controversial opinion: money & finances edition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who makes $200k plus and is "scraping by" has poor judgment.

So is having two kids poor judgment? Because the average daycare in this area is $2,100. Per child. You can probably find a cheap nanny for $3k per month. Let’s say your mortgage is at least $3k. You also need to save at least $500 per month per kid in a 529. This means you have $7k of fixed expenses and you probably bring home around $10k per month.

That being said, I waited until I was older to have kids and we make way more than 200k. But I absolutely understand why once you have kids in this area it’s hard to get by on 200k and have anything leftover unless you want to live with your family in a one bedroom apartment, not save for college etc. Having one parent quit working only helps in the short term and will screw you in retirement.

This is literally absurd. You have just desceived a prosperous UMC life with home ownership, kids, and substantial savings. Listen to yourself.

Well there’s almost no wiggle room in the budget for this prosperous UMC family. Almost all of their income is going towards college costs, childcare and their mortgage. I wouldn’t call that prosperous.

Seriously? Putting $1000 in college savings every month is the very definition of wiggle room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To add to the above, I think it's crazy when UMC get on the college forum and say "My kid got into X private college but we can't afford it. Wah wah wah. Life is so unfair for us UMC."

And it turns out they make like 300k.

Why weren't they saving all along? That's what I want to know. When you have a baby, the baby's needs come first. That means college savings before a big house or fancy vacations and cars, etc.

They probably have been saving all along. They also weren't making $300K or anything close to it 20 years ago; spent 5-10 years paying thousands of dollars a month for childcare; had student loans to pay off; other (disability, elderly parents, medical disaster, other).

The real question is, why is it ok for the increase in college costs to far outpace inflation?

College costs have increased along with the availability of student loans. The money is available so colleges keep adding expensive amenities and support staff. As long as 18 year olds are able to get massive amounts of non-dischargeable debt, the costs will not be reigned in.

Agree.

So stop blaming the people who "fail to save." It is not that simple.

You have control over exactly one component of this - how much you save. If you choose to abdicate responsibility in that area, that's your business, but it isn't a surprise.

Note - this does not apply to people who can't save for college. This applies to people like the one described, who make $300k, prioritize things other than college savings, and then whine about the cost of college.

[Anonymous]

A lot of folks are not going to do as well as their parents. Plan to be unemployed multiple times in your working life.

[Anonymous]

The 300k is scraping by poster is absurd. my parents scraped by -- they worked split shifts, mom dropped us kids off at my dad's job site at 3. I was in charge of cleaning up from the age of 6 (throwing trash/shingles in his truck bed, running the shop vac, etc.) and painted for him starting at 8. I made dinner every night by that age too. The only meat we ate was deer dad killed, and sometimes chickens when they stopped laying. No college savings. We farmed on weekends, in the fields at 6;30 AM but dad would let us off around 3 to have some time to have fun. I wore my brother's hand me downs (I am female).

I was much loved and never hungry, though, so I had it better than most people in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To add to the above, I think it's crazy when UMC get on the college forum and say "My kid got into X private college but we can't afford it. Wah wah wah. Life is so unfair for us UMC."

And it turns out they make like 300k.

Why weren't they saving all along? That's what I want to know. When you have a baby, the baby's needs come first. That means college savings before a big house or fancy vacations and cars, etc.

They probably have been saving all along. They also weren't making $300K or anything close to it 20 years ago; spent 5-10 years paying thousands of dollars a month for childcare; had student loans to pay off; other (disability, elderly parents, medical disaster, other).

The real question is, why is it ok for the increase in college costs to far outpace inflation?

Because there is too much cheap money (i.e., easy to obtain loans) when the reality is that not all kids should go to a 4-year college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here save way too much for college. If you're able to save that much, you can probably pay some as you go as well. Let your kid pay for their own grad school.

Agreed

Make hay while the sun still shines. You never know when your money might leave, through a job loss, disability, death or other bad situation.

+ 1

Save now while you can.

Eh, if the money goes we qualify for financial aid. Right now we are paying daycare (3900/mo) and a mortgage (2000 Principal and interest) that will no longer exist when my kids are in college. If our income stays the same as it is right now, which isn't likely because we are in our 30s and will probably receive promotions and increases, that's $70K of cash flow that can be reallocated to college costs each year. Plus, it's not like we are spending all of our money every year. We are actually saving quite a bit. However we're putting it into retirement funds, paying down the mortgage, and general savings rather than earmarking it for college.

