We put $500/month in kid’s 529 from the day he was born. Tax refunds always got added in years we got money back. He’s now 8 and has $102k in his 529.

We made $150 when he was born, now 300.

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Anonymous wrote:We make a similar income to you and have been saving $1600/month ($800 per child) since they were very small. We don’t drive luxury cars or pay for fancy home remodels.

Yikes - do you save for retirement?

Of course. We have almost $2M saved in our early 40’s between retirement and taxable accounts.

Wow. Impressive, but that must involve a lot of scrimping and sacrifice.

Anonymous wrote:Why do people whine so much about college costs?? Just tell your kid to go to UMD and live at home - it's really not that expensive.

I know someone who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest companies in the area; they went to a mediocre state school and earn a 7-figure income. No one cares about your $80K/year private college unless you went to Harvard or Princeton. And even then, the intelligence and drive that got you into Harvard account for far more of your success than any connection or any other benefits you gained from the university itself.

And I can guarantee that your average or above-average kid's life is sure as hell not going to be any better because they went to Swarthmore instead of UMD for their BA in English.

Damn, I wish I could’ve lived at my parents house for free during college, and if I could, that it was quiet and non-abusive.

Anonymous wrote:Why do people whine so much about college costs?? Just tell your kid to go to UMD and live at home - it's really not that expensive.

I know someone who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest companies in the area; they went to a mediocre state school and earn a 7-figure income. No one cares about your $80K/year private college unless you went to Harvard or Princeton. And even then, the intelligence and drive that got you into Harvard account for far more of your success than any connection or any other benefits you gained from the university itself.

And I can guarantee that your average or above-average kid's life is sure as hell not going to be any better because they went to Swarthmore instead of UMD for their BA in English.

Most kids will not get into UMD.

Immediate poster from above. I should note that we are not in the DMV area at this point and have a reasonable mortgage, which is definitely a help.

Hi, OP. I am no financial expert, but it seems to me that you are doing pretty well. We have a similar income of around $300,000 and started making this amount within the last couple of years. We have three children - ages 6, 11 and 13 - and right now have a combined total of $320k in 529s for them. We have been saving between $500 and $1,200 per child/per month since they were born (steadilty increasing the amounts over the years). Our 401k and brokerage accounts combined are around $1.1 million and we have about $250k equity in our home with a reasonable mortgage at 2.7%. We are the types who will drive drive cars for 12+ years and are probably due for not one, but two cars within the next couple of years. I think that our bent for savings stems from the fact that we both grew up in working class families who could not contribute much towards college and our goal has always been to save enough for in-state public. One of our jobs is pretty stressful and I always have been of the mindset that I need to save as much of my income as I can before I burn out and just quit. Whether it has served me well in other aspects of my life is debatable, but it has helped on the financial front now that we can see the growth in our accounts.

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Anonymous wrote:Not a news flash, but tuition costs are staggering. Do most people apply for and get financial aid, unless they are truly rich?

Spouse and I make about $320,000 per year with about $400,000 equity on a nice four-bedroom suburban home which we bought 10 years ago.
Kids are 12 and 7. We have $30,000 in the 12-year-old's college savings account and $15,000 in the younger one's account.

We've been prioritizing, on our planner's advice, saving for retirement, and we have about $800,000 combined there. We're 43. Thankfully done paying for daycare and do not pay for school now - both kids are in public.

FIL will likely contribute some money toward college but certainly isn't funding their educations. We consider ourselves comfortable enough but certainly need to work and certainly don't have a slush fund to draw from for college.

How do more-or-less regular people do it? I worry that we make too much for aid, but we don't have enough money to have oodles of money for college! I would appreciate any "how to do it" posts.

You're what's called a "doughnut hole" family.

With a much lower HHI ($200K), and living in a small affordable 4-BR suburban house in Prince George's County, we paid for all 4 of our kids to finish their undergraduate degrees.

For us, the "how to do it" secret was always merit aid. All our kids could have gone to elite universities with high COIs, but they opted for slightly lower-tier schools instead that offered substantive merit aid. We were able to pay out of pocket for remaining costs.

No, they are wealthy and need to save.

Why do people whine so much about college costs?? Just tell your kid to go to UMD and live at home - it's really not that expensive.

I know someone who is a C-level exec at one of the biggest companies in the area; they went to a mediocre state school and earn a 7-figure income. No one cares about your $80K/year private college unless you went to Harvard or Princeton. And even then, the intelligence and drive that got you into Harvard account for far more of your success than any connection or any other benefits you gained from the university itself.

And I can guarantee that your average or above-average kid's life is sure as hell not going to be any better because they went to Swarthmore instead of UMD for their BA in English.

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Anonymous wrote:We did not save for kids college, prioritized our investments. We was not eligible for any financial aid with the gross income around $250,000. Both kids got full merit scholarships. There are a lot of free college options, I don't see any need to pay high $$$ for college when there are plenty free options. One kids was admitted to three Ivy league schools, chose to go to the school with full ride instead.

Really gross that you took money from another student who needed it as you were too selfish to save.

I don’t think you understand the term “merit scholarship.”

Yes, I do. Greedy selfish parents who refuse to save a dime and can afford college.

You’re crazy. If anything, current FA practices should take merit into account more rather than less.

You think parents who make a large income, live in a million dollar house and live comfortably shouldn't have to contribute a dime?

