.

If you chose to live in DC and have kids, you know there is no state option. So you have 18 years to consider moving to MD/VA if you want that option. It's all about choices, but this wasn't a surprise to you.

Yes college costs have increased drastically. But there are still plenty of excellent options for attending with no or minimal debt. Search merit at "2nd tier" schools or lower. My own 1500/3.98UW/9 AP kid got $42K/year at a T50 so instead of 80k+/year it would only be $40K. Could have gotten even more if they'd searched schools in the 60-120 range (didn't Because we don't need the merit, but point is they could find plenty of good options if needed).
So if you take off the blinders of believing you need to attend a T25 school, you can find something affordable for you.

For the life of me I cannot understand why the residential areas of DC aren't just returned to Maryland. DC is basically a Maryland city. They should be Maryland residents.

I agree. DC residents should have a "state option" for college. However, if you do that, then they would have to be paying taxes to that state. But there could be a plan to direct a portion of DC taxes towards MD for education for residents.

DC pays $10K/yr. Something but not enough to cover the difference between instate and outstate tuition at UMD.

There is USC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would like to hear more from UMC people about how College is a special consumer good where family income shouldn’t matter and the net price should be essentially zero when literally everything else in the world is allocated by family wealth, including “free” public school (you have to be able to afford to live in the district).

You thought it was fair when you bought your way into everything else in your lifestyle, well now welcome to the big leagues.

I don't think UMC families are saying that they should be given aid. Just lamenting that they cannot afford it, even if some insist that they can. Many of us have 529 accounts, but those funds didn't grow that much, even putting in more than $2500 per year per account, and we have multiple kids. It's enough for in state, but not 80k per year. When we started saving college was a bit cheaper. Several years ago, when my DC was in MS, we looked at an expensive private. It was $60K/year. Now it's closer to $85k per year. Saving $240k is doable. Saving closer to $350K is much harder.

If you still have 20 working years, I could see how you think you can afford to pull back on funding retirement, and save later, but if you are 55+, you don't have that luxury.

Obviously, saving only $2500/year/kid is not going to produce enough for $80K/year schools in 18 years (which will cost way more than 80K then).

Majority of kids have to pick schools they can afford, most cannot afford 80K/year, or they could but smartly realize that saved money would be nice to have for grad school.

Read bolded.. we saved way more than $2500 per year per account. We have two accounts per child. Still not enough to cover $80K per year per child given that the 529 didn't grow that much.

So why write it that way? How much did you save per year? Why did the 529 not grow that much? If you dont have it all in the growth market, it may not. But that is on you, as there are 529s that allow you to do that. You can pick one (may not be your state's) that allows you to select the MF to invest in. American Funds in VA is an excellent example. My kid's funds earned 8-9% annual on average during the aggressive years. We didn't pull back until age 15/16 to less aggressive.

DP. Even with 8-9% growth, saving 20K year since 2007 only gets you to ~600K after you factor in expense ratios etc. Not enough to cover 2 kids at 80-90K schools (and that is not even Harvard but say Amherst/Colorado College.) And this simple calculation doesn't actually account for the real fluctuations (e.g. crash in 2008/2009 and again in 2020. Yes, there were rebounds, but plugging in actual numbers and accounting for management fees only gets you to the number I quoted above. Colllege costs are ridiculous right now. And before you jump in with state options, DC doesn't have a state university (obv) and DCTAG helps but not as much.

If you chose to live in DC and have kids, you know there is no state option. So you have 18 years to consider moving to MD/VA if you want that option. It's all about choices, but this wasn't a surprise to you.

Yes college costs have increased drastically. But there are still plenty of excellent options for attending with no or minimal debt. Search merit at "2nd tier" schools or lower. My own 1500/3.98UW/9 AP kid got $42K/year at a T50 so instead of 80k+/year it would only be $40K. Could have gotten even more if they'd searched schools in the 60-120 range (didn't Because we don't need the merit, but point is they could find plenty of good options if needed).
So if you take off the blinders of believing you need to attend a T25 school, you can find something affordable for you.

For the life of me I cannot understand why the residential areas of DC aren't just returned to Maryland. DC is basically a Maryland city. They should be Maryland residents.

I agree. DC residents should have a "state option" for college. However, if you do that, then they would have to be paying taxes to that state. But there could be a plan to direct a portion of DC taxes towards MD for education for residents.

DC pays $10K/yr. Something but not enough to cover the difference between instate and outstate tuition at UMD.

There is USC.

oops UDC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$300k is not middle income.

You should have been able to put some aside in 529s over the past 18 years to make everything doable

They weren't making $300K 20 years ago.

But they can get loans.

Or just not buy a luxury college. They made it to upper middle class, so they don't need a college to help their kids break into it.

Exactly, so you don't change your lifestyle, save the difference and done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would like to hear more from UMC people about how College is a special consumer good where family income shouldn’t matter and the net price should be essentially zero when literally everything else in the world is allocated by family wealth, including “free” public school (you have to be able to afford to live in the district).

