How much to save for college - child is in 10th grade

[Anonymous]

Our son is a sophomore in high school and we have saved about $175k for college (in a 529 account). We've been saving aggressively to the tune of about $1200/month over the last few years. Wondering how much more we should plan on saving. Trying to make sure we have enough for a 4-year private college/university. With yearly costs running approx. $75k, and maybe continuing to rise to an even more absurd amount, I'm wondering if we should be more aggressive.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Well, yes, if you want to be able to fund a $300k+ education and he is in 10th grade, you need to save a lot more.

[Anonymous]

A lot, lot more... I mean you do the math. It’s not like your kid is 2y.o.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, OP, with this little time left, you're going to be in a low risk profile, so you won't be able to count on much growth. Your son will start college in August 2021, 29 months from now, which is an extra 35000, and assuming an additional $10,000 in gains (3%), you're at around 220,000, or $54,000/year. Assuming you will cashflow the same amount as your contributions, you're at about $68,000/year, which leaves a $7,000 annual shortfall, not including any additional increases or extras, like transportation, etc.

[Anonymous]

Well, you're already funding $15K/year into the 529, so if you can maintain that during the college years you'd only need to pull $60k/year from the 529. So you really have 3 years worth saved right now. You'll have to come up with another $75K over the next 6 years to cover Year 4. You're on track to save about $40K through your current savings plan, so that leaves you with a $35k deficit. If you spread that out across the next 6 years, that means that you'd have to add $6k/year to your current rate of saving, and keep that up through college, to pay in full. More or less - college costs may go up, but you'll also be earning some money on what's in the 529.

[Anonymous]

Omg this is nuts. College is ridiculously expensive now.

[Anonymous]

Your son does not have to go to a school that is 75k a year. There are great state schools that will save you a bundle...just saying.

[Anonymous]

What kind of student is he? Does he want a state flagship or is he aiming higher? You should have a good idea of his goals at this point.

All schools have a payment plan--usually 10 payments per school year. This way you can use current income to help offset the cost.

[Anonymous]

Why can’t this country address the cost bubble in education?

Europe has small universities in terms of physical campus; the good schools there turn out equal or better to us schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t this country address the cost bubble in education?

Europe has small universities in terms of physical campus; the good schools there turn out equal or better to us schools.

Bc ppl like op are still willing to pay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your son does not have to go to a school that is 75k a year. There are great state schools that will save you a bundle...just saying.

+1

There are also a lot of great private school options that will award merit money to a high-performing student, especially if he is a boy.

We have two kids in college. We pay $40,000 a year for one, and $36,000 a year for the other. Both have large merit scholarships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your son does not have to go to a school that is 75k a year. There are great state schools that will save you a bundle...just saying.

Even out of state doesn’t have to be that expensive. Our DS is OOS. As a freshman this year we paid just under $17k for tuition, all fees and board. Tuition was discounted due to SAT scores and the state we are from. We can get four years in at that cost for the yearly price mentioned by the OP. *His meal plan was covered, so that saved us $4k.

[Anonymous]

175K is more than the vast majority of families can save for college. Some people do not even have that much in retirement. You could pay for in state undergraduate and a master's degree with that money. It's a tremendous gift to your child that gives him an advantage in life most do not have. Try to recast the way you are thinking about it.

[Anonymous]

That's an incredible deal, PP, good on your son!

[Anonymous]

If it was me I would ......
Sit down with him next week and discuss your commitment to his college expenses.

Ask him if he knows how much college might cost. What does he think of the trade offs from a family perspective for the different experiences. What would he prefer?