Have you started a college fund for your child/children

[Ima saver]

I have decided not to send Holly to college!! I will just buy her a new collar instead and maybe a new tennis ball.

[tabbycat31]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I hope she isn't quite that strict. Paying 100% only for total perfection seems a bit extreme. Not many students achieve a perfect GPA for all 4 years.

Speaking of 4 years, another good point is that you should make it clear to your kid that college is a 4-year endeavor. Not 5. Not 6. Not 8. I'll cover my daughter for 4 years of undergraduate school. If she decides to change her major 6 times and needs 5 or more years to earn a degree, she's going to have to foot the bill, or at least a much bigger piece of it.

AT my school it was impossible for me to graduate on time. In my last semester, I needed 3 specific courses to graudate. All 3 met at the same time. Had I been able to clone myself, or been dishonest and paid off friends to pose as me, I would have graduated that semester. Unfortunately I had to wait due to the scheduling conflicts. This was a SUNY (State Univ. of NY) school and I know I was not the only student in this situation.

[Coleroo]

im on the fence right now about what to do. we have our first child due in may of '08 and im debating on getting a coverdell or a specific roth earmarked for spending (since contributions can be taken out at any time - and it doesnt have to be for education) --- or not doing anything and just teaching them how to find the best scholarships and choose the correct schools where debt wont be much of a problem.

I come from a family where college was never a necessity - it was always up to me if i wanted to go or not...All through school i was a strait A student at a private school and was valedictorian at graduation. my "big plan" back then was to be a teacher and go to a 4 year private college..... but... due to struggles with death of loved ones in my senior year, i laid out a whole year after high school to learn "who i was". Then i went for 2 years (for free, due to scholarship) to our best technical college in our state and earned 2 associates degrees in management and marketing (graduated with a 4.0)...i was earning more at the time of graduation from our technical school than i would have if i would have gotten a bachelors degree in teaching (plus i had no debt). i started back to college this fall in hopes of achieving my dream of being a teacher and furthering my degrees - but the loans i have realized that i have to take now hold me back tremendously....since management and early childhood doesnt cross over well, i would have 4 years to acheive a bachelor of early childhood along with certification in SC....i realized over the past few months that even at our cheapest university i would aquire a minimum of $30,000 in student loans. NO WAY will i graduate at age 29 and put my family in that much debt - so i am not going back next semester and will continue only with cash savings permit! before this fall i never realized how truly lucky i have been not to have had student loans! we have our own home, 2 new cars almost paid for, good savings & retirement funds, and a great life on the road to soon being free of everything but mortgage debt. As i see it, in my personal life track and plans, a 4 year degree with $$$$ in loans by age 22 would have been detrimental!! i would not be anywhere near where i am today if i had to accumulate THAT much debt that young.

that said, my parents didnt pay a dime for my college education. i would have never even thought of asking them. they paid for 13 years of private school and i considered that well above and beyond their call of duty.

then theres my husband who never went to "college" - he went to a WEMOCO trade school and earned a certificate in electrical. He's a hard worker and in the nearly 2 years he's been at his current job he's earned a 33% raise from his starting level with another raise expected in march. he's now earning more than what i, with my "college associates degree", was earning as head payroll specialist on a management staff.

So.... i guess i have a good while yet to decide where i stand. I know many for many families, college is a requirement but i was always taught that college is just another life track one can choose to take -- and there are alternative ways to go if college and its high cost doesnt fit into the plans.

I dont want my kids to feel pressured to go to college --- I watched way too many of my friends go to college (or worse - a certain college the parents liked) and then drop out, skip classes, fail or party their way through. They could have cared less about college! I also watched many graduate and then never put their degree to use - or just become stay at home moms. I want my children to know that college is not a "right" but a privelege to learn more in life.... i want them to understand that it opens doors if they want to focus on certain professions (i.e. a librarian needs higher degrees...a doctor needs higher degrees, etc). I also dont want my children to feel pressured to go immediately after high school either if they dont know their way in life --- and in the same sense, i will let my child start take college credit classes in high school if they're motivated.

