"Fully fund" college... how much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We plan on contributing until the accounts hits $500k. Whatever the kids don't use will go the their children. This is a very efficient way to transfer wealth.

What will your children do? They need somewhere to contribute to fund too. Or is the idea that you pay for everything because your descendants cannot measure up? Or because economy has broken and will stay broken for generations so only the beneficiaries of capitalism raiders will have funding?

The money is backflowing in the pipes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We plan on contributing until the accounts hits $500k. Whatever the kids don't use will go the their children. This is a very efficient way to transfer wealth.

Yes it is. We don’t plan to close our kids accounts. One is thru college other is a junior. We plan to start contributing again in a few years exactly for that reason—-once it becomes apparent there will be grandkids, it is an excellent way to avoid estate taxes and help the next generations. We could easily find the next two generations of education

Next generations living off the fat of extreme wealth ($25M per dead married couple!) goes beyond helping into being destructive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For us fully fund for one kid means pilot license plus 4-year degree (so like $400k?) and for another it will likely include medical school. Our desire to fully fund means we'll be working until we're 70.

Why does it take 50 years to pay for an education. Something is terribly wrong.

It's beyond absurd.

[Anonymous]

There are several threads on this. This one for people who aren't completely loaded. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1075993.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who has worked a long time in admissions to for a top 10 grad program, I’ve learned that private undergrad gives no advantage to kids looking to go to grad school. Maybe it does for kids in certain fields who don’t plan on grad school, but otherwise it was a completely wasted expense.

It’s worth it for a better education.

What makes you think private undergrad is "a better education" than public? (I went to an Ivy League undergrad but don't particularly think that makes me better educated than anyone else.)

I went to a top 20 LAC for undergrad and a public ivy for grad school, where I was a TA for years, then taught at a not-top-but-not-terrible LAC. You can get a good education at a lot of places, and you can slack at most places if you choose the right major. The lesser institutions include a lot of friction on your way to a degree, and you may think that builds character or you may think that's wasted energy. I wanted my kids to have the option of choosing (they did not all choose):

smaller classes
better access to classes
more-predictable course offerings
better access to professors
an easier time getting accommodations when you're having a crisis
no caps on majors
four years of college housing if you want it
professors who can uphold standards in the face of unhappy parents threatening that their kid needs a better grade or they're taking their tuition and going elsewhere

+1000

Lot to be said for having access to all of that. All 3 of my kids are at/attended a 5-8K private school and took advantage of most of those. No caps on majors is a huge one---my kids can/did switch majors very easily. I want my kids to be able to add CS as a minor/major or BME or business and not have to transfer to get their desired major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For us fully fund for one kid means pilot license plus 4-year degree (so like $400k?) and for another it will likely include medical school. Our desire to fully fund means we'll be working until we're 70.

Why does it take 50 years to pay for an education. Something is terribly wrong.

Well first, if your kid knows they want medical school, undergrad should be done with as minimal cost as possible. Step down a tier or two and go to undergrad that is very affordable to you. Unless you have the $500K+ for undergrad plus med school saved.
There are plenty of good schools that your kids can find merit and pay only $20-25K max for undergrad per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We plan on contributing until the accounts hits $500k. Whatever the kids don't use will go the their children. This is a very efficient way to transfer wealth.

What will your children do? They need somewhere to contribute to fund too. Or is the idea that you pay for everything because your descendants cannot measure up? Or because economy has broken and will stay broken for generations so only the beneficiaries of capitalism raiders will have funding?

The money is backflowing in the pipes!

What?!?!

Funding 529s for your future grandkids is an excellent way to transfer wealth and avoid estate taxes. It does NOT mean your "descendants cannot measure up". It just allows your kids/descendants more financial freedom, so they can purchase a house closer to the job thus enabling more family time, it allows your kids to pick a job that they really want to do even if it doesn't lead to $150K+ salary (think social work, teacher, police, many civil servant type jobs), it allows your kids to take nicer vacations, etc...all without worrying how to save for their kid's education.

