I’m really surprised how many people don’t save for college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand saving for college.

We just pay for it out of our income.

We only make $250 but $60K / year is not that big of a deal once your kid did private school for 12 years. It’s just part of the budget.

1. How many kids?
2. Some colleges are more than 80K a year.

2

One goes to UMCP (which is cheaper than private school) one goes to a school that is $70K but we only pay $40K

Each kid takes out student loans (5K/year) basically hoping for loan forgiveness. That worked for one kid so far.

We will pay the rest if we have to. Interest free loans are just smart money.

There’s a good chance that loan forgiveness, while earnestly promised, will never come to fruition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

I was going to say just that. I am from Europe, and US is probably the only country where if you have the dream of underwater basketweaving but don't have the scores for it, there is a college somewhere that will take you in and give your family some hope fir realizing that dream. In other places it would be a no go. It's not exactly true that if you are a late bloomer, there is no way to a college degree, but your choices are limited. Oh, and colleges there are not the all inclusive therapeutic environments they are in US. If you need "supports", you find a commuter school, and live at home while your parents provide those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is us! We didn't save and pay out of our income and live in DC and have 4 kids. We really didn't make Mo ey to save beyond retirement until a few years ago. We make more now and can cover OOS tuition for 2 currently. We will have 3 in college next year so will stretch to make it happen. That will be our only year with 3 in college at the same time. We are good though. You don't have to worry about us. Good news is that our retirement is ridiculously funded. So by the time I am 53 and my DH is 54 we will be fully retired and have one kid with one more year of college. He can get a loan for that since we will be doing nothing all day every day.

Same here. We didn’t earn enough to save for college (although we did max out our retirement) until only recently. We now have one in college and two close behind, so we are paying out of pocket. Our financial advisor actually suggested the kids pay their own way, but we don’t want them to come out of college with much debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I plan to be retired when my first gets to college age. Not really saving specifically for college. Will also not have much funds in liquid accounts. Net worth would be in real estate. Income when Retired will be 40k, so we should get a good financial aid package. 2 kids 2 years apart.

I know a guy who got to go to college for free because his single mom got laid off right before he went to college. The timing worked out well. Because his mom’s income was 0, his tuition was 0 and he was a RA and housing was also free.

If the mom got a new job, I’m sure they would have had to take out a lot of loans.

Exactly. If you know what financial aid need calculation is based on, it is somewhat easy to work it to your advantage. When my kid is 16, all my funds will be in retirement accounts or real estate or low annual pension. We will be low income and need financial aid even net worth should be around 3.5M.

This will only work with some public colleges, not the private ones or the ones that use CSS profile. This will also only work with your in-state schools. There are a few things you did not think about. Or, you are trolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand saving for college.

We just pay for it out of our income.

We only make $250 but $60K / year is not that big of a deal once your kid did private school for 12 years. It’s just part of the budget.

+1. $215k and full pay at private - and this level of income was is new for us, this is our first year without FA. So basically no college savings. But I figure if we’re paying 30K right now, we can pay 30K per year for 8 years after he graduates. That gives him a budget of 60k a year and I expect there to be plenty of options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand saving for college.

We just pay for it out of our income.

We only make $250 but $60K / year is not that big of a deal once your kid did private school for 12 years. It’s just part of the budget.

We started saving when our child was born. We now have around $300K in his account. The amount we actually put into the account was around $100K. The $200K in gains are tax free. This is why people save for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

That sounds more fair than high stat kids from donut hole families not able to afford top schools here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand saving for college.

We just pay for it out of our income.

We only make $250 but $60K / year is not that big of a deal once your kid did private school for 12 years. It’s just part of the budget.

We started saving when our child was born. We now have around $300K in his account. The amount we actually put into the account was around $100K. The $200K in gains are tax free. This is why people save for college.

Smart plan! Most people would do well for college savings if they just redirect daycare costs into college savings. Your kid will get more out of college than tons of expensive activities as a 6-10 yo.
If you start early, the benefits of tax free gains are huge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

That sounds more fair than high stat kids from donut hole families not able to afford top schools here

How exactly is that "more fair"? High stat kids from donut hole families will do just fine at any school in US. There are plenty "just below the top schools" that they can still afford. But instead you'd rather half the kids not have the option to attend school and another portion be forced towards only humanities majors from age 10+, with no hope for STEM/Engineering/PreMed/etc. I'd argue that is not really fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

That sounds more fair than high stat kids from donut hole families not able to afford top schools here

Fair? Your kid has no right to attend an expensive college. It is a LUXURY item like a Porsche. “Donut hole families” is a made up thing that people use to feel better about not being able to pay for their kids to attend private colleges. You are bitter and jealous of families that are richer than you and can afford to write the tuition check without a second thought.

[Anonymous]

We haven't save anything. I'm borrowing everything we can on a parent Plus loan and paying cash for the balance. When both kids have graduated, I am going to consolidate all of those loans into a Direct Loan and put it on an income based repayment plan. At 20 years, the balance is forgiven. We will pay about half of the money back under that plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

That sounds more fair than high stat kids from donut hole families not able to afford top schools here

Fair? Your kid has no right to attend an expensive college. It is a LUXURY item like a Porsche. “Donut hole families” is a made up thing that people use to feel better about not being able to pay for their kids to attend private colleges. You are bitter and jealous of families that are richer than you and can afford to write the tuition check without a second thought.

You are stating exactly how it is unfair, top colleges are for rich kids only

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

That sounds more fair than high stat kids from donut hole families not able to afford top schools here

Fair? Your kid has no right to attend an expensive college. It is a LUXURY item like a Porsche. “Donut hole families” is a made up thing that people use to feel better about not being able to pay for their kids to attend private colleges. You are bitter and jealous of families that are richer than you and can afford to write the tuition check without a second thought.

You are stating exactly how it is unfair, top colleges are for rich kids only

A Rolls Royce is only for the rich, but there are lots of excellent cars that the non-rich can buy. So is it unfair that you can't have a Rolls? And you can always take out loans if you MUST have a so-called "top" school.

[Anonymous]

I’m really surprised at the number of people who don’t make their kids take out loans and have skin in the game for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off.

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. The USA should do the same.

But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.

That sounds more fair than high stat kids from donut hole families not able to afford top schools here

Fair? Your kid has no right to attend an expensive college. It is a LUXURY item like a Porsche. “Donut hole families” is a made up thing that people use to feel better about not being able to pay for their kids to attend private colleges. You are bitter and jealous of families that are richer than you and can afford to write the tuition check without a second thought.

You are stating exactly how it is unfair, top colleges are for rich kids only

A Rolls Royce is only for the rich, but there are lots of excellent cars that the non-rich can buy. So is it unfair that you can't have a Rolls? And you can always take out loans if you MUST have a so-called "top" school.

Vast majority of schools are “rolls Royce schools.” Yeah there are plenty of good state schools if you’re in state. You’re out of luck if you’re from DC. The $10k benefit is a drop in the bucket for most out of state tuition.