DP. If they have a kid that the colleges really want, yes. Colleges give scholarships for all kinds of merit — athletic, musical — why not academic?

There are about 20-30 “top ranked” schools that give very little or no merit aid. Above that, a smart kids with great stats don’t pay “sticker” price, no matter what their parents’ income.

We’re “rich” by any definition, and saved plenty of $$ to send DC to an expensive private university and every college he was accepted to offered him merit aid based on his academic record. He could have attended our in state flagship for the cost of room and board, but chose a private university that offered him merit aid of over 50% of their very high tuition. In exchange, they get to add his test scores and grades to their class averages. Win/win. He’ll probably use the money left over for graduate school (unless he gets scholarships for that).

Anonymous wrote:Not a news flash, but tuition costs are staggering. Do most people apply for and get financial aid, unless they are truly rich?

Spouse and I make about $320,000 per year with about $400,000 equity on a nice four-bedroom suburban home which we bought 10 years ago.
Kids are 12 and 7. We have $30,000 in the 12-year-old's college savings account and $15,000 in the younger one's account.

We've been prioritizing, on our planner's advice, saving for retirement, and we have about $800,000 combined there. We're 43. Thankfully done paying for daycare and do not pay for school now - both kids are in public.

FIL will likely contribute some money toward college but certainly isn't funding their educations. We consider ourselves comfortable enough but certainly need to work and certainly don't have a slush fund to draw from for college.

How do more-or-less regular people do it? I worry that we make too much for aid, but we don't have enough money to have oodles of money for college! I would appreciate any "how to do it" posts.

You're what's called a "doughnut hole" family.

With a much lower HHI ($200K), and living in a small affordable 4-BR suburban house in Prince George's County, we paid for all 4 of our kids to finish their undergraduate degrees.

For us, the "how to do it" secret was always merit aid. All our kids could have gone to elite universities with high COIs, but they opted for slightly lower-tier schools instead that offered substantive merit aid. We were able to pay out of pocket for remaining costs.

We went to a great state school that costs next to nothing if you can get in (super low in state tuition and generous state scholarship program). We will encourage our kids to do the same. We both have done well and don’t think these super expensive private colleges seem worth it, excluding maybe some place like Harvard or MIT.

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Anonymous wrote:We did not save for kids college, prioritized our investments. We was not eligible for any financial aid with the gross income around $250,000. Both kids got full merit scholarships. There are a lot of free college options, I don't see any need to pay high $$$ for college when there are plenty free options. One kids was admitted to three Ivy league schools, chose to go to the school with full ride instead.

Really gross that you took money from another student who needed it as you were too selfish to save.

I don’t think you understand the term “merit scholarship.”

Yes, I do. Greedy selfish parents who refuse to save a dime and can afford college.

You’re crazy. If anything, current FA practices should take merit into account more rather than less.

You think parents who make a large income, live in a million dollar house and live comfortably shouldn't have to contribute a dime?

What about parents who never saved and blew it all on luxury cars and fancy cruises? Why should they get more financial aid than those who actually saved or have an A+ student?

Parents who's children get merit scholarships do have A+ students. Those students are far and beyond of your regular A+ students. It takes much more to receive a full merit scholarship than to be an A+ student. And why should I not drive my new BMW if my kids get a full ride? Keep saving, because when you pay a full price, you know you are paying for your child and someone's else child.

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Anonymous wrote:We did not save for kids college, prioritized our investments. We was not eligible for any financial aid with the gross income around $250,000. Both kids got full merit scholarships. There are a lot of free college options, I don't see any need to pay high $$$ for college when there are plenty free options. One kids was admitted to three Ivy league schools, chose to go to the school with full ride instead.

Really gross that you took money from another student who needed it as you were too selfish to save.

I don’t think you understand the term “merit scholarship.”

Yes, I do. Greedy selfish parents who refuse to save a dime and can afford college.

You can send your kids to free college too, there are plenty full rides or full tuition options among top schools (not ivy leaves, but even one ivy gave us a "grant" by reducing tuition from $68k to $45k).

I'd rather save and send my kid to a decent school and give them options. No, not everyone can send their kid to school for free. Just people like you who know how to manipulate the system.

How is it a manipulation if kid gets admitted to top schools, including Ivies?

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t get financial aid. I make 1/3 of what you do. No FA, I pay as I go, and choose state schools.

FA is for people making sub 50k

I earn appr. $80k and my DS got FA at every college he got into. Grants and work study.

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Anonymous wrote:We did not save for kids college, prioritized our investments. We was not eligible for any financial aid with the gross income around $250,000. Both kids got full merit scholarships. There are a lot of free college options, I don't see any need to pay high $$$ for college when there are plenty free options. One kids was admitted to three Ivy league schools, chose to go to the school with full ride instead.

Really gross that you took money from another student who needed it as you were too selfish to save.

I don’t think you understand the term “merit scholarship.”

Yes, I do. Greedy selfish parents who refuse to save a dime and can afford college.

You’re crazy. If anything, current FA practices should take merit into account more rather than less.

You think parents who make a large income, live in a million dollar house and live comfortably shouldn't have to contribute a dime?

What about parents who never saved and blew it all on luxury cars and fancy cruises? Why should they get more financial aid than those who actually saved or have an A+ student?