You thought it was fair when you bought your way into everything else in your lifestyle, well now welcome to the big leagues.

I don't think UMC families are saying that they should be given aid. Just lamenting that they cannot afford it, even if some insist that they can. Many of us have 529 accounts, but those funds didn't grow that much, even putting in more than $2500 per year per account, and we have multiple kids. It's enough for in state, but not 80k per year. When we started saving college was a bit cheaper. Several years ago, when my DC was in MS, we looked at an expensive private. It was $60K/year. Now it's closer to $85k per year. Saving $240k is doable. Saving closer to $350K is much harder.

If you still have 20 working years, I could see how you think you can afford to pull back on funding retirement, and save later, but if you are 55+, you don't have that luxury.

Obviously, saving only $2500/year/kid is not going to produce enough for $80K/year schools in 18 years (which will cost way more than 80K then).

Majority of kids have to pick schools they can afford, most cannot afford 80K/year, or they could but smartly realize that saved money would be nice to have for grad school.

Read bolded.. we saved way more than $2500 per year per account. We have two accounts per child. Still not enough to cover $80K per year per child given that the 529 didn't grow that much.

So why write it that way? How much did you save per year? Why did the 529 not grow that much? If you dont have it all in the growth market, it may not. But that is on you, as there are 529s that allow you to do that. You can pick one (may not be your state's) that allows you to select the MF to invest in. American Funds in VA is an excellent example. My kid's funds earned 8-9% annual on average during the aggressive years. We didn't pull back until age 15/16 to less aggressive.

DP. Even with 8-9% growth, saving 20K year since 2007 only gets you to ~600K after you factor in expense ratios etc. Not enough to cover 2 kids at 80-90K schools (and that is not even Harvard but say Amherst/Colorado College.) And this simple calculation doesn't actually account for the real fluctuations (e.g. crash in 2008/2009 and again in 2020. Yes, there were rebounds, but plugging in actual numbers and accounting for management fees only gets you to the number I quoted above. Colllege costs are ridiculous right now. And before you jump in with state options, DC doesn't have a state university (obv) and DCTAG helps but not as much.

If you chose to live in DC and have kids, you know there is no state option. So you have 18 years to consider moving to MD/VA if you want that option. It's all about choices, but this wasn't a surprise to you.

Yes college costs have increased drastically. But there are still plenty of excellent options for attending with no or minimal debt. Search merit at "2nd tier" schools or lower. My own 1500/3.98UW/9 AP kid got $42K/year at a T50 so instead of 80k+/year it would only be $40K. Could have gotten even more if they'd searched schools in the 60-120 range (didn't Because we don't need the merit, but point is they could find plenty of good options if needed).
So if you take off the blinders of believing you need to attend a T25 school, you can find something affordable for you.

For the life of me I cannot understand why the residential areas of DC aren't just returned to Maryland. DC is basically a Maryland city. They should be Maryland residents.

I agree. DC residents should have a "state option" for college. However, if you do that, then they would have to be paying taxes to that state. But there could be a plan to direct a portion of DC taxes towards MD for education for residents.

You can move to MD or VA or UDC.

[Anonymous]

Real middle class will get financial aid. If you are not, you are not middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$300k is not middle income.

You should have been able to put some aside in 529s over the past 18 years to make everything doable

They weren't making $300K 20 years ago.

But they can get loans.

Or just not buy a luxury college. They made it to upper middle class, so they don't need a college to help their kids break into it.

Kinda crazy to me that the debate seems to be “we, as parents must full pay or they can not go”. Like, what do you think most families who don’t even make 90k a year and who’s kids were good students but not “perfect students” do? Probably not a whole lot of merit aid goes to them, not really even much of a chance to be admitted a top private college, don’t have any hooks. They:

Apply for scholarships.
or
Take out loans.

If going to a 90k per year private is that important to you and your kids. And you don’t want them to have any debt, I’m sure with a 300k hhi you would qualify for private loans, and parent plus loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to see some questions on css like, in the past 10 years have you:

Used a lawn service
Bought an appliance from the Viking/subzero family
Been a member of a country club
Leased a car for more than 600/mo


Etc etc

Paid for college counseling

Paid for personal ice skating / squash / softball / soccer coach.

Have a housecleaner.

Catered a party

Take skiing trips out west

Send your kid on the $1000 school band trip to Disney world

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would like to hear more from UMC people about how College is a special consumer good where family income shouldn’t matter and the net price should be essentially zero when literally everything else in the world is allocated by family wealth, including “free” public school (you have to be able to afford to live in the district).

You thought it was fair when you bought your way into everything else in your lifestyle, well now welcome to the big leagues.

