“Fully Funded College”

[Anonymous]

I have about $300k per child in each 529. I stopped bc my financial advisor said it would be better to just pay cash for any overage at this point. I figured I’m fully funded then between what it costs and what I’ll owe as I have the funds. That said, unless I’m talking to my spouse, I’ve or on this post, ive never said the words fully funded college funds with regard to our kids. Who talks like that about their own kids to others??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have about $300k per child in each 529. I stopped bc my financial advisor said it would be better to just pay cash for any overage at this point. I figured I’m fully funded then between what it costs and what I’ll owe as I have the funds. That said, unless I’m talking to my spouse, I’ve or on this post, ive never said the words fully funded college funds with regard to our kids. Who talks like that about their own kids to others??

Wow PP. You are very fortunate. We'll be lucky if we can save $100k for each of our 3 kids. I know we'll get to that for one, and maybe/probably two. The third will be a stretch. No way we can afford to send them to any school they want, all expenses paid. We can definitely help, but they'll have to make some real adult decisions on how to cover the rest: military service, taking out loans, doing community college for two years & transferring, etc etc

[Anonymous]

We have $250k, and once she's at college if we needed more by the last year that wouldn't be an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have about $300k per child in each 529. I stopped bc my financial advisor said it would be better to just pay cash for any overage at this point. I figured I’m fully funded then between what it costs and what I’ll owe as I have the funds. That said, unless I’m talking to my spouse, I’ve or on this post, ive never said the words fully funded college funds with regard to our kids. Who talks like that about their own kids to others??

Wow PP. You are very fortunate. We'll be lucky if we can save $100k for each of our 3 kids. I know we'll get to that for one, and maybe/probably two. The third will be a stretch. No way we can afford to send them to any school they want, all expenses paid. We can definitely help, but they'll have to make some real adult decisions on how to cover the rest: military service, taking out loans, doing community college for two years & transferring, etc etc

Wait, your plan is to give your first two kids more than your third, and just tell the third kid to make some "real adult decisions" in order to cover the shortfall? You can't be serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We weren't a family that could fully fund college for our kids. They both went to community college and didn't pay anything because they got scholarships. Then, they went free ride at our local state school. It wasn't anything special, but they got their undergrads for free. One kid is at Northwestern for her graduate/PhD program (combined) and they are paying HER to attend on stipend. The other finished Med school and has about 50K in student loans. She was able to get some scholarships, we paid for some of it, she worked a lot in high school. Part of the reason they were able to do it was because they are both part Latina and there is money for underserved students. Our goal from birth was to help our girls into strong careers. I'm a teacher's aide with a high school education and my husband is a school custodian.

This is far more impressive than all of the people saving hundreds of thousands of dollars for their kids (of which I am one). Seriously, congratulations on the job you have done with your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people underestimate cost.

Amherst this fall is around 90k

Amherst is between $75k and $80k.

Why do people want to sent their kids so far away? Apart from instate tuition I want my kids to go to school in VA so they are close by and settle in VA after college and marry someone from around here. I want my kids and grandkids nearby.

Holy crap. Talk about boundary issues. What a nightmare you are/will be, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We weren't a family that could fully fund college for our kids. They both went to community college and didn't pay anything because they got scholarships. Then, they went free ride at our local state school. It wasn't anything special, but they got their undergrads for free. One kid is at Northwestern for her graduate/PhD program (combined) and they are paying HER to attend on stipend. The other finished Med school and has about 50K in student loans. She was able to get some scholarships, we paid for some of it, she worked a lot in high school. Part of the reason they were able to do it was because they are both part Latina and there is money for underserved students. Our goal from birth was to help our girls into strong careers. I'm a teacher's aide with a high school education and my husband is a school custodian.

That is truly awesome! You should be very proud of your kids and of yourselves, too!

[Anonymous]

If I was there, it would mean 4 years in state plus room and board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If DC goes to a professional school, it's easily financed and will/should pay for itself. Why would a parent pay for an MBA/JD/MD when the whole point is to get a job that will pay big dividends? If he decides to take a socially redeeming job afterwards, we could always help with loan repayments.

If DC chooses academia/PhD program, he'll get paid to go, but not enough to live very well. So I'm sure we'll slip spending money his way. But, that's small change and doesn't require 18 years of financial prep.

I think it depends. I have an employee who is headed to Ross (Michigan) for his MBA in the fall. He makes $115k + 20% bonus. For him, I suspect it is more about the experience and finding a job he loves, than about a $200k+ paycheck.

