Why do donut hole families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are young and DH and I got through all our education without debt, so I apologize if this sounds ignorant:
Would a family that has a mortgage-free house (say it is worth $2m) and well-funded retirement accounts (say $3m between them) but little money in 529 plans, a brokerage account or any other liquid accounts get aid if their HHI isn't very high (say one of the two parents retired early 5 years prior to their oldest starting college, bringing their HHI down to $150k)?

No---you own a $2M home and have retirement funded. Not likely to get much or any aid. And really you should not get any. You can save for your kids education if you can have a mortgage free $2M home.

Listen to yourself.

So they should have chosen to live in a shack just to qualify for FA? You're ridiculous.

FA is for people who need it. If you can own a fully paid off $2M home by the time you have kids in college, you actually have/had the ability to save for college or cash flow college. You are not a donut hole family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

I think the people in the Real Estate forum mad they can’t get a SFH in Fairfax Co are destined to later be whiny “donut hole” parents actually…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

I’m the toddler pp. ^^ that was not me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Way back when we went to college it was $35-50K a year for out of state and private schools, so how is this a surprise? We eat plenty of ramen, live in a sh@t shack, as my priority is paying for college. Either make better choices or stop complaining and pretending you cannot afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Way back when we went to college it was $35-50K a year for out of state and private schools, so how is this a surprise? We eat plenty of ramen, live in a sh@t shack, as my priority is paying for college. Either make better choices or stop complaining and pretending you cannot afford it.

Your purpose in life is to fund your kids college just like their purpose will be to fund their kids college. America is broken

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Don't be so dramatic

A DCUM student can earn $10K/year with the current minimum wages in our area. That leaves $15-20K for the family. If parents were not able to save any $$ then you start at CC while living at home, the transfer to a 4 year college. Or you pick a 4 year state school where you can live at home and commute (if possible). But if you are making over $150K/unless there have been drastic circumstances, the parents should have been planning to save even $5K/year. Do that over 18 years and you have the $100K for college (with out any investment returns). So yes, if you are making $150K you should be able to budget and save some if you want your kid to attend college. Otherwise, CC while living at home, kid works PT to save money and you take a few loans for transferring to 4 year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Way back when we went to college it was $35-50K a year for out of state and private schools, so how is this a surprise? We eat plenty of ramen, live in a sh@t shack, as my priority is paying for college. Either make better choices or stop complaining and pretending you cannot afford it.

Your purpose in life is to fund your kids college just like their purpose will be to fund their kids college. America is broken

+1

It's crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Kid earns $10K working summer, breaks and during the year (could earn more if highly motivated), kid takes $5.5 in federal loans. That leaves $10-15K for the family to figure out. While not perfect, with just a little bit of planning (18 years), many people could save $3-4K/year. Or you have kid do Duel Entry and get their AA in HS, then they only need 2-3 years for BS/BA. Or you live at home and do AA which can be paid for from the kid's working, the kid can save some over the 2 years and then only need 2-2.5 years at a 4 year school. There are ways to do college with minimal debt. Best gift you can give your kids is helping them come out of college without much debt. No college is worth major debt, IMO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Kid earns $10K working summer, breaks and during the year (could earn more if highly motivated), kid takes $5.5 in federal loans. That leaves $10-15K for the family to figure out. While not perfect, with just a little bit of planning (18 years), many people could save $3-4K/year. Or you have kid do Duel Entry and get their AA in HS, then they only need 2-3 years for BS/BA. Or you live at home and do AA which can be paid for from the kid's working, the kid can save some over the 2 years and then only need 2-2.5 years at a 4 year school. There are ways to do college with minimal debt. Best gift you can give your kids is helping them come out of college without much debt. No college is worth major debt, IMO

Duel entry? Will they spar their way into college? Maybe a fencing scholarship will bring costs down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Don't be so dramatic

A DCUM student can earn $10K/year with the current minimum wages in our area. That leaves $15-20K for the family. If parents were not able to save any $$ then you start at CC while living at home, the transfer to a 4 year college. Or you pick a 4 year state school where you can live at home and commute (if possible). But if you are making over $150K/unless there have been drastic circumstances, the parents should have been planning to save even $5K/year. Do that over 18 years and you have the $100K for college (with out any investment returns). So yes, if you are making $150K you should be able to budget and save some if you want your kid to attend college. Otherwise, CC while living at home, kid works PT to save money and you take a few loans for transferring to 4 year.