I don't think UMC families are saying that they should be given aid. Just lamenting that they cannot afford it, even if some insist that they can. Many of us have 529 accounts, but those funds didn't grow that much, even putting in more than $2500 per year per account, and we have multiple kids. It's enough for in state, but not 80k per year. When we started saving college was a bit cheaper. Several years ago, when my DC was in MS, we looked at an expensive private. It was $60K/year. Now it's closer to $85k per year. Saving $240k is doable. Saving closer to $350K is much harder.

If you still have 20 working years, I could see how you think you can afford to pull back on funding retirement, and save later, but if you are 55+, you don't have that luxury.

Obviously, saving only $2500/year/kid is not going to produce enough for $80K/year schools in 18 years (which will cost way more than 80K then).

Majority of kids have to pick schools they can afford, most cannot afford 80K/year, or they could but smartly realize that saved money would be nice to have for grad school.

Read bolded.. we saved way more than $2500 per year per account. We have two accounts per child. Still not enough to cover $80K per year per child given that the 529 didn't grow that much.

So why write it that way? How much did you save per year? Why did the 529 not grow that much? If you dont have it all in the growth market, it may not. But that is on you, as there are 529s that allow you to do that. You can pick one (may not be your state's) that allows you to select the MF to invest in. American Funds in VA is an excellent example. My kid's funds earned 8-9% annual on average during the aggressive years. We didn't pull back until age 15/16 to less aggressive.

DP. Even with 8-9% growth, saving 20K year since 2007 only gets you to ~600K after you factor in expense ratios etc. Not enough to cover 2 kids at 80-90K schools (and that is not even Harvard but say Amherst/Colorado College.) And this simple calculation doesn't actually account for the real fluctuations (e.g. crash in 2008/2009 and again in 2020. Yes, there were rebounds, but plugging in actual numbers and accounting for management fees only gets you to the number I quoted above. Colllege costs are ridiculous right now. And before you jump in with state options, DC doesn't have a state university (obv) and DCTAG helps but not as much.

If you chose to live in DC and have kids, you know there is no state option. So you have 18 years to consider moving to MD/VA if you want that option. It's all about choices, but this wasn't a surprise to you.

Yes college costs have increased drastically. But there are still plenty of excellent options for attending with no or minimal debt. Search merit at "2nd tier" schools or lower. My own 1500/3.98UW/9 AP kid got $42K/year at a T50 so instead of 80k+/year it would only be $40K. Could have gotten even more if they'd searched schools in the 60-120 range (didn't Because we don't need the merit, but point is they could find plenty of good options if needed).
So if you take off the blinders of believing you need to attend a T25 school, you can find something affordable for you.

For the life of me I cannot understand why the residential areas of DC aren't just returned to Maryland. DC is basically a Maryland city. They should be Maryland residents.

Today, because DC wants to be a state, to tilt Congress and electoral College Democratic, and so the mayor can be a Governor.

The real question is why it didnt retrocede 100-200 years ago

DC should not be a state.

They are a smallish medium sized city that should really belong to Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$300k is not middle income.

You should have been able to put some aside in 529s over the past 18 years to make everything doable

They weren't making $300K 20 years ago.

But they can get loans.

Or just not buy a luxury college. They made it to upper middle class, so they don't need a college to help their kids break into it.

Kinda crazy to me that the debate seems to be “we, as parents must full pay or they can not go”. Like, what do you think most families who don’t even make 90k a year and who’s kids were good students but not “perfect students” do? Probably not a whole lot of merit aid goes to them, not really even much of a chance to be admitted a top private college, don’t have any hooks. They:

Apply for scholarships.
or
Take out loans.

If going to a 90k per year private is that important to you and your kids. And you don’t want them to have any debt, I’m sure with a 300k hhi you would qualify for private loans, and parent plus loans.

You don’t understand, Larla is really special and smart and DESERVES the best, especially if someone else (definitely not me) is paying.

Why should kids whose parents make 1/10 what I make get all the financial aid?

I can afford the best cars and hotels and restaurants and houses, and I treat myself to all of those, so why can’t I afford the best college too? This is very unfair!!!!!

Larla didn’t work so hard and I didn’t pay for endless tutors and travel sports and counselors for her to go to a PUBLIC university (everyone is from my state, gross!) or the 56th best Liberal Arts school.

She’s definitely going to be on the Supreme Court or run a Hedge Fund or be Bain’s top recruit and you can’t do any of those things without an Ivy degree in Computer Science or Engineering. She deserves the best opportunities.

I shouldn’t have to save or take out loans, adjust the Pell Grant Charts so middle class people making $450k a year get some too.

I’m not asking for a lot, I just want to pay the cost of Christopher Newport University for Middlebury (which is inferior to Yale anyway).

I am a very important GS-15 who went to top schools (Northeastern and Northwestern) and I promise to donate $500 annually to the building fund (not financial aid) for at least three years after Larla graduates. I’m a donor! Also my great great great grand uncle went to Dartmouth but didn’t finish so Larla is a legacy.

Would it help to include a letter of recommendation from Pete Buttigieg (never met Larla but he’s heard nice things)?