Fully Funded College
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Anonymous
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I see this term used a lot on DCUM. What does it mean? How do you know that you have enough to fully pay for college? I looked at my kids 529s today. The 11 yr old has 78K and the 8 yr old has $52K. We live in MD. College prices are all over the board. If I look at tuition, room, board, and other expenses charged by the university, I see:
UMD = $26,796 Harvard = $71,650 Michigan = $64, 386 Grinnell = $63,114 UPitt (arts & sciences) =$44,634 Gettysburg = $67,490 I just picked random schools that I see touted on here. In my mind, the 11 yr old does not even have enough to pay for 4 yrs in state at MD. Of course, over the next 7 yrs, that money will grow and I will add more to it, but tuition at MD will also increase. And it looks like we could only pay for 1 yr at the other schools. Do people really put $240K ($60K *4) in college funds and call that "fully funded"? |
Anonymous
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Yes, some people put lots of money into 529s. If you can afford it and are planning on paying for college and leaving money to your kids anyways, the downside is pretty minimal.
In fact 240k is relatively little and some people put in even more. Most, possibly all, states put limits on the 529, after which you can no longer make additional deposits. The maximum in DC is 500k (I believe). These "insane" numbers are required if you want to pay for 4+ years of undergrad and then law/medical school in addition to all the additional qualified expenses. |
Anonymous
| Yes. |
Anonymous
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PP again.
I would assume most people on DCUM mean they are contributing 8k per year (the maximum for a married couple in DC) when they say fully funded. Even with growth, 8k a year probably doesn't hit the maximum limits, to get there you (or someone) needs to gift your children money. There are probably a few DCUMers that use fully funded to mean they cannot contribute any more money to 529s, but I think that is rarer. |
Anonymous
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"Do people really put $240K ($60K *4) in college funds and call that "fully funded"?
Of course. My kid is 7 and has over 150k. I'm expecting it to cost close to 400k by the time he is ready for college. What did you think it meant??? |
Anonymous
| Contribution is not maxed out at $8k per year. (That would take 35 years to get to $280,000 “fully funded”). |
Anonymous
$8k is not the max for a married couple or for anyone else. |
Anonymous
| We put in enough to fully fund in state tuition, R&B and fees into their 529’s. Then we saved enough to fund the OOS and private school in a regular savings vehicle. If they end up going in state, we will sue th event for our retirement. If not, we have the money to pay. |
Anonymous
| Yes, we fully funded three kids. One of the reason still driving 200k miles Honda even at 320k hhi. It’s really tough. |
Anonymous
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HHI just over 550k.
We have 2 kids 12&9. Both have Virginia prepaid tuition. We also have approx 100k sitting in invest that will presumably grow. We now only contribute a very minimal $250/mo in the invest. We consider college a done deal. Any extra will be paid out of pocket. I also hope I have raised bright children that take advantage of the VA public schools. I will consider myself a failure if they dont. Only a moron who hasn't been taught basic personal finance wouldn't go the free option. George Mason and UVA did both DH and I very well. Zero debt, great jobs, excellent local network. |
Anonymous
PP are your kids already attending college? |
Anonymous
This $8K is where the state tax deduction is capped (which is a minimal part of the overall benefit) - $15K per person, so $30K per couple, per kid is the gift tax cap and even then you can do more within a five year window. |
Anonymous
| Go to saving for college dot com to find a really good calculator that provides good guidance as to what is needed to find college. You can select by college type or by specific college name. |
Anonymous
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My goal is not to have every penny saved before they start. But I will certainly pay as much as I can, get financing, and help them pay any loans down. This will certainly be part of the conversation when they are looking at schools and they will be heavily encouraged to go in state.
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Anonymous
two out, one still in |