3 kids under 5. How will I educate them?

[Anonymous]

Interesting post and report issued this week on college debt. Not as dire as many seem to think.

... the share of income that young adults are devoting to loan repayment has remained fairly steady over the last two decades .... Only 7 percent of young-adult households with education debt have $50,000 or more of it. By contrast, 58 percent of such households have less than $10,000 in debt, and an additional 18 percent have between $10,000 and $20,000. ... even with tuition rising, several other factors have helped hold down debt burdens. The incomes of college graduates have grown since the early 1990s. And the repayment time for many loans has become longer. ... All of which is to say that student debt is indeed a problem for some young people today, but that it’s not a new phenomenon. For most, the returns on a college education have more than kept pace with the cost. ... But when you start looking at the evidence that blames student debt, it can be flimsy.

Report points to a different problem though: "The vastly bigger problem is the hundreds of thousands people who emerge from college with a modest amount of debt yet no degree."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell them they will pay for their schooling. Why is that such an awful responsibility? There are many people, including myself, whose parents were not able to contribute anything to college. We were still able to work hard, graduate, and move on to professional degrees. Really people, your kid will be an adult and will be able to work for his schooling. Not ideal, but absolutely doable.

+1
I paid for my own education and have done quite well. My parents had three kids under five and told us early on that we would all go to college, but we would all pay for it ourselves. My parents gave me $500 each year that I was in college (grand total $1500) -- I graduated a year early by taking as many credits as I could handle each semester. I worked a part-time job and got merit scholarships for my second and third years of school. I went to a state school and graduated almost debt free. Granted, this was 25 years ago.

I also paid for my own graduate school.

There is no comparison between what you did 25 years ago and what a student with the same profile can do today. None.

See the Atlantic article linked above.

Right. Except that OPs kids are not doing it today, either.

PP who posted that here. Agreed. Neither are mine (16yo and 13yo). DH and I have saved about $250K for both of them. We are super-focused on this precisely because of what the Atlantic article points out - the economics of higher education make it impossible for them to pay their own way.

We will expect them to contribute to their expenses, but not to pay their own way because that is impossible without huge loans. We do not want them entering adulthood with education loans greater than whatever their starting salaries will be.

the economics of american higher education is such that it will implode during our lifetimes. your children might be too "old" for that, but by the time today's toddlers are college students the landscape of higher education will be tremendously different. it is foolish to extrapolate from today's tuitions and jobs requirements etc to something 20 years down the road when things are changing so rapidly in so many industries.

... and even if i had a zillion dollars to pay for project tuition 20 years down the road, i would use the money to buy them real estate vs. some elusive degree that might or might lead to a job that will take them another 30 years to pay off a house that i could have bought them with tuition money.

Do you have a crystal ball?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell them they will pay for their schooling. Why is that such an awful responsibility? There are many people, including myself, whose parents were not able to contribute anything to college. We were still able to work hard, graduate, and move on to professional degrees. Really people, your kid will be an adult and will be able to work for his schooling. Not ideal, but absolutely doable.

+1
I paid for my own education and have done quite well. My parents had three kids under five and told us early on that we would all go to college, but we would all pay for it ourselves. My parents gave me $500 each year that I was in college (grand total $1500) -- I graduated a year early by taking as many credits as I could handle each semester. I worked a part-time job and got merit scholarships for my second and third years of school. I went to a state school and graduated almost debt free. Granted, this was 25 years ago.

I also paid for my own graduate school.

There is no comparison between what you did 25 years ago and what a student with the same profile can do today. None.

See the Atlantic article linked above.

Right. Except that OPs kids are not doing it today, either.

PP who posted that here. Agreed. Neither are mine (16yo and 13yo). DH and I have saved about $250K for both of them. We are super-focused on this precisely because of what the Atlantic article points out - the economics of higher education make it impossible for them to pay their own way.

We will expect them to contribute to their expenses, but not to pay their own way because that is impossible without huge loans. We do not want them entering adulthood with education loans greater than whatever their starting salaries will be.

the economics of american higher education is such that it will implode during our lifetimes. your children might be too "old" for that, but by the time today's toddlers are college students the landscape of higher education will be tremendously different. it is foolish to extrapolate from today's tuitions and jobs requirements etc to something 20 years down the road when things are changing so rapidly in so many industries.

