If you grew up poor/LMC and became UMC in your own

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

your friend is an idiot. she might have just had a baby, but i have kids in college and she’s a complete dumbass.

+1

I have one kid in college, one who just graduated. We paid for private school, then boarding school in New England, then all of college. In addition to sports lessons, vacations, etc. Neither of us grew up that way, it was definitely bootstraps. But in a different time. We both have graduate degrees, and both spent time in the military (as officers) post college. Now HHI is seven figures, and networth is mid 8 figures. It's highly unlikely that our kids would be able to repeat that in today's environment, although the oldest one does have a good job already. I think a large part of that was the $$$ education and what he did with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I became UMC on my own, but I purposefully don't raise my kids only among other UMC families. We live in a socioeconomically diverse neighborhood and kids go to public schools. The kids realize we are wealthier than most, though, and we struggle to explain to them why we don't spend more on them. We will fully fund college and help with the important stuff in the future.

Same here.

We also teach our kids not to worry about keeping up with consuming everything that their friends consume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

your friend is an idiot. she might have just had a baby, but i have kids in college and she’s a complete dumbass.

+1

I have one kid in college, one who just graduated. We paid for private school, then boarding school in New England, then all of college. In addition to sports lessons, vacations, etc. Neither of us grew up that way, it was definitely bootstraps. But in a different time. We both have graduate degrees, and both spent time in the military (as officers) post college. Now HHI is seven figures, and networth is mid 8 figures. It's highly unlikely that our kids would be able to repeat that in today's environment, although the oldest one does have a good job already. I think a large part of that was the $$$ education and what he did with it.

That’s not UMC. That’s upper class. Read the room. Enjoy your money, but pay attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I became UMC on my own, but I purposefully don't raise my kids only among other UMC families. We live in a socioeconomically diverse neighborhood and kids go to public schools. The kids realize we are wealthier than most, though, and we struggle to explain to them why we don't spend more on them. We will fully fund college and help with the important stuff in the future.

This is us. We are intentionally living in a more economically diverse area instead of striver-ville, we have friends that range from LMC to UC, and utilize public schools. So far we lean toward cheaper camps, but I expect we will be willing to spend more there in the future when DD shows a real passion or affinity for some particular subject/sport/art. We will fully fund college, and either med/law/grad school or down payment assistance, but probably not both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories. The only advantage is tax free growth. And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding. I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

Why does your 529 not have "good growth opportunities"? Majority do, as long as you pick the funds yourself and do not do the "my kid has X years until starting college". The tax benefits from tax free growth is huge. We aimed to underfund, but in reality if you are worth that much, just fund as you see fit, and leave the rest in for future generations. The 50K left in my one kid's 529 could be enough in 25+ years for one grandkid to go to college, all while it's in aggressive growth funds for now and we don't pay taxes. So the $10K we put in 15+ years ago will pay for a grandkids full college most likely.

Like I said, we did fund them out of an abundance of caution. We weren't able to deduct at all (HHI around 1M annually) on either federal or state.

I will say, I've also long believed education is in a bubble that will burst, and this adds to my skepticism of 529s. And also, we ended up moving to a state that mostly covers in-state tuition, which makes me even more blasé about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hah, you'd laugh at us then. We pay $86 x 3 for private lessons a week. Two kids do tennis, one does gymnastics. We also paid for them to take private skiing and snowboarding lessons back when they were first learning.

However, it actually makes a huge difference in outcome. My daughter was struggling to get her back handspring with a year's worth of group lessons. Nails it in one month of 2 private lessons a week. Now is moving on to a roundoff back tuck. With the skiing - now they can all keep up on black diamond trails. Makes family ski trips more fun for everyone.

Anyway, our fixed expenses are low (no mortgage or other debt) and we make more than enough money to afford all of this so I don't see the problem with it.

