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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In reality, after working 2 years or more post college grad, no one cares where you graduated. It’s how you performed in real world - the determination, the motivation, drive, passion and perseverance that will take you far.

I think it's more extreme that than. I do a lot of interviewing. It can help you get "to" (but definitely not "through") the hiring process. And on employment day #1, it's completely irrelevant. In proposal writing, your college may make the very last line in your bio, but typically there's no page space by then and the procurement office has already quit reading.

[Anonymous]

I prepaid three years of in-state tuition for my son when he was in elementary school. Now that he’s in college I’m paying incidentals as we go. His room and board and incidentals are about $2k/month. It’s not actually that bad.

It seems like most people on DCUM are set on high cost private universities but there are cheaper ways to go. If you haven’t heard of the academic common market you should research it. A bunch of friends kids go to Tennessee and South Carolina and other D1 schools with in-state tuition.

[Anonymous]

You are doing fine. Make sure you are saving enough for retirement though.

One note of caution: some people are suggesting that your kids will be likely to get a lot of college aid because you only $105k. That would be true if 1. Your kids gets into schools that meet full need without loans and 2. Your income stays relatively stable. We had income like that, but 10 years later, our income is more than double so are likely got get only merit. It’s fine though because I realized we’d likely need to stay around the cost of instate public.

Don’t rely on advice that would be based on something you earned a decade earlier.

[Anonymous]

Nope. We saved nothing. HHI $275,000. We plan to borrow all of the family/student contribution and then consolidate it into an income sensitive repayment plan. If I die before its paid off, it dies with me. Given general health trends in my family, it's likely that I will die before anything is paid off.

We were at a much lower income (under $100,000) when my kids were small. I couldn't justify saving when borrowing and paying back from a higher income was available. We funded retirement first. Retirement is now fully funded and our incomes have greatly increased.

[Anonymous]

we initially weren't planning to pay everything when the kids were younger, we thought we would contribute some amount toward it. However, as our HHI and NW increased substantially, we decided to buy them prepaid plans and put money toward their 529 plans since there were tax deduction benefits. So as a result, the 3 kids college were fully funded by the time they entered VA public college. We told them upfront that public state were what we can afford and the only choice if they don't want to be in debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope my child doesn't do college and doesn't work for anybody else for the rest of her life. I want her to be an entrepreneur. Kids don't have to go to college.

Ok, but what if she wants to? Someone in my family was also anti-college until her son became a high school junior. Guess what? He REALLY wanted to go so she changed her tune.

[Anonymous]

My sister and BIL are not. I think they secretly hope BIL’s parents will cave and pay for it but SIL would rather stay home and drive a fancy car than save for her kids college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister and BIL are not. I think they secretly hope BIL’s parents will cave and pay for it but SIL would rather stay home and drive a fancy car than save for her kids college.

Ehh. See nothing wrong with this.

[Anonymous]

We have 14k for our 14 year old daughter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents didn’t pay for my college and I turned out fine. It would have been a huge help though if they were able - they just weren’t. We are saving what we can for their education (have a 1 month old and plan to have 1 or 2 more) - about $300 a month now and probably not much more until we are done with daycare. I’m hoping education is more affordable in the future, but if not, it’s a good start and they always have an option to take out loans, get scholarships, etc. Just do what you can - the vast majority of Americans can’t save to send their kids to college self-paid. It’s far more important to teach them to be self-sufficient, emotionally intelligent, and hardworking people. They may even want to study a trade or start their own business which doesn’t require a full degree or even study abroad (I went to graduate school in Europe). Don’t listen to DCUM parents that shame you for not fully funding your kids - they are delusional and their kids will most likely having a hard time adapting to life without their overbearing/unhappy parents.

In the 1980s/90s it was feasible for a kid to pay for college themselves, if working summers/breaks and PT during the school year. Or at least do it with minimal loans. Now college is at least $25K/year and kids might earn $9/hr. So not quite as feasible---kid will still need parents to contribute $5-7K/year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In reality, after working 2 years or more post college grad, no one cares where you graduated. It’s how you performed in real world - the determination, the motivation, drive, passion and perseverance that will take you far.

And that is why CC with transfer to an in state 4 year is totally good plan. Pick something you can afford---high debt is not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In reality, after working 2 years or more post college grad, no one cares where you graduated. It’s how you performed in real world - the determination, the motivation, drive, passion and perseverance that will take you far.

And that is why CC with transfer to an in state 4 year is totally good plan. Pick something you can afford---high debt is not worth it.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In reality, after working 2 years or more post college grad, no one cares where you graduated. It’s how you performed in real world - the determination, the motivation, drive, passion and perseverance that will take you far.

And that is why CC with transfer to an in state 4 year is totally good plan. Pick something you can afford---high debt is not worth it.

Agree.

Or choose to save some for your DC education. It doesn't have to be for $80k/year for college. If you have $100K saved per DC, that's 25K/year. That plus a kid working summer/breaks and Part Time while in college (10-12 hours/wk) and you could afford $35K/year. Add in $5K of loans each year and you can afford $40K/year and only have $20K in loans, which is an affordable amount for most degrees.

If you start today with a 5 yo( so let them be out of daycare), you need to save $600/month to have $100K when they reach college age; I get that college might cost more then, but it's still a great start. So continue using your daycare costs and transfer them to 529 savings. Even better, put more than $600/month now so you can cut back when the kid is older and might have more costly activities. Really a 5yo after school activities can be limited to $50/month and your kid won't be missing anything, if you can't afford more. Ask grandparents to gift xmas and birthday gifts as at least 50% cash to the 529---your kid won't miss an extra $200+ of "toys". What better gift could you give them than money for college?

Key is to look at what your DC plans to major in. If they will only make $30-40K when starting out, they might not want higher loan amounts. If it's STEM/Engineering, then $30K is more doable.

We are lucky that we were able to save and our kid is attending full pay a T30 school that's ~$80K/year. We can cash flow/have it in the 529 so it's ok. Kid turned down a T40 school they didn't like as much (great school and my DC would be fine there, but the first choice was a much much better fit for them) that gave $40K/year merit. They picked the better fit. But if we couldn't afford the more expensive school, my DC would be attending the 2nd choice school.
I was in that position 30+ years ago, but my parents were poor so I was able to attend a T10 school and come out with $10K in loans, so it was cheaper than any in-state school and something I could afford as an CS/engineering major. And I busted ass to pay those loans and my husband's ($50K+) off within 18 months after finishing grad school. Lived like a college/grad student (crappy cars, crappy furniture, no vacations except drive somewhere for 2-3 days) for a few extra years to just get rid of them. So I've been there, done that and paid our loans (over $60K+ some 35+ years ago).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no. They can join the military

Great advice. My brother did that, though he went to the naval academy and the military paid for it. He then returnd the payment when he was in a helicopter and got shot down in Afghanistan and repaid the military with his life.

Not sure people really understand what “joining the military” means.

And my DH got free college through ROTC, a MS degree while still earning his full salary, was a military engineer and never deployed once. It can be a great deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In reality, after working 2 years or more post college grad, no one cares where you graduated. It’s how you performed in real world - the determination, the motivation, drive, passion and perseverance that will take you far.

And that is why CC with transfer to an in state 4 year is totally good plan. Pick something you can afford---high debt is not worth it.

Agreed. I have several family friends who went to CC in California, transferred to UC Berkeley, and have very successful careers.