Reply to I’m really surprised how many people don’t save for college

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ok, so I guess I’m ‘one of those people’. I’m a single parent that’s made 200+ since my kids were born. I save $1,500 per child per month and - guess what - that’s still not enough.

Why? Why, you ask? Why am I not saving more? Because I want to retire at 62. I want to live in a modest house and travel internationally. I want to support my kids in their (expensive) activities. I want them to live independently at an amazing camp in Maine 4 weeks every summer so they can meet people outside our suburban town. I want to enjoy dinners out with them, and theatre, and fun days at the spa.

So yes, op. My measly $1,500 will not be sufficient and we will not qualify for financial aid. But you know what? I was raised with a work ethic that allowed me to pay off 6 figure debt. This is not what I want my kids to face, but if they do, I’d like to think they have the work ethic and possibly my support to pay it off. [/quote]

Adding to PP's poignant description, I will add that it's a shitty country that makes people choose between enjoying their hard-earned income, and tightening their belts to send the next generation to earn their expensive degrees.

[b]Other wealthy nations subsidize universities and lower tuition costs. [/b]The USA should do the same.
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But it is not always rainbows and unicorns in other countries. The European model does allow for gov't subsidies for university but guess what? Not everyone gets to attend one. Students are tracked in high school (or younger) and those who score well attend and those who do not or are late bloomers, well, no university for them. The US system has plenty of flaws but only having a restricted number of seats is not one of them.[/quote]

That sounds  more fair than high stat kids from donut hole families  not able to afford top schools here[/quote]

Fair? Your kid has no right to attend an expensive college. It is a LUXURY item like a Porsche. “Donut hole families” is a made up thing that people use to feel better about not being able to pay for their kids to attend private colleges. You are bitter and jealous of families that are richer than you and can afford to write the tuition check without a second thought.[/quote]

You are stating exactly how it is unfair, top colleges are for rich kids only[/quote]

Life is not fair.  Instead of using that as an excuse, have your kid (and yourself) focus on finding the best college for your kid that you can afford! 
Your kid can attend any of the other 100s of colleges they can afford.  We are not saying your kid doesn't get to attend college.  They just get to attend one they can afford.  They will still get an amazing education anywhere they attend, if they put in the effort.

IMO--many "donut hole" families made the choice not to save or not save enough (not all are like this, some just came into the higher income level recently, but many made choices ).  Back when our kids were young, we made decent money, but we were single income (Gave up an almost 6 figure income to stay home), we made choices so we could save.  We lived in less of a home in a decent but not "top schools" so we could easily afford it and still save for college, vacations, etc.  Our vacations were largely only $2-3K/year until our kids were 5-8yo.  So we could afford to save for college and our retirement. We chose activities wisely and focused on quality over quantity. All so we could save for the future.  Had we lived life to the fullest, we likely would not have saves enough for college.

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