Anonymous
Post 09/24/2013 15:53     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
Anonymous wrote:With as shitty as the economy is, I am almost positive that this is the next bubble to burst. There is no way in hell an average family can save this kind of cash with all the other drains on budgets. And then to ask our kids to start life $200K in debt for a fucking STATE school? Hell, no. It just isn't possible.


Your lips to God's ears.

We will be starting to contribute $450/month each for our 1 and 2 year old January 1 - the day we make our last student loan payment for our education. We hope to provide them with the gift of never having to sign a student loan.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2013 15:42     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
With as shitty as the economy is, I am almost positive that this is the next bubble to burst. There is no way in hell an average family can save this kind of cash with all the other drains on budgets. And then to ask our kids to start life $200K in debt for a fucking STATE school? Hell, no. It just isn't possible.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2013 15:40     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
$450 per month. It's what I can afford.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2013 15:35     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
Anonymous wrote:We save $250/PP for each child. We also put in any money the kids receive as gifts. Right now, the plan is to stop contributing when they have $50k and then save that money is something that could be used for retirement or college.

We heard this a couple places, including our FP.

I expect the $50k number to come when the kids are 5 and for the money to grow to about $80k when they are ready for college.


How old are they? 80k won't be much when my kids get there. Maybe 1 year of private or 2 of public.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2013 15:34     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
Anonymous wrote:Zero. Once we're past daycare, we might start saving.


Us too. Kids are 5 and 2. We've been saving DH's bonuses for our down payment. Now that we have the house, we will divert the bonuses to college. We will catch up pretty fast, the bonuses are usually about $25k or so (after tax.) we plan to do at least one VA prepaid plan, and then 529 for the rest. Odds are really good at least one of them will go to a state school (hopefully both.)
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 16:26     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
Agree that $1,000 is reasonable if you want to get the saving done early and stop before it gets to be more than you can easily spend on 529-approved expenses (accounting for compounded earnings, of course).
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 16:22     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
I think it is probably too much if you plan to do it until age 18. But it is good if you want to save early and then let it ride for a while once you get a nice chunk.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 16:18     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
We save $250/PP for each child. We also put in any money the kids receive as gifts. Right now, the plan is to stop contributing when they have $50k and then save that money is something that could be used for retirement or college.

We heard this a couple places, including our FP.

I expect the $50k number to come when the kids are 5 and for the money to grow to about $80k when they are ready for college.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 16:12     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
Saving $1,000 per month for 10 years at 7% annual return amounts to $173k. Agree with others that you should split the savings between 529s and unrestricted accounts.

We save the tax-deductible amount for each of our two kids in 529s, just over $200/month each, and started doing so when they were just a year or two old. We also have a generic pot of non-retirement long-term savings.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 15:58     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
Anonymous wrote:If you have young children, say under 8, how much are you saving per month for college?

We are currently saving $1K per month per child in 529 plans. Someone recently told me that was way too much. I was concerned it wouldn't be enough...


I think $300 to $500 is a good range.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 15:22     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
Should have added -- assuming that more money will be needed for tuition down the road, the rest will come from other accounts, just not the dedicated 529 account.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 15:21     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
We are also putting $1,000/mo. into a 529 for our 2 year old, but we are planning on stopping the 529 funding once the account gets to around $80K due to the unpredictability or how much she'll end up needing for tuition.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 14:56     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
OP, I'd keep saving that amount, but save $400 of the $1000 per month in non-targeted savings (brokerage account, etc.) That way, there won't be any restrictions on how you can use it.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 14:55     Subject: How much are you saving for college?
$500 a month to a 529 for our 2 year old (plus a bit extra in gifts that we throw in there).

We're otherwise saving as much as we can for retirement and in general savings accounts as those are more flexible. We'll also have our mortgage paid off before she starts college so we can repurpose some of that money as needed.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2013 14:38     Subject: Re:How much are you saving for college?
I met with a financial planner shortly after DS was born last year. She did calculations for the cost of an in-state and private college. For the private college, I think she recommended $700 per month for the private college and about $400 for in-state. I will have to check numbers to be sure, but I know they were in that ballpark.