So anyway... i guess my point being, I havent decided yet if i want to pay my child's college expenses so they'll be debt free upon exiting (neither i nor their father had to deal with large debt that early) or if i want them to find their own way in life and do it "the hard way" (scholarships, grants, working, etc).

YET, in the same vein i dont want my children to graduate at 22 with a multitude of loans! i detest student loans AND the idea of them. I think its horrible that america as a whole think its perfectly fine for a young adult to start life straddled with horrendous debt. Its NOT good and its not healthy emotionally.

One thing my husband and i have discussed (which we may end up doing) is focusing hard on teaching money value to our children, saving methods, investing as well as helping them focus on what they want in life ---- and then having a secret fund (probably a roth) set aside, and present half of our contributions to our child at 18 to help out with college should they choose to go, with a promise to present the 2nd half if they finish 2 years with high marks. If they choose that college is not for them, they still get the first half and the 2nd half, along with earnings, goes into our retirement.

[Scanner]

Coleroo,

I think you probably summarized every parents worries and hopes pretty well.

Let me add a few thoughts:

1. Yes, college is an expensive place to "find yourself."

2. 90% of people who graduate college don't work in their chosen major. The bachelors is more important than the major.

3. With the 529 (probably the chosen account for education), it can used for a multitude of expenses and schools. If your child goes to automotive school for instance (these guys are like rocket scientists nowadays) or learns the electrician trade, often they need to buy their own tools. That would probably be a qualified expense. Maybe even the insurance on the tools.

4. I don't beleive in mandating all education but there is some things you would choose to mandate. Let's say one of my kids isn't academically inclined and just want to go "work." Well. . .they still need to take a course on Personal Finance and Communication, even if not for credit IMO.

Why? Because personal finance is a huge commodity skill in life and the best communicators rise to the top of any field (public speaking, 1 on 1 communicating).

So, at the very least, I will make my children take a course on this in "Listener" or "Audit" status, even if not for a grade. I may even make it for a grade and say they must get a B or better or re-take it.

5. Don't get hung up on penalties. I see many people, I'm even guilty of it. who figure, "I'm not going to do this because if it doesn't get used, than I get taxed!!!" Well, let's say you save $50,000 in 529 and your child refuses to use any of that money by age 28. He/she is just stubborn and won't ever take 1 class again because they hate school and it's a waste of time.

Wow - you would owe $5000 in taxes. You are left with $45,000.

There are worse things in the world.

I hope these thoughts offer you some direction - again, as I wrote above, I think a middle ground goal is probably the best compromise.

[Coleroo]

thanks scanner! i definately agree with mandating learning life skills... logical mental math, reading, personal finance, etc, because those are things you must know to succeed in any area of life with or without a college degree under your belt. i also feel those are parents responsibilities too so children will have a firm foundation for breaking into the "real world" when they pass 18.

[flavor]

We have every intention in helping our children financially through college, even if it requires us to obtain second jobs. We strongly believe in hepling our children start out their adult life debt free, and we'd rather have a second job, than having our children work through college. Concentrating to do well in their studies would be good enough. We also do not believe in "once you're eighteen you're out the door". Our home would be their home for as long as they want it. If we help our children they'll be able to help theirs. What we give, is what we'll get. Therefore, the mutual respect and closeness will always be there.

[lillyb]

I'm doing a little of both. Have one child in college right now.

As we didn't pull our heads out of our rears in time, we had nothing saved. So we're cash flowing what we can to help. For a state school including room and board, we're saving and paying about about 40% cash (any more and it would jeapordize our retirement savings), she got awarded about 30% in grants, and she took out the remaining 30% in loan. She's also doing the work study program which will pay for her incindentals, it's a small amount of work hours, like 12 hours a week.

I don't agree with the entitlement theory. And although I would have loved for her to not have to take a small loan, it sort of makes me feel like she's taking some responsibility in college, as well. The deal is we'll keep cash flowing the same amount if she goes to class and passes. If she skips, goof off and flunks our amount of help will end.

But that's just us.

[Ralph]

We have our first in college with almost no available savings accumulated. