Tips for saving for college? How much to do you put into your kids college savings acct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's something for everyone to think about. Cost of attendance is rising at about 4 to 5% per year. If you plug in how much a college costs now, and calculate how much it will cost by the time your kid gets to college, you will be horrified.

For example - a school that costs $33,000 a year to attend today costs $132,000 for four years. If it increases 5% per year it will cost $191,000 for four years starting in 2025 and $232,000 for four years starting in 2029. Ouch!

Better hope your 529 investments are doing better than 5% a year or you are only just staying even with the rising costs.

Bernie's going to make it free - no need to save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's something for everyone to think about. Cost of attendance is rising at about 4 to 5% per year. If you plug in how much a college costs now, and calculate how much it will cost by the time your kid gets to college, you will be horrified.

For example - a school that costs $33,000 a year to attend today costs $132,000 for four years. If it increases 5% per year it will cost $191,000 for four years starting in 2025 and $232,000 for four years starting in 2029. Ouch!

Better hope your 529 investments are doing better than 5% a year or you are only just staying even with the rising costs.

Yes. It's crazy. I graduated from college in 2001 and the cost of a 4-year education (tuition, room and board, etc.) has DOUBLED since then. Meanwhile the U.S. Real Median Household Income has gone from something like 60k to 63k.

Families are getting squeezed all around- people are living longer and many companies have done away with pensions, so you need to save more for retirement. Healthcare costs keep going up. And once someone is speniding their 20s/30s paying back student loans, it perpetuates a cycle of not being able to save enough for their kids.

I don't know what the answer is, but the current trajectory is not sustainable. Something will have to give.

[Anonymous]

PP here- sorry I meant the cost of 4yrs at the university I attended doubled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here- sorry I meant the cost of 4yrs at the university I attended doubled.

Same here. And now they they have the nerve to call me asking for money. That's some Boomer nonsense. I have a lot better places to put my money than my now over-priced alma mater.

[Anonymous]

"What kind of a coke-head relative is my college?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiqKK4ysI7g

[Anonymous]

Started with 500/mo at birth for DS in 529. Now putting aside 1000/mo. Current balance is over 100K with 7 more years to go before college. Hopefully that should be enough but I wouldn't be surprised if costs exceed 100K/year at some institutions.

[Anonymous]

My DS is a sophomore at an OOS school. We currently put $225/month into the 529. We started it when he was two years old with $1,000. Since inception we have contributed $28,014. When he started school the balance was about $42k. Over the first two years, which included a summer and winter course, we have used $28,294. Year one we paid tuition and housing. The tuition was reduced due to SAT scores and board was covered by athletics. This year we paid tuition and his share of off campus housing.

The current balance is $27,938 which should cover the next two years.

[Anonymous]

When each of my kids were born, I started contributing $200 per month to their 529s. (Basicallly, this was the size of the IRS child tax credit so I rationalized it as found money).

Every year, I increase that contribution by $25 per month. At this point, one kid is 18, and the other is 16. I am putting away $650 per month for the 18 year old (now a senior in high school) and $600 per month for the 16 year old.

I anticipate that this will be enough to pay for public school tuition. (I am in DC, so get a $10,000 discount with DC TAG)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here- sorry I meant the cost of 4yrs at the university I attended doubled.

Same here. And now they they have the nerve to call me asking for money. That's some Boomer nonsense. I have a lot better places to put my money than my now over-priced alma mater.

Just like Fannie and Freddie destroyed the housing market in slow motion, the similarly liberal-controlled education-financial complex is destroying higher education by blowing up its financial sustainability. Schools are now filled with bloated admin staffs, unneeded new buildings, useless majors, Title IX program offices, etc. The costs spiral out of control, passed along as student debt that then stifles generation(s) of student adult prosperity.

[Anonymous]

One thought, with regards to covering costs for 4 children. Are either you or your spouse in professions that transfer to
the academic context? A lot (?) many private colleges and universities will provide a tuition benefit for employees.
There may be a vesting period. My husband is at Georgetown and I work for a small liberal arts college (neither of us is
an academic, but both of us are professionals) and our benefits include partial (or in some cases full) tuition for our dependents. This might be
one way to supplement your current savings for four kids. One of my colleagues has 5 kids, and she said that her sole
purpose in getting employed at our college was for the tuition benefit.

[Anonymous]

We did 4 years of VA prepaid tuition for each kid about 10 years ago (yes - I am risk averse) and have an additional $100k in an inVest account for each kid (2 of them). Hoping it will be enough. About 5 years to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here- sorry I meant the cost of 4yrs at the university I attended doubled.

Same here. And now they they have the nerve to call me asking for money. That's some Boomer nonsense. I have a lot better places to put my money than my now over-priced alma mater.

Just like Fannie and Freddie destroyed the housing market in slow motion, the similarly liberal-controlled education-financial complex is destroying higher education by blowing up its financial sustainability. Schools are now filled with bloated admin staffs, unneeded new buildings, useless majors, Title IX program offices, etc. The costs spiral out of control, passed along as student debt that then stifles generation(s) of student adult prosperity.

This is not what's driving up costs. States have stripped funding that used to go to higher ed out of their budgets. In state schools used to be heavily subsidized by the government, and the Tea Party revolution changed that. Costs skyrocketed because the bill was shifted to the student, not because of Title IX offices (which have been around since the 70s).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here- sorry I meant the cost of 4yrs at the university I attended doubled.

Same here. And now they they have the nerve to call me asking for money. That's some Boomer nonsense. I have a lot better places to put my money than my now over-priced alma mater.

Just like Fannie and Freddie destroyed the housing market in slow motion, the similarly liberal-controlled education-financial complex is destroying higher education by blowing up its financial sustainability. Schools are now filled with bloated admin staffs, unneeded new buildings, useless majors, Title IX program offices, etc. The costs spiral out of control, passed along as student debt that then stifles generation(s) of student adult prosperity.

I think you need to look at the data on this--none of your claims are supported by any of the evidence on higher ed costs/funding sources.

[Anonymous]

I have 600k for my three kids which is enough for average OOS schools

[Anonymous]

2 kids, about $300 per month per kid. We also made some money from selling our house and moving to a lower cost of living area, so there was a sizable lump sum ($35k/kid) from that.