Is it responsible to spend 90K/yr in education?

[Anonymous]

The UVA dude does not have 200K in savings. He didn't have it saved up in the first place. He's just didn't spend 200K on education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s silly, no matter how much money you have.
If kid is brilliant, they will get merit scholarship.
If they are not, then college not for them.
Just my opinion.

A lot of schools don’t offer merit.

Our kids made grades high enough to get in, but since everyone that attends has similarly high stats there is no merit. But we can afford it. And are comfortable paying it - for both kids.

But that’s why we work, When We could likely retire. Work is easy. Money is good. Of course, We can save the money and leave an extra $500k (in todays money) to our grandkids when we die; but we decided to spend it on their parents’ education (and still leave them millions). This is Our choice and what works for us.

So Just because it’s silly for your bank account, it’s just another bill for ours.

Just my opinion!

You are an example of many people who are loaded enough to effortlessly afford it, there are people way more loaded than you are who don't even have to work to give their kids the most expensive private education. But it's irrelevant to the OP, because she wouldn't be asking this question had money not being an issue.

Or just someone who also targeted saving for college from time kids were little. I know plenty of people who only make $250-300K who manage to save for 90K college (and are not going into debt)---they simply chose to save and make education a priority. Think about it. If you were living on $125-150K at one time, then incomes went up to $250K, you can choose to save at least 50% of that for college and bingo you will be set. I do get that the other 50% likely went to retirement savings and other items. But fact is, many people choose not to save--and that's okay, but don't claim you couldn't have saved if you wanted to

It’s also important to consider whether you want your kids going to school with the children of people who, in all seriousness, say things like the bolded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my dad tried to make a similar deal with me, but then he had a catastrophic accident and all the money was gone. so would make sure that that 200,000 actually gets invested in his name

Sorry, without further context, this isn’t the right takeaway from this. Glad your dad had the money to meet his needs. Feels like a state college education would be worth that sacrifice in this case. It doesn’t sound like he pissed it away.

[Anonymous]

You are correct.

You should only spend $100k a a year if it’s pocket change to you. For many wealthy families, it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The UVA dude does not have 200K in savings. He didn't have it saved up in the first place. He's just didn't spend 200K on education.

This. And honestly I don't think it's fair to not let the younger child go to NW and then hand them $200k while the older child "was allowed" to go. The younger child would be indeed pocketing $200k through no decision of their own. If the older child had been given the option "$200k cash and UVA or NW" then they might have chosen differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me help you in a different way.

The most important question to ask yourself for decision making is how you survive a less favorable outcome in both cases. How bitter and broke will you feel if your kid goes to a $$$$ school and can't support himself vs. if he pays a discounted rate for a state school and ends up unemployed. It's the loss dilemma. Like a risk calculation. Can you afford this risk like a family with tens of mil NW that would just wave it off financially even if disappointed? If your kid doesn't make it, then having extra savings become even more instrumental in helping him get up on his feet or go to a grad school.

Why does state school mean unemployed as an outcome?

You didn't understand. It's a hypothetical outcome for both of them. It's a "loss" scenario where your kid fails regardless of what school they go to, you have to consider it if you want to truly make a decision you won't regret. When decision making is difficult you need to create a scenario where the choice is clear.

It's not out of the ordinary that some kids even if they get jobs out of college do not do well, they can lose their jobs, quit because they hate it and want to pursue something else, burnout, relationship or even health issues. Life happens. Imagine scenario where the money you spent on education isn't going to "pay back" and see if this would turn into a regret or set your entire family back. If you are rich throwing way a few hundred Ks isn't going to hurt you, you will recover fast and there is more where it came from. It's a different story for people for whom this amount is life changing and who had been saving. especially if it's going to be needed to help get your kid back into the saddle (get a grad degree or start a business, etc).

