Anyone NOT have a 529 or other formal college savings account?

[Anonymous]

First off, let me get it out of the way that yes, I should have more knowledge/involvement in our family finances. BUT, right now DH handles things for the most part because I hate it and he doesn't. However, I cannot nail him down on formally setting up college savings for our two kids (toddler and kindergartener). I don't know if it's procrastination, or what, but he does not seem to have any sense of urgency. I suspect he thinks he can do better just investing our savings on his own (he has done well so far, so hard to argue). Anyone else taking this approach or is this nuts?

[Anonymous]

I don't. I'm poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't. I'm poor.

Lol, OP here. That's sort of part of it, too, maybe. We do well compared to all of America, but we're solidly middle class in DCUM-land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First off, let me get it out of the way that yes, I should have more knowledge/involvement in our family finances. BUT, right now DH handles things for the most part because I hate it and he doesn't. However, I cannot nail him down on formally setting up college savings for our two kids (toddler and kindergartener). I don't know if it's procrastination, or what, but he does not seem to have any sense of urgency. I suspect he thinks he can do better just investing our savings on his own (he has done well so far, so hard to argue). Anyone else taking this approach or is this nuts?

the big advantage is that the growth is tax free and there is no tax (if you use the instate option). In Virginia, that's a 5.75% boost in the first year money is put into an account.

[Anonymous]

First and foremost any male or female that does not know where every dime is in their family should start today.

Both of you should have password account numbers and anything else you could possibly need for access to those accounts.

As for saving for college people do this in many ways. We did not do 529's or anything but basic savings accounts. That said we have an extremely high net worth.

People save for college many ways.

My mother put a dollar a week away for her children because she knew my dad never would save. Not the way to go but at least she tried.

[Anonymous]

We don’t. I’m not sure where my kids will end up. My husband was in the military so it’s possible they might go down that route. That being said, we have about $250k in liquid assets that we plan to use should we need to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't. I'm poor.

I don’t either, but I’m not poor. Just don’t see the need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't. I'm poor.

Lol, OP here. That's sort of part of it, too, maybe. We do well compared to all of America, but we're solidly middle class in DCUM-land.

Oh, I'm not middle class. I'm poor.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have a 529 for my college sophomore, I’m cashflowing it. Every year, I get on a payment plan which divides the tuition up into monthly payments.

I have no consumer debt, 8 year old car, a substantial emergency fund, and a low PITI 15 year mortgage.

[Anonymous]

We do not. We have one child going into K. DH doesn't see the need for one. We are well off financially and have the means to pay for college without any problems.

[Anonymous]

My parents didn't. 3 kids, but had high HHI and diverse assets and investments. They weren't sure what we would choose for college, grad school, etc. and wanted to have more flexibility. It worked out because I got a full ride and did a (funded) PhD, so they gave me what they had planned on spending as a wedding gift. One sibling went state school, one sibling went private then private law. They just paid the bills as they came.

OP, you need to figure out where the money is and where it flows within your household. Basic financial literacy is a life skill and you can learn it even if you feel like you don't know much right now. Read a couple of books or go read financial independence or personal finance forums and google the words you don't understand. Insist that DH is regularly paying into a retirement account with your name on it, that you can see/access without him. Make sure you have enough coverage and are up to date on payments for all insurance (house, car, life, disability). Find out what percent of your HHI is going to different expenses like housing, savings, food, childcare, transportation, and that if there are any debts with high interests rates your household prioritizes paying them off ASAP. Like PP (14:10) said, you should have all the account numbers and passwords in case anything ever happened to your DH, but really get your own retirement in order with your name on it.

[Anonymous]

We don't either. We expect to be able to pay for college comfortably based on HHI / net worth so don't sweat this.

[Anonymous]

When our kids were little and money was tighter we focused on maxing out tax advantaged retirement first. My DH is old enough that we could tap retirement accounts without penalty when the kids got to college age. At some point in ES, we could save beyond the 401k/IRA and then started 529 plans for them. My parents also made a generous 529 contribution and we now can cover 4 years in-state from the 529s and can cash flow for something a bit more than that. Neither of my kids is a Harvard-caliber student but if there were we'd be willing to draw from our now-well-funded retirement to pay for that kind of dream school.

[Anonymous]

You sound like a kid who does not want to bother their busy parent.

Please stop acting less than fully adult in this relationship. Your kids are watching/learning.

Read up on the pros and cons of saving yourself (don't just ask others here, "what are you doing?")

Then sit down with him, and state your informed preference on this matter. It is an important part of parenting, just like feeding your kids and keeping them safe.

(PS-I would worry about your welfare if you marriage ends in divorce, like half do. Step up....it will help your whole family. Those hard core "traditional' gender roles are not healthy, especially when young kids are watching. Let's evolve, as a society. )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents didn't. 3 kids, but had high HHI and diverse assets and investments. They weren't sure what we would choose for college, grad school, etc. and wanted to have more flexibility. It worked out because I got a full ride and did a (funded) PhD, so they gave me what they had planned on spending as a wedding gift. One sibling went state school, one sibling went private then private law. They just paid the bills as they came.

OP, you need to figure out where the money is and where it flows within your household. Basic financial literacy is a life skill and you can learn it even if you feel like you don't know much right now. Read a couple of books or go read financial independence or personal finance forums and google the words you don't understand. Insist that DH is regularly paying into a retirement account with your name on it, that you can see/access without him. Make sure you have enough coverage and are up to date on payments for all insurance (house, car, life, disability). Find out what percent of your HHI is going to different expenses like housing, savings, food, childcare, transportation, and that if there are any debts with high interests rates your household prioritizes paying them off ASAP. Like PP (14:10) said, you should have all the account numbers and passwords in case anything ever happened to your DH, but really get your own retirement in order with your name on it.

OP here. I promise I'm not completely clueless. Our cars and student loans are paid off, we alternate paying the mortgage every other month, I pay about half of the utilities, work full time, carry the family health insurance, and have my own retirement account, life, and disability insurance. I just don't understand stocks/investments well, and my salary is 2/3 what he earns, so he contributes substantially more to our general savings.