There's also a question of timing. New MBA grads often get decent sized paychecks, but they aren't huge (look at averages). If you're trying to buy a house and pay for daycare, things can still be tight repaying $100k+ in loans.

[Anonymous]

We have 3 kids and $400K saves toward college and I consider that fully funded. Perhaps when they get to college in 7 and 11 years respectively it won’t be enough but it’ll be close enough.

[Anonymous]

Pp. Should have said we have 2 kids, not 3. Fat fingers on phone keyboard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people underestimate cost.

Amherst this fall is around 90k

Amherst is between $75k and $80k.

Why do people want to sent their kids so far away? Apart from instate tuition I want my kids to go to school in VA so they are close by and settle in VA after college and marry someone from around here. I want my kids and grandkids nearby.

Holy crap. Talk about boundary issues. What a nightmare you are/will be, PP.

I'm glad that my own parents did not have the view stated above that they wanted to keep me close to home. Instead, they wanted me to have other experiences in different parts of the country, and there was always the option to return home.

It seems a bit controlling to want your child to go to college near you so that they will settle near you. Granted, my parents could afford to send me to an out-of-state college and knew that is what I wanted. Even if they could have only afforded in-state, I think they would have encouraged me to look for scholarships and be adventurous.

A friend's DS was recently admitted to a great college in California. DS's mom always hears from the local NoVa moms "Oh how can you "let" him go so far." My friend is allowing her DS to go to the best college he can, which is great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have about $300k per child in each 529. I stopped bc my financial advisor said it would be better to just pay cash for any overage at this point. I figured I’m fully funded then between what it costs and what I’ll owe as I have the funds. That said, unless I’m talking to my spouse, I’ve or on this post, ive never said the words fully funded college funds with regard to our kids. Who talks like that about their own kids to others??

Wow PP. You are very fortunate. We'll be lucky if we can save $100k for each of our 3 kids. I know we'll get to that for one, and maybe/probably two. The third will be a stretch. No way we can afford to send them to any school they want, all expenses paid. We can definitely help, but they'll have to make some real adult decisions on how to cover the rest: military service, taking out loans, doing community college for two years & transferring, etc etc

Wait, your plan is to give your first two kids more than your third, and just tell the third kid to make some "real adult decisions" in order to cover the shortfall? You can't be serious.

Well the kids are spaced several years apart. So we have a better estimate on what the oldest child will have available at age 18. But based on our jobs/the market/unforeseen circumstances, that number is harder to estimate for the youngest child. But even if the oldest gets $100k and the youngest $85k, is that so unfair? It's life. And again, based on only having $100k each all THREE will have to make decisions on how to "fully fund" college. I apologize for not having as much money as you seem to have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people underestimate cost.

Amherst this fall is around 90k

Amherst is between $75k and $80k.

Why do people want to sent their kids so far away? Apart from instate tuition I want my kids to go to school in VA so they are close by and settle in VA after college and marry someone from around here. I want my kids and grandkids nearby.

Holy crap. Talk about boundary issues. What a nightmare you are/will be, PP.

She sounds smart to me. Be a good parent and your kids will want to stay close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have about $300k per child in each 529. I stopped bc my financial advisor said it would be better to just pay cash for any overage at this point. I figured I’m fully funded then between what it costs and what I’ll owe as I have the funds. That said, unless I’m talking to my spouse, I’ve or on this post, ive never said the words fully funded college funds with regard to our kids. Who talks like that about their own kids to others??

Wow PP. You are very fortunate. We'll be lucky if we can save $100k for each of our 3 kids. I know we'll get to that for one, and maybe/probably two. The third will be a stretch. No way we can afford to send them to any school they want, all expenses paid. We can definitely help, but they'll have to make some real adult decisions on how to cover the rest: military service, taking out loans, doing community college for two years & transferring, etc etc

Wait, your plan is to give your first two kids more than your third, and just tell the third kid to make some "real adult decisions" in order to cover the shortfall? You can't be serious.

Well the kids are spaced several years apart. So we have a better estimate on what the oldest child will have available at age 18. But based on our jobs/the market/unforeseen circumstances, that number is harder to estimate for the youngest child. But even if the oldest gets $100k and the youngest $85k, is that so unfair? It's life. And again, based on only having $100k each all THREE will have to make decisions on how to "fully fund" college. I apologize for not having as much money as you seem to have.

You need to be fair. That's wrong what you are doing.