Anonymous wrote:Many here are saving for the sticker price of a private college when in reality almost nobody pays that. In fact there are some college where actually no students pay the full price.

You should save what you can but nobody should stress about saving for the full list price. Especially if you are making 150k, there will be plenty of discounts at that income.

+1 You’re better off making a low income and saving nothing because you’ll get lots of fun aid and scholarships that way

Anonymous wrote:no. They can join the military

Great advice. My brother did that, though he went to the naval academy and the military paid for it. He then returnd the payment when he was in a helicopter and got shot down in Afghanistan and repaid the military with his life.

Not sure people really understand what “joining the military” means.

no. They can join the military

Do you have the money to save or not?
If you do and are holding out because it is what happened to you, yes, that’s cruddy.

You can look at different alternatives to offer your kids. We did prepaid for two years community and two years four year or three years in a four year school. So we have to pay room and board when they go. It wasn’t too onerous.

But i do think it’s better to have your kids have college debt than to pay for you when you’re old. Not everyone makes enough to do it all. And not every kid goes to college. One of mine went to trade school on a full ride which is easy to get and another developed medical problems and it does not look like college is in the cards.

Many here are saving for the sticker price of a private college when in reality almost nobody pays that. In fact there are some college where actually no students pay the full price.

You should save what you can but nobody should stress about saving for the full list price. Especially if you are making 150k, there will be plenty of discounts at that income.

In reality, after working 2 years or more post college grad, no one cares where you graduated. It’s how you performed in real world - the determination, the motivation, drive, passion and perseverance that will take you far.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We aren't intentionally not saving. Our HHI is 105k with two kids in childcare. Theres just not much to go around.

You'll be fine. You have to realize that if your kids get to one of the highly coveted schools, there will be significant financial aid, something that others know they won't get because they are able to save thousands per month. On the other hand, if your kids din't make it to one of those schools, they will not be attending the Bespoke U in a bucolic setting - they will be choosing based on economics only. And it's OK, and they'll still do fine.

Unless a kid’s assured a guaranteed high paying, secured job post graduation, then it’s prudent to send that kid to a college that’s reasonable enough to pay back if the kid nor the parents don’t have the economic wherewithal to shoulder the cost upfront.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought college will be free and all college debt will be erased...per the Dems, no?

Yeah some progress in that direction would be the case if Republicans stopped being such myopic arseholes and would stop blocking every bit of progress ever.

Does progress mean getting strapped with others' debt? If so, not smart nor advisable. Go to a school you can afford or don't complain about your student loans or expect someone else to pay YOUR obligation. Do you go into a restaurant and order whatever you want and expect the table across the room to pay your tab?!?

I couldn’t agree more!

I wouldn’t call it saving. Planning, yes. We pay more than most colleges for private. We will be debt free within next 6 months and then plan to take a 6 months of DHs salary and put into savings investment for DS who is going into 8th. Should cover all of college in a worst case scenario.

My parents didn’t pay for my college and I turned out fine. It would have been a huge help though if they were able - they just weren’t. We are saving what we can for their education (have a 1 month old and plan to have 1 or 2 more) - about $300 a month now and probably not much more until we are done with daycare. I’m hoping education is more affordable in the future, but if not, it’s a good start and they always have an option to take out loans, get scholarships, etc. Just do what you can - the vast majority of Americans can’t save to send their kids to college self-paid. It’s far more important to teach them to be self-sufficient, emotionally intelligent, and hardworking people. They may even want to study a trade or start their own business which doesn’t require a full degree or even study abroad (I went to graduate school in Europe). Don’t listen to DCUM parents that shame you for not fully funding your kids - they are delusional and their kids will most likely having a hard time adapting to life without their overbearing/unhappy parents.

I have a rental property with my eldest daughter's name one it. When she is in her senior year, we will sell it and that will pay for her college and whatever else she needs. We bought it very cheap and it will net us a lot of money. We bought land years ago in hopes to build our dream home. Well, that never happened but now it is worth a small fortune. That now has our youngest child's name on it. Done. Very easy. Another townhome we bought in the Kentland's in 2001 and are currently renting has our name on it for our retirement. We live in a house that is now worth $900k and it is peaceful enough to live in for a while and a cabin that we vacation our of and sometimes rent when we feel like it.

That was easy enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn’t save. We prioritize our retirement funds. However, DH made it a goal to work in a university early on to get free college tuition for my DD. He did get a job at a university so my DD’s tuition will be covered. We just have to cough up board/lodging since she doesn’t want to commute. Our house is 30 minutes away.

My husband works at a university so this is an option for our kids as well, but only at his school, which is not a particularly big name, competitive, or highly resourced school. There is no guarantee of tuition remission at any other schools, although they can apply for tuition exchange with a group of similarly ranked schools in a consortium. So...it's an ok benefit if kid wants to go there, but not like what my nephews are getting from their parents working at Carnegie Mellon, which is full tuition there and half anywhere else.

We tend to save windfalls and tax refunds into the 529s, but our HHI is around 150k and we have one in day care, it's just not reasonable to expect to save enough for full pay at a private school. So we do what we can, but consider state schools, less renowned schools with tuition exchange, and limited loans to be possibilities to add to the mix.

My DH’s university benefits where he’s employed include college tuition exchange program. I didn’t realize there are tons of good solid schools there across the country. I’m sure you’ll find several to consider. It will save tons of money. College costs nowadays are ridiculous. One really has to crank up the numbers if the cost is a good ROI - Return of Investment.

I hope so! My worry is that the tuition exchange website emphasizes that it requires a competitive application process, you don't just get the benefit like you would at the school where your parent works. So I'm not planning on it as the only path. If it works out, and our 529 can help with grad school, amazing. The only people I knew whose parents helped in any way past undergrad were legit rich.

OP, I think with your income and 2 kids in childcare you just can't be saving heavily for college. But when the kids are in school you will have more room in the budget.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought college will be free and all college debt will be erased...per the Dems, no?

Yeah some progress in that direction would be the case if Republicans stopped being such myopic arseholes and would stop blocking every bit of progress ever.

That's not progress. Nothing is 'free' in this world. Why should I pay for students loans for someone who went to Brown University to get an art history degree, to have a low income job. Think about your notion of free being progress. Does progress mean getting strapped with others' debt? If so, not smart nor advisable. Go to a school you can afford or don't complain about your student loans or expect someone else to pay YOUR obligation. Do you go into a restaurant and order whatever you want and expect the table across the room to pay your tab?!?

+1000

Go to somewhere you can afford. There are many options, it just might not be T20 or T40 schools, and that is OK! Much better to have no debt or minimal debt from going to college. If you choose to take $100K+ in loans, then it's up to you to figure out how to pay it off, not me.