I feel the same way. We are putting money away for college, but I don’t know why there is so much pressure about it. We had nothing saved for daycare when our incomes were considerably lower, and we were still paying mortgage, car, student loans, etc.

But then you have to remember that a lot of dcum has children much later in life. So when their kids are born, they are in the place in their careers that I will be when my kids go to college. And when their kids go to college, they will be starting to look at retirement. So in that case, of course it makes sense to save a ton for college.

I think this is also an anxiety of the well-off. My parents saved hard for college but I was still eligible for 50% need based financial aid at a great school, and we considered ourselves comfortably middle class. I will save as much as I can and try to help my kids navigate the world of financial aid - if my income goes up so much we're not eligible, that would be extra money on top of our current budget and we would be very blessed.

Well, it wouldn’t be on top of your current budget. It would be going to your child’s school. Plus you would be working additional hours and taking on additional responsibilities to increase your income without any benefit to your family. #blessed.

You don't think having additional income to put toward your child's collegr is a benefit to the family? It's sad if you only count benefits AFTER you havr the most important building blocks of life taken care of.

[Anonymous]

Where I come from only super rich parents pay for college.

[Anonymous]

I think people who put themselves in a position to still have college loans into their 30s are blazing idiots. If you cant make enough to pay your loans by age 29 with your white collar job, you are a failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, liking our current insurance system! You are definitely one of maybe ten people in the whole country!

Oh I can do this one.
The way Americans do healthcare is better for the sickest people who want to proceed with expensive treatments to fight for their lives and so, to my mind, the best way.

Can you explain further? Genuinely curious.

American healthcare is so expensive because we spend so much money on people who are likely to die anyway. The UK’s NHS just won’t pay if the expense is high and the expected extra years of life are low.

Yes, x1000.

American healthcare is screwed up because everyone wants everything even when it's not medically wise or feasible. Sure, we can do open-heart surgery on an 85 year old with multiple comorbidities, but should we? What about when that elderly patient makes it through surgery, but then fails to recover and ends up bedridden, unable to wean from a ventilator or vasoactive IV medications, and acquires an infection, ICU delirium, and/or a bedsore while in the hospital?

I care for patients like the hypothetical one I just described and it's ludicrous. The whole system is terrible, from the way providers and facilities are reimbursed by insurance companies to the false hope and promises we give patients and their loved ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people who put themselves in a position to still have college loans into their 30s are blazing idiots. If you cant make enough to pay your loans by age 29 with your white collar job, you are a failure.

You must be young. My college loans are at 1.8% interest. As long as I have that money somewhere making more than 1.8%, then I will take as long as Uncle Sam will let me to pay them off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here save way too much for college. If you're able to save that much, you can probably pay some as you go as well. Let your kid pay for their own grad school.

Agreed

Make hay while the sun still shines. You never know when your money might leave, through a job loss, disability, death or other bad situation.

+ 1

Save now while you can.

Eh, if the money goes we qualify for financial aid. Right now we are paying daycare (3900/mo) and a mortgage (2000 Principal and interest) that will no longer exist when my kids are in college. If our income stays the same as it is right now, which isn't likely because we are in our 30s and will probably receive promotions and increases, that's $70K of cash flow that can be reallocated to college costs each year. Plus, it's not like we are spending all of our money every year. We are actually saving quite a bit. However we're putting it into retirement funds, paying down the mortgage, and general savings rather than earmarking it for college.

I feel the same way. We are putting money away for college, but I don’t know why there is so much pressure about it. We had nothing saved for daycare when our incomes were considerably lower, and we were still paying mortgage, car, student loans, etc.

But then you have to remember that a lot of dcum has children much later in life. So when their kids are born, they are in the place in their careers that I will be when my kids go to college. And when their kids go to college, they will be starting to look at retirement. So in that case, of course it makes sense to save a ton for college.

We had kids in our mid 20s, saved for college and now our kids are in college that is 100% paid out of savings. It is incredible to be in our mid 40s, peak earning years, no kid expenses and bringing in 41k in gross income each month. DH and I travel like crazy and dont have a single financial concern in the world. We also will be able to fund a down payment for our kids homes and have already money set aside for our unborn grandkids higher education. Our good planning with our high incomes will positively impact a future generation.