Also, a "failure" doesn't always mean being unemployed after college. Not every kid thrives in their after-college job and continues to build a career. You must know people like this. Maybe they became unemployed 2-3 years after their entry level job they hated, maybe they wanted to switch industries or open a business or go to a grad school. These are all normal things and in no way tragedies, but they are costly initially and it's better if you have funds for this and didn't spend all the funds you dedicated to your child on an undergraduate degree for "prestige" and there is nothing left and there won't be more. If you are not thinking about these scenarios and only assess the positives you are not thinking. And nobody here knows your true situation especially future financial outlook to give you the best advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand folks who say “money isn’t an issue for us” when it comes to paying for private college. Are they saying that money isn’t an issue for them for ANYTHING, anything relating to their kids, or anything relating to their kids’ education? If it’s the first, that’s great, good for you, but there are very, very few of you out there. If it’s the second, well, congratulations on spoiling your children. But if it’s the third, why shouldn’t cost matter to when it comes to college? Why pay more - sometimes much more - for this one particular item in the absence of any evidence of any tangle difference in outcome?

Posters will respond that it's all about "fit," and that their kids deserve to go anywhere they want to college, but why is that the case? Why is it so difficult for parents to understand that it's not a marriage - it's college - and fitting into a glass slipper is not a requirement? this way of thinking is coddling to the extreme.

ITA
It's especially stupid to worry about college not being a "good fit" when there is entire life ahead, having to work for a living, build your own nest egg or pursue real life ambitions outside of college acceptance, meeting a partner and starting a family or not, etc. So many very tough choices ahead for your kids and most of it isn't going to be a "good fit", it's learning to deal with life as an adult. If you have enough money to pay for your kids to go to college you are giving them a leg up not making them a debt slave upon graduation, great. Congratulate yourself, and you don't need to agonize if the college is going to cater to your kid perfectly.

[Anonymous]

If you are asking this question, then the answer is "yes".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are asking this question, then the answer is "yes".

^^ my bad, the answer it "no" I read it is it irresponsible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s silly, no matter how much money you have.
If kid is brilliant, they will get merit scholarship.
If they are not, then college not for them.
Just my opinion.

A lot of schools don’t offer merit.

Our kids made grades high enough to get in, but since everyone that attends has similarly high stats there is no merit. But we can afford it. And are comfortable paying it - for both kids.

But that’s why we work, When We could likely retire. Work is easy. Money is good. Of course, We can save the money and leave an extra $500k (in todays money) to our grandkids when we die; but we decided to spend it on their parents’ education (and still leave them millions). This is Our choice and what works for us.

So Just because it’s silly for your bank account, it’s just another bill for ours.

Just my opinion!

You are an example of many people who are loaded enough to effortlessly afford it, there are people way more loaded than you are who don't even have to work to give their kids the most expensive private education. But it's irrelevant to the OP, because she wouldn't be asking this question had money not being an issue.

Or just someone who also targeted saving for college from time kids were little. I know plenty of people who only make $250-300K who manage to save for 90K college (and are not going into debt)---they simply chose to save and make education a priority. Think about it. If you were living on $125-150K at one time, then incomes went up to $250K, you can choose to save at least 50% of that for college and bingo you will be set. I do get that the other 50% likely went to retirement savings and other items. But fact is, many people choose not to save--and that's okay, but don't claim you couldn't have saved if you wanted to

It’s also important to consider whether you want your kids going to school with the children of people who, in all seriousness, say things like the bolded.

I say that because so many on here claim they are poor and can't afford college at that income level. I don't think that about normal life. I know that is still top 5%. But the "donut hole " people on dcum who complain make it seem like "only"

And yes if your kid attends a t50 school that is 90k they will be surrounded by plenty of kids who are full pay and it's not a stress for them to pay for it. They will also take Caribbean vacations for spring break and go skiing over winter breaks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s high time for salaries at colleges to be cut. Too many overpaid old men on tenure.

The pension system is breaking the colleges. Look at every bloated private college administration office. And the emeritus professors wandering the halls. Those people need to get off the payroll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't eat money.

What did you need that $200K?
Northwestern is better than mindless consumerism.