On $150K a year they can easily save $10-20K a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why we have strategically planned. All of us with professional white collar jobs and kids have quite likely been working for 20 years. That’s been plenty of time to plan properly. That’s plenty of time to drive down to a low mortgage. We are now sitting on a $1900/mo PITI and have modest college savings. We have quite enough cash flow to affford whatever college our kids want to go to based on solid financial choices and not saddling ourselves with a mortgage that morphs into an albatross. Even if my kid wanted to go to NYU, we have 90k saved and would simply need to come up with $5,416/mo which isn’t a big deal considering our mortgage is our only debt. Are we going to fund an 85k/yr school without significant aid just because “we can”? Helllll no. That’s just dumb. I don’t care if he gets in Stanford. If he can get in Stanford he can get in UVA which is just as good.

We actually have a pretty low mortgage for this area, but have had some poor luck when it comes to medical expenses. Please don't judge those of us who you think don't have enough due to "poor choices." Although I guess in a way you're right- I prioritized my child's health so that someday he may make it to college...be grateful for your good luck every day because you do not know when misfortune will come for you...

Babe I went to a cheap state school after transferring in 2 years of community college credits. You’re missing the forest through the trees. Can’t afford Harvard? No problem. Send your kids where you can afford it.

Yikes are you this patronizing IRL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to college from 1999-2003 and have a toddler now. My parents definitely did not need to save for it for 18 years, nor did they need to base the number of kids they had on how many college tuitions could be afforded. Times have changed, and in this regard, I’m not certain these changes have been for the better.

But it should come as no surprise to you that college costs are increasing.

There are ways to get a college degree today for $25-30K/year. There are also ways to do it for less if you are a top student/decent student. It just might not be at the "best school you can gain admission to". For that you will have to pay. Not willing/able to pay, then you find the good schools that will make it affordable for you.

If it's important for your toddler to attend a T25 school, then you need to plan and save.

The fact that you throw this out there as if 25-30k is supposed to be affordable shows how out of touch you are.

College costs are increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- you should have planned better! Retirement/health care costs increasing? Shouldn't come as a surprise- why can't you eat more ramen? Home prices increasing? OMG, this has been known since forever, why can't you still live with roommates?

Don't be so dramatic

A DCUM student can earn $10K/year with the current minimum wages in our area. That leaves $15-20K for the family. If parents were not able to save any $$ then you start at CC while living at home, the transfer to a 4 year college. Or you pick a 4 year state school where you can live at home and commute (if possible). But if you are making over $150K/unless there have been drastic circumstances, the parents should have been planning to save even $5K/year. Do that over 18 years and you have the $100K for college (with out any investment returns). So yes, if you are making $150K you should be able to budget and save some if you want your kid to attend college. Otherwise, CC while living at home, kid works PT to save money and you take a few loans for transferring to 4 year.

On $150K a year they can easily save $10-20K a year.

I agree. But for those who cannot figure that out, this demonstrates even $5K/year and college can be done without much debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why we have strategically planned. All of us with professional white collar jobs and kids have quite likely been working for 20 years. That’s been plenty of time to plan properly. That’s plenty of time to drive down to a low mortgage. We are now sitting on a $1900/mo PITI and have modest college savings. We have quite enough cash flow to affford whatever college our kids want to go to based on solid financial choices and not saddling ourselves with a mortgage that morphs into an albatross. Even if my kid wanted to go to NYU, we have 90k saved and would simply need to come up with $5,416/mo which isn’t a big deal considering our mortgage is our only debt. Are we going to fund an 85k/yr school without significant aid just because “we can”? Helllll no. That’s just dumb. I don’t care if he gets in Stanford. If he can get in Stanford he can get in UVA which is just as good.

We actually have a pretty low mortgage for this area, but have had some poor luck when it comes to medical expenses. Please don't judge those of us who you think don't have enough due to "poor choices." Although I guess in a way you're right- I prioritized my child's health so that someday he may make it to college...be grateful for your good luck every day because you do not know when misfortune will come for you...

Babe I went to a cheap state school after transferring in 2 years of community college credits. You’re missing the forest through the trees. Can’t afford Harvard? No problem. Send your kids where you can afford it.

Yikes are you this patronizing IRL?

Not the PP, but most complaining seem to want to send their kids to the Top school they can obtain admission to. While at the same time, there are many many good more affordable choices for completing a 4 year degree. So don't loose sight of the real goal, which is getting the degree! Stay focused and look for a solution to the end goal (which is getting your 4 year degree). I can't afford elite private High school for my kids, so I bought the house I could afford in the best school district I could afford within my Budget.
I don't whine and complain that I can't afford private school at $30K+/year.