... and even if i had a zillion dollars to pay for project tuition 20 years down the road, i would use the money to buy them real estate vs. some elusive degree that might or might lead to a job that will take them another 30 years to pay off a house that i could have bought them with tuition money.

Do you have a crystal ball?

you don't need a crystal ball to spot a bubble from a mile away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We only had one child, partially for this reason. And he has a prepaid tuition fund.

so you let some hypothetical cost of some supposedly important certificate 20 years down the road dictate your family size? you are an idiot.

+1

I'm sure the solace your child will take as an only from his/her education will make up for the lack of any family (i.e. siblings) when you all pass away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We only had one child, partially for this reason. And he has a prepaid tuition fund.

+1 We did the same thing. We paid it off by age five and now have a 529.

That's impressive that you funded your prepaid 529 in 5 years. It's over $40,000 just for a lump sum payment right now.

it's kind of arrogant. who says the kid will be going to college? i am not assuming that about mine, and we are a family full of phds.

Because a college degree is basically the new high school diploma- necessary for any decent-paying job. I'm raising my kids with the assumption that college is not optional.

Oh but it is. Obviously you'll do what works for your family but I'm raising my children to never ever have a "job" per se. I've been able to turn my passion into a profession and I want to encourage them to do the same and not go to college simply to be qualified to make someone else wealthy.

hmmm...college is probably still a good back-up plan though? I'm not prepared to support my children financially as adults...

We have different philosophies. I just don't encourage backup plans. If I had a backup plan I would have definitely taken that instead of pursuing my own businesses. Most entrepreneurs I know feel the same way. Now, if what my kids want to do absolutely requires a college education I'll certainly support that as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We only had one child, partially for this reason. And he has a prepaid tuition fund.

so you let some hypothetical cost of some supposedly important certificate 20 years down the road dictate your family size? you are an idiot.

+1

I'm sure the solace your child will take as an only from his/her education will make up for the lack of any family (i.e. siblings) when you all pass away.

-1 - it is part of the reason why we only had one - not this poster but a only child with a prepaid fund. Our priority is to raise a happy, healthy child and give her the best start to life we can. I find it really selfish to have several kids and struggle or not provide things like college that will give them a good foundation in life Not everyone wants a large family. I don't. I do not believe in having multiple kids so my child can have a siblings. Not all siblings get along or have life long relationships. That is what you want not them. It is more about you and your needs vs. their needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We only had one child, partially for this reason. And he has a prepaid tuition fund.

so you let some hypothetical cost of some supposedly important certificate 20 years down the road dictate your family size? you are an idiot.

+1

I'm sure the solace your child will take as an only from his/her education will make up for the lack of any family (i.e. siblings) when you all pass away.

-1 - it is part of the reason why we only had one - not this poster but a only child with a prepaid fund. Our priority is to raise a happy, healthy child and give her the best start to life we can. I find it really selfish to have several kids and struggle or not provide things like college that will give them a good foundation in life Not everyone wants a large family. I don't. I do not believe in having multiple kids so my child can have a siblings. Not all siblings get along or have life long relationships. That is what you want not them. It is more about you and your needs vs. their needs.

Prepaid college funds have nothing to do with happy, healthy children. Mosf kids I know wanted to have siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really bothers me how so many people have it ingrained in their minds to save for their kids' college. When did that shift happen? Likely when all of the 529 plans started. Some people contribute to that before their own retirement plans. It's just nuts. So you put all the money away and then your kid ends up dropping out of school. Or not going. Or graduating but still ends up working a retail job. Meanwhile you are suffering through retirement because you didn't save enough.

Stop focusing so much on saving for college. There are other ways to pay for that. Many of us paid our way through and took loans and ended up just fine.

It happened when the economics changed, such that it is pretty much impossible for anyone to "work his/her way through college" as we did in the 70s and 80s.

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/the-myth-of-working-your-way-through-college/359735/

+1
Great article

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell them they will pay for their schooling. Why is that such an awful responsibility? There are many people, including myself, whose parents were not able to contribute anything to college. We were still able to work hard, graduate, and move on to professional degrees. Really people, your kid will be an adult and will be able to work for his schooling. Not ideal, but absolutely doable.

Seriously. My parents had three and we all took out loans for state schools, with side jobs. Not really that horrible!!