I'm so grateful we are not saddled with toddlers at this point in our lives. Plus my body didnt get wrecked because I had kids when my body was able to bounce back mere weeks after giving birth.

[Anonymous]

Not really money and finances per se - but you dont HAVE to live in this area. Money goes a lot further elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here save way too much for college. If you're able to save that much, you can probably pay some as you go as well. Let your kid pay for their own grad school.

Agreed

Make hay while the sun still shines. You never know when your money might leave, through a job loss, disability, death or other bad situation.

+ 1

Save now while you can.

Eh, if the money goes we qualify for financial aid. Right now we are paying daycare (3900/mo) and a mortgage (2000 Principal and interest) that will no longer exist when my kids are in college. If our income stays the same as it is right now, which isn't likely because we are in our 30s and will probably receive promotions and increases, that's $70K of cash flow that can be reallocated to college costs each year. Plus, it's not like we are spending all of our money every year. We are actually saving quite a bit. However we're putting it into retirement funds, paying down the mortgage, and general savings rather than earmarking it for college.

I feel the same way. We are putting money away for college, but I don’t know why there is so much pressure about it. We had nothing saved for daycare when our incomes were considerably lower, and we were still paying mortgage, car, student loans, etc.

But then you have to remember that a lot of dcum has children much later in life. So when their kids are born, they are in the place in their careers that I will be when my kids go to college. And when their kids go to college, they will be starting to look at retirement. So in that case, of course it makes sense to save a ton for college.

We had kids in our mid 20s, saved for college and now our kids are in college that is 100% paid out of savings. It is incredible to be in our mid 40s, peak earning years, no kid expenses and bringing in 41k in gross income each month. DH and I travel like crazy and dont have a single financial concern in the world. We also will be able to fund a down payment for our kids homes and have already money set aside for our unborn grandkids higher education. Our good planning with our high incomes will positively impact a future generation.

I'm so grateful we are not saddled with toddlers at this point in our lives. Plus my body didnt get wrecked because I had kids when my body was able to bounce back mere weeks after giving birth.

Hope your kids have more humility than you do. Good lord.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people on here save way too much for college. If you're able to save that much, you can probably pay some as you go as well. Let your kid pay for their own grad school.

Agreed

Make hay while the sun still shines. You never know when your money might leave, through a job loss, disability, death or other bad situation.

+ 1

Save now while you can.

Eh, if the money goes we qualify for financial aid. Right now we are paying daycare (3900/mo) and a mortgage (2000 Principal and interest) that will no longer exist when my kids are in college. If our income stays the same as it is right now, which isn't likely because we are in our 30s and will probably receive promotions and increases, that's $70K of cash flow that can be reallocated to college costs each year. Plus, it's not like we are spending all of our money every year. We are actually saving quite a bit. However we're putting it into retirement funds, paying down the mortgage, and general savings rather than earmarking it for college.

I feel the same way. We are putting money away for college, but I don’t know why there is so much pressure about it. We had nothing saved for daycare when our incomes were considerably lower, and we were still paying mortgage, car, student loans, etc.

But then you have to remember that a lot of dcum has children much later in life. So when their kids are born, they are in the place in their careers that I will be when my kids go to college. And when their kids go to college, they will be starting to look at retirement. So in that case, of course it makes sense to save a ton for college.

We had kids in our mid 20s, saved for college and now our kids are in college that is 100% paid out of savings. It is incredible to be in our mid 40s, peak earning years, no kid expenses and bringing in 41k in gross income each month. DH and I travel like crazy and dont have a single financial concern in the world. We also will be able to fund a down payment for our kids homes and have already money set aside for our unborn grandkids higher education. Our good planning with our high incomes will positively impact a future generation.

I'm so grateful we are not saddled with toddlers at this point in our lives. Plus my body didnt get wrecked because I had kids when my body was able to bounce back mere weeks after giving birth.

Your body isn't that great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people who put themselves in a position to still have college loans into their 30s are blazing idiots. If you cant make enough to pay your loans by age 29 with your white collar job, you are a failure.

I must be a blazing idiot because I will continue putting my cash in the stock market as opposed to servicing low interest debt. I'm 36 now, and don't have any plans to pay them off soon. The interest rate is 2.5%.