I went to Northwestern and there's a degree to which high sticker education is consumerism and then leads to more consumerism. I went to NU when it was half the cost it was today and there was an extent to which the fact that most of my classmates were high income led to other consumer pressures. When I went over 20 years ago, more than 60% of kids came from families with incomes over 200k/year. People expected you to have money for expensive outings and food and such. There were things like summer programs I would have liked to do, but financial aid didn't cover them and I didn't have the money.

Those of us who were the financial aid kids generally knew each other because we ran in the same circles getting extra money. Business studies, psychology studies, giving tours, work study jobs, etc.

Point is, I did the thing, have the degree to show it, but I'm somewhat cynical about it. I know people from NU who did well, I know people who still relied on their parents post graduation. I do think the financial realities I faced prepped me well post college.

One of my closest and longest known friends went to NU. Life happened and the degree did not payoff. And she graduated 20’years ago. She is very intelligent. You just never know. There are no guarantees. Her brother who went to a DCUM spat upon college — doing VERY well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest DS was accepted to both Northwestern University (90K/yr), and University of Virginia (40K/year) in 2020, and he decided to attend Northwestern University. The total cost of attendance is around 360K. His cousin attended UVA in 2020 (he was also accepted by Northwestern), and both he and DS received the same job at the same company. They both studied the same major, but his cousin has 200K in savings for not going to Northwestern. He will take my DS a long time to save up to 200K in post-tax money.

My younger DS is a HS senior, and I explained to him that if he should go to UVA, if accepted, because it would set him up much better financially for the future. I will invest that 200K towards his retirement. Not sure if I am doing the right thing here. Thoughts?

I think he'd be crazy not to take it. But with teenagers, who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s high time for salaries at colleges to be cut. Too many overpaid old men on tenure.

The pension system is breaking the colleges. Look at every bloated private college administration office. And the emeritus professors wandering the halls. Those people need to get off the payroll.

It's not the pension system, it's the tenure and the admin system. The emeritus usually die pretty soon after retiring. But when colleges have 60-70% of their classes taught by either TA's or adjuncts, but still pay hefty salaries to full time professors who barely teach at all and spend all their time doing "research" and publishing junk that 90% of the time isn't useful in any sense of the word, then the students are definitely getting the shaft. Add to that the bloated administrative offices, full of people who are paid twice what the average prof gets but whose whole job is to make powerpoints, go to meetings, and create paperwork, then you get a super high cost of education with minimal returns for students and the people doing the majority of the actual educating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s silly, no matter how much money you have.
If kid is brilliant, they will get merit scholarship.
If they are not, then college not for them.
Just my opinion.

A lot of schools don’t offer merit.

Our kids made grades high enough to get in, but since everyone that attends has similarly high stats there is no merit. But we can afford it. And are comfortable paying it - for both kids.

But that’s why we work, When We could likely retire. Work is easy. Money is good. Of course, We can save the money and leave an extra $500k (in todays money) to our grandkids when we die; but we decided to spend it on their parents’ education (and still leave them millions). This is Our choice and what works for us.

So Just because it’s silly for your bank account, it’s just another bill for ours.

Just my opinion!

You are an example of many people who are loaded enough to effortlessly afford it, there are people way more loaded than you are who don't even have to work to give their kids the most expensive private education. But it's irrelevant to the OP, because she wouldn't be asking this question had money not being an issue.

Or just someone who also targeted saving for college from time kids were little. I know plenty of people who only make $250-300K who manage to save for 90K college (and are not going into debt)---they simply chose to save and make education a priority. Think about it. If you were living on $125-150K at one time, then incomes went up to $250K, you can choose to save at least 50% of that for college and bingo you will be set. I do get that the other 50% likely went to retirement savings and other items. But fact is, many people choose not to save--and that's okay, but don't claim you couldn't have saved if you wanted to

It’s also important to consider whether you want your kids going to school with the children of people who, in all seriousness, say things like the bolded.

My god, what chance do those of us only making 150K have? I guess I'm lucky my kid isn't a good enough student to get into either UVa or Northwestern, nor anywhere that would justify 90K.