Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what if your kid had a part time job that paid:

$6250 for tuition each year of college

an additional 40% of the tuition paid of what is left over from the $6250 if you worked a little longer ( see below). 40% of the in state amount.

$721 per month tax free during school months all up $6400 per year

Another $140 per month net for worked hours (16) on a set weekend once per month

A $20,000 bonus paid partially at year 2 and balance at year 5

And approx 14K of wages paid for what amounts to training to learn to do the job performed one weekend per month, ( this part of the commit can be as short as 4 months but choosing a time slot closer to 8 months nets the 40% off tuition mentioned above.
The training to do the job could be for work in computers, cyber, medical other useful fields complimentary to career goals.

A security clearance also is included.

All up this is close to 110K- 120K in college money and wages spread out over 6 years, pretty nice pay for part time work wouldn't you say? And by part time I mean 16 hours a month, after job training is complete ( job training varies but no more than 8 months)

This is the current offer from The Virginia Air Guard and some of the $$ I included above is from the GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill which could be attained with a 90 day temp duty assignment. All up its 6 years of 1 weekend a month after the initial training.

OP back. Thanks to all who have contributed helpful, actionable suggestions. PP, our eldest was looking at the Air Force academy and already has some related experience, but DC stopped pursuing it because the recruiters told him he could not be on stimulant medication for ADHD and commit to fly in the Air Force. Do you know if this same rule would apply to the Air Guard? Thank you for any insight you can provide.

To others wondering about the numbers not adding up, we have been tapping into our savings and also refinanced to take out $$$$$ to deal with medical and unemployment issues and rebuild our six-month emergency fund. Thanks for your attention to this. Disabled spouse was working and making a lot of $$$$$$ until about ten years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you have about 16 months before your first starts school and five years before the second? Stop all retirement saving now and pad that 529 while you can. You may actually get some aid considering your spouse's high medical needs. Then do a cash out refinance or home equity loan to cover the gap.

OP is 58. This is terrible, terrible advice.

+1 OP should absolutely not stop saving for retirement. With a disabled spouse and sky high medical bills (that will not go down) they need MORE for retirement.

OP, I understand you say you can afford ~25k per year. But with your situation, you need to be considering community college only for the first two years and a state school for the last two. If your child can gather the scholarships/aid to attend a different school at the same cost as CC/State school then great.

You need to have a serious conversation with your children about what you can afford. And they need to be more aware of what is going on in your family. It seems they don’t have a clue about how ill/costly the treatments are for the disabled spouse.

Actually, they might have a clue and be afraid to bring up the subject. Talking about it with your kids would probably alleviate a lot of stress all around and add needed clarity, Please have this talk, OP.

Doubtful. The OP stated “Kid does not understand reality; will reach out to school college counselor.” How would the kid not understand reality of finances and have a clue at the same time?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My assumption is the family had a major medical situation for one of the income earner when the oldest child was in Middle School.

The plan prior to this was to continue on the path where they had 2 incomes - one that could easily cover college costs wherever they decided to go. The plan was thrown off track and now there needs to be a new plan.

These things happen - and life assumptions need to change. Talk to a financial advisor - and talk to your children. You are raising them to be adults - this is an adult conversation they need to be a part of.

OP again. PP is correct. Thank you. The kids have had a lot of anxiety around the health issues and realisation that there will be no return to a six figure income. It is a delicate subject, don’t want to worry them too much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what if your kid had a part time job that paid:

$6250 for tuition each year of college

an additional 40% of the tuition paid of what is left over from the $6250 if you worked a little longer ( see below). 40% of the in state amount.

$721 per month tax free during school months all up $6400 per year

Another $140 per month net for worked hours (16) on a set weekend once per month

A $20,000 bonus paid partially at year 2 and balance at year 5

And approx 14K of wages paid for what amounts to training to learn to do the job performed one weekend per month, ( this part of the commit can be as short as 4 months but choosing a time slot closer to 8 months nets the 40% off tuition mentioned above.
The training to do the job could be for work in computers, cyber, medical other useful fields complimentary to career goals.

A security clearance also is included.

All up this is close to 110K- 120K in college money and wages spread out over 6 years, pretty nice pay for part time work wouldn't you say? And by part time I mean 16 hours a month, after job training is complete ( job training varies but no more than 8 months)

This is the current offer from The Virginia Air Guard and some of the $$ I included above is from the GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill which could be attained with a 90 day temp duty assignment. All up its 6 years of 1 weekend a month after the initial training.

OP back. Thanks to all who have contributed helpful, actionable suggestions. PP, our eldest was looking at the Air Force academy and already has some related experience, but DC stopped pursuing it because the recruiters told him he could not be on stimulant medication for ADHD and commit to fly in the Air Force. Do you know if this same rule would apply to the Air Guard? Thank you for any insight you can provide.

To others wondering about the numbers not adding up, we have been tapping into our savings and also refinanced to take out $$$$$ to deal with medical and unemployment issues and rebuild our six-month emergency fund. Thanks for your attention to this. Disabled spouse was working and making a lot of $$$$$$ until about ten years ago.

Anonymous wrote:My assumption is the family had a major medical situation for one of the income earner when the oldest child was in Middle School.

The plan prior to this was to continue on the path where they had 2 incomes - one that could easily cover college costs wherever they decided to go. The plan was thrown off track and now there needs to be a new plan.

These things happen - and life assumptions need to change. Talk to a financial advisor - and talk to your children. You are raising them to be adults - this is an adult conversation they need to be a part of.

Anonymous wrote:You need to tell your kid you cannot afford the reach schools. Hard stop. Your budget for college is $30k. Your kid should now this. He/she needs to work within that budget or figure out how to pay the delta themselves.

Anonymous wrote:OP, what if your kid had a part time job that paid:

$6250 for tuition each year of college

an additional 40% of the tuition paid of what is left over from the $6250 if you worked a little longer ( see below). 40% of the in state amount.

$721 per month tax free during school months all up $6400 per year

Another $140 per month net for worked hours (16) on a set weekend once per month

A $20,000 bonus paid partially at year 2 and balance at year 5

And approx 14K of wages paid for what amounts to training to learn to do the job performed one weekend per month, ( this part of the commit can be as short as 4 months but choosing a time slot closer to 8 months nets the 40% off tuition mentioned above.
The training to do the job could be for work in computers, cyber, medical other useful fields complimentary to career goals.

A security clearance also is included.

All up this is close to 110K- 120K in college money and wages spread out over 6 years, pretty nice pay for part time work wouldn't you say? And by part time I mean 16 hours a month, after job training is complete ( job training varies but no more than 8 months)

This is the current offer from The Virginia Air Guard and some of the $$ I included above is from the GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill which could be attained with a 90 day temp duty assignment. All up its 6 years of 1 weekend a month after the initial training.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this is not even relevant and probably isn't real. OP is spending more on health care for spouse and child and retirement not including mortgage and other expenses than they earn post tax.

. Where is this information. I only see one spouses income and not the amount in disability they are receiving for the disabled spouse. I only see costs of $70k, some of which are tax deductible and reduce their tax. I also do not see where the OP revealed what they are saving per year for retirement- only th retirement totals of what they have already saved.

Anonymous wrote:You need to tell your kid you cannot afford the reach schools. Hard stop. Your budget for college is $30k. Your kid should now this. He/she needs to work within that budget or figure out how to pay the delta themselves. [/quote]


This is the first thing any good, public or private, college counselor will tell you. Do not dangle schools you cannot afford in front of your child's eyes - it's not fair to you or the child.