We plan to do the exact same thing. Our kids will likely eventually get $10-15M each (3 kids) when we die. We feel a much better use of the money would be when they are younger and starting their families, rather than when they are 50-60 and their kids are grown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We plan on contributing until the accounts hits $500k. Whatever the kids don't use will go the their children. This is a very efficient way to transfer wealth.

Yes it is. We don’t plan to close our kids accounts. One is thru college other is a junior. We plan to start contributing again in a few years exactly for that reason—-once it becomes apparent there will be grandkids, it is an excellent way to avoid estate taxes and help the next generations. We could easily find the next two generations of education

Next generations living off the fat of extreme wealth ($25M per dead married couple!) goes beyond helping into being destructive.

Jealousy alert

[Anonymous]

UMD costs 30K a year, total cost of attendance (COA = room, board, tuition, fees) for MD residents.

UVA costs about the same in-state, with some programs at $40K.

Most northeast SLACS were at around $77-80K when we visited them last summer. I hear Dartmouth an Duke are now at $90K a year COA. Georgetown and George Washington Universities in DC are at $85K this year. Some other private universities like Miami are now beyond the $90K a year COA.

Multiply by 4 and by number of kids, add in inflation, the fact that many students do not graduate on time, and the knowledge that so far, tuition costs have on average increased faster than inflation.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 young kids who will be graduating high school in the mid-late 2030s, and are planning to save about $400K total in 529s, which should be roughly enough to cover 50% for each at an out-of-state public. We will likely cover much of the other $400K by pulling money out of our Roths, but don't want more than that locked up in 529s in case both kids don't go to college, they choose cheaper places, they get scholarships, college costs stop rising at the astronomical pace they're projected to, etc.

[Anonymous]

We are planning on saving 500k per kid but not all of it in 529s. DS1 has some learning disabilities so we don’t know his future academic progression. We are 9 and 11 years out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We plan on contributing until the accounts hits $500k. Whatever the kids don't use will go the their children. This is a very efficient way to transfer wealth.

What will your children do? They need somewhere to contribute to fund too. Or is the idea that you pay for everything because your descendants cannot measure up? Or because economy has broken and will stay broken for generations so only the beneficiaries of capitalism raiders will have funding?

The money is backflowing in the pipes!

God, you’re mean.

[Anonymous]

Our financial advisor used a calculator that is similar to the ones posted here. We have a 4 year old who has 75k and a 1 year old who has 60k. Financial advisor says we should consider these fully funded for in-state school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
UMD costs 30K a year, total cost of attendance (COA = room, board, tuition, fees) for MD residents.

UVA costs about the same in-state, with some programs at $40K.

Most northeast SLACS were at around $77-80K when we visited them last summer. I hear Dartmouth an Duke are now at $90K a year COA. Georgetown and George Washington Universities in DC are at $85K this year. Some other private universities like Miami are now beyond the $90K a year COA.

Multiply by 4 and by number of kids, add in inflation, the fact that many students do not graduate on time, and the knowledge that so far, tuition costs have on average increased faster than inflation.

It isn’t true that tuition is outpacing inflation anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
UMD costs 30K a year, total cost of attendance (COA = room, board, tuition, fees) for MD residents.

UVA costs about the same in-state, with some programs at $40K.

Most northeast SLACS were at around $77-80K when we visited them last summer. I hear Dartmouth an Duke are now at $90K a year COA. Georgetown and George Washington Universities in DC are at $85K this year. Some other private universities like Miami are now beyond the $90K a year COA.

Multiply by 4 and by number of kids, add in inflation, the fact that many students do not graduate on time, and the knowledge that so far, tuition costs have on average increased faster than inflation.

It isn’t true that tuition is outpacing inflation anymore.

Yes, for the past 4-5 years college tuition has tended to lag inflation.