THIS^^^
As long as you can afford it (saving for retirement and have college funding set), why wouldn't you offer your kid the opportunity to do sports/music/art/experiences they pursue? Part of making money is so you can spend it on life experiences. What better way than to allow your kid the opportunity to have tutors (if needed) or to become better at a sport they are pursuing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction

Growth is tax free- that is a massive benefit

and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories.

that is just wrong

The only advantage is tax free growth.

that can be 10s of thousands of dollars worth of growth

And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance

my 529 is in the same vanguard funds as my IRA with the same fee structure

so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding.

then you roll it into a Roth IRA or keep it there and your grand kids have an extra 20 years of growth and college paid for from birth

I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

You sound like someone who is terrified of the market and that's fine, but compound growth is what sustains family wealth

We did fund them and we are very heavy into the market. But 529s are one of many financial products and they appear to be geared more at middle class people who need to save money to send their kids to college. Once you're at an income that you can easily just write a check for it, it's much less appealing. What I'm mainly reacting to is the concept that if you don't fund a 529, that means you have no intention to pay for your kid's college. I suspect many of not most people in the income level we are at are not overly concerned about 529s. College costs the same as private school; no one saves for over a decade to fund that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hah, you'd laugh at us then. We pay $86 x 3 for private lessons a week. Two kids do tennis, one does gymnastics. We also paid for them to take private skiing and snowboarding lessons back when they were first learning.

However, it actually makes a huge difference in outcome. My daughter was struggling to get her back handspring with a year's worth of group lessons. Nails it in one month of 2 private lessons a week. Now is moving on to a roundoff back tuck. With the skiing - now they can all keep up on black diamond trails. Makes family ski trips more fun for everyone.

Anyway, our fixed expenses are low (no mortgage or other debt) and we make more than enough money to afford all of this so I don't see the problem with it.

It’s the little things I guess. How do you have no mortgage? Family help or you paid it off? How much mortgage did you have and good old are you?

DP: we had our mortgage paid off by time oldest was 10 (we were 40). College was fully funded for all 3 kids. Ours came completely from us---definately no family money at all, in fact we spend to help both families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories. The only advantage is tax free growth. And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding. I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

Typical blue collar thinking. Relying on rumor and hunches rather than doing research and analysis. You're wrong on virtually every point.

Spouse literally works in finance but okay. Enjoy your crippling class anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction

Growth is tax free- that is a massive benefit

and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories.

that is just wrong

The only advantage is tax free growth.

that can be 10s of thousands of dollars worth of growth

And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance

my 529 is in the same vanguard funds as my IRA with the same fee structure

so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding.

then you roll it into a Roth IRA or keep it there and your grand kids have an extra 20 years of growth and college paid for from birth

I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

You sound like someone who is terrified of the market and that's fine, but compound growth is what sustains family wealth

We did fund them and we are very heavy into the market. But 529s are one of many financial products and they appear to be geared more at middle class people who need to save money to send their kids to college. Once you're at an income that you can easily just write a check for it, it's much less appealing. What I'm mainly reacting to is the concept that if you don't fund a 529, that means you have no intention to pay for your kid's college. I suspect many of not most people in the income level we are at are not overly concerned about 529s. College costs the same as private school; no one saves for over a decade to fund that.

You need a financial advisor. For the very upper middle class and very rich, 529s have very little to do with paying for college and everything to do with tax free growth and passing money between generations. Virginia has an aggregate limit of 550k per student. Can you think of any other account where you can put in that much money and then get tax free growth or the ability to pass it to another family member without penalty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories. The only advantage is tax free growth. And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding. I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

Why does your 529 not have "good growth opportunities"? Majority do, as long as you pick the funds yourself and do not do the "my kid has X years until starting college". The tax benefits from tax free growth is huge. We aimed to underfund, but in reality if you are worth that much, just fund as you see fit, and leave the rest in for future generations. The 50K left in my one kid's 529 could be enough in 25+ years for one grandkid to go to college, all while it's in aggressive growth funds for now and we don't pay taxes. So the $10K we put in 15+ years ago will pay for a grandkids full college most likely.

Like I said, we did fund them out of an abundance of caution. We weren't able to deduct at all (HHI around 1M annually) on either federal or state.

I will say, I've also long believed education is in a bubble that will burst, and this adds to my skepticism of 529s. And also, we ended up moving to a state that mostly covers in-state tuition, which makes me even more blasé about it.

With that income/networth, why would you not allow your kids to attend private or OOS schools, if they desire? Great if kids want to attend In-state (and can get in), but why limit them?

How will the education bubble burst? Do you think 529s will disappear? That is highly unlikely. And I seriously doubt we are going to see colleges go back to costing $50K vs $85K+. It may slow over time, but it's not going to drop at the private/OOS level.

