Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you have a 529? Sorry, but you had 18 years to plan for this- it shouldn’t be some surprise that you have to crowd source on DCUM.

I dunno, most kids don’t and they seem to turn out fine. It’s not anything the kid has control over (that is, whether their parent has one or not). My kids are post-college btw.

-NP

most kids don't go to 70-80k/year schools either.

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you have a 529? Sorry, but you had 18 years to plan for this- it shouldn’t be some surprise that you have to crowd source on DCUM.

I dunno, most kids don’t and they seem to turn out fine. It’s not anything the kid has control over (that is, whether their parent has one or not). My kids are post-college btw.

-NP

Anonymous wrote:Would you advise using home equity for paying college tuition? We don't have any 529 plans and DD is decided to go to OOS college for CS major - $75 -80K/year.

Our HHI 250K and no merit aid. Any other ways you recommend? - Cash from savings? Loans for 401k? Liquidate assets in stocks/mutual funds? Thanks for the advise.

umm, how did she just "decide" this? Conversations about the budget for college should have happened before she even applied to schools. Sounds like someone really dropped the ball here. Unless you have a ton of $$$$ in your stocks/mutual funds, doing any of these is a very, very bad idea.

Why don’t you have a 529? Sorry, but you had 18 years to plan for this- it shouldn’t be some surprise that you have to crowd source on DCUM.

Ok, so others are assuming you can't afford this, but it's not that clear from your post.

For example, you don't have a 529, but if you're sitting on hundreds of thousands + in those stocks you mention, you may be far better off than someone - like me - who put $$$ in the 529 but doesn't have any other non-401k investments in the market.

So, all that to say -- can't tell if you are a wealthy person asking where best to pull $$$, or a regular person who would be jeopardizing well being and retirement to pay.

Which are you?

This actually a fairly common scenario (or at least it was when I was getting ready for college). She’s going to have to pick a college that offers merit aid or a regional/directional state university.

Do you have any other debts? What grade is your DD in now?

Anonymous wrote:Would you advise using home equity for paying college tuition? We don't have any 529 plans and DD is decided to go to OOS college for CS major - $75 -80K/year.

Our HHI 250K and no merit aid. Any other ways you recommend? - Cash from savings? Loans for 401k? Liquidate assets in stocks/mutual funds? Thanks for the advise.

What were your plans for paying for college?

How much do you have saved in investments outside of 401k/IRAs?

Do you have any other college bound children?

How much can you spend out of current income? How much can DD contribute? What state are you in?

She takes a gap year and applies to UMBC, GMU, UMD and VT.

Heck no. She can take out up to $27,000 total in 3% stafford loans with no co-signer, but I’d only resort to that if you absolutely have to even if she goes instate.

No home equity loans, no parent plus and no private loans (Sallie Mae, Discover).

She goes to a different school she was accepted to that is more reasonably priced. It sounds like you didn’t fill out the FAFSA, and had no college plan.

What is your retirement plan and how much do you have in other savings?

None of the above. Don’t go to an OOS college for $75k/year for a CS major.

You can’t afford this. She needs to go to a less expensive school.

Would you advise using home equity for paying college tuition? We don't have any 529 plans and DD is decided to go to OOS college for CS major - $75 -80K/year.

Our HHI 250K and no merit aid. Any other ways you recommend? - Cash from savings? Loans for 401k? Liquidate assets in stocks/mutual funds? Thanks for the advise.