Me personally, we plan to fund future grandkids education by continuing to contribute to 529s. Biggest impact we can make on the future generation and to avoid estate taxes is to start giving it away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction

Growth is tax free- that is a massive benefit

and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories.

that is just wrong

The only advantage is tax free growth.

that can be 10s of thousands of dollars worth of growth

And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance

my 529 is in the same vanguard funds as my IRA with the same fee structure

so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding.

then you roll it into a Roth IRA or keep it there and your grand kids have an extra 20 years of growth and college paid for from birth

I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

You sound like someone who is terrified of the market and that's fine, but compound growth is what sustains family wealth

We did fund them and we are very heavy into the market. But 529s are one of many financial products and they appear to be geared more at middle class people who need to save money to send their kids to college. Once you're at an income that you can easily just write a check for it, it's much less appealing. What I'm mainly reacting to is the concept that if you don't fund a 529, that means you have no intention to pay for your kid's college. I suspect many of not most people in the income level we are at are not overly concerned about 529s. College costs the same as private school; no one saves for over a decade to fund that.

Still do not understand the "much less appealing" aspect. Even if you are wealthy, why not take advantage of tax free growth? That's what rich/UMC people do. You take advantage of any and all tax breaks you can get (since there are not many). So since you will be paying for education anyhow, why not get some tax benefits? And if you overfund, then just leave it there for future generations. The rich look for any way to make money/save on taxes and this is a no-brainer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories. The only advantage is tax free growth. And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding. I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

Typical blue collar thinking. Relying on rumor and hunches rather than doing research and analysis. You're wrong on virtually every point.

Spouse literally works in finance but okay. Enjoy your crippling class anxiety.

Ah, so you're just a troll or an idiot. "Works in finance" doesn't mean much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories. The only advantage is tax free growth. And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding. I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

You can invest your 529 in low-cost index funds--the most reliable growth vehicle out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like you need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your kids like all the other UMC/Rich people? My circle is mostly these types, myself included. We grew up in divorced and/or low income households often where our parents made less than 50k and we all now make 300-400k in our early 30’s. We all find it crazy how people think they need to pay for expensive tutoring, private schools, travel teams, etc when we had none of that and turned out fine. One of my friends just had a baby and said he doesn’t plan on saving for their college education.

Dumbdedumm. It’s so blue collar thinking to not value education.
Does he think his kids will just be lucky and land in fortunate circumstances like he did? 400k isn’t enough to trust fund his kid, so what’s his plan? Or is that too UMC for him to consider?

College is only like 50k per year or less in most cases. So you can just pay for it, like other expenses, without needing to "save" for it. I think it's crazy when I read about how "blue collar" it is not to save for it. It's not a big enough expense to require saving.

It's blue collar thinking to forego straightforward, tax preferred savings vehicles for expected expenses.

There's no federal tax deduction

Growth is tax free- that is a massive benefit

and generally no state tax deduction for people in the highest tax categories.

that is just wrong

The only advantage is tax free growth.

that can be 10s of thousands of dollars worth of growth

And 529s don't tend to have great growth performance

my 529 is in the same vanguard funds as my IRA with the same fee structure

so there's opportunity cost, and the risk of overfunding.

then you roll it into a Roth IRA or keep it there and your grand kids have an extra 20 years of growth and college paid for from birth

I don't think funding a 529 is as straightforward for people earning a lot of money. Took a lump sum and funded 529s from the standpoint of risk management-- what if we lose everything type scenario. But as a matter of financial management, it can make a lot of sense for families to just pay for college each year without saving.

You sound like someone who is terrified of the market and that's fine, but compound growth is what sustains family wealth

We did fund them and we are very heavy into the market. But 529s are one of many financial products and they appear to be geared more at middle class people who need to save money to send their kids to college. Once you're at an income that you can easily just write a check for it, it's much less appealing. What I'm mainly reacting to is the concept that if you don't fund a 529, that means you have no intention to pay for your kid's college. I suspect many of not most people in the income level we are at are not overly concerned about 529s. College costs the same as private school; no one saves for over a decade to fund that.

You need a financial advisor. For the very upper middle class and very rich, 529s have very little to do with paying for college and everything to do with tax free growth and passing money between generations. Virginia has an aggregate limit of 550k per student. Can you think of any other account where you can put in that much money and then get tax free growth or the ability to pass it to another family member without penalty?

You're right on both counts. We are looking to get a financial advisor. And we are interested in using a 529 to give a tax free inheritance to our kids (but we are taking care of a couple financial goals this year before we work on that). My comments were coming at this from the standpoint that people's interest in 529 and their interest in funding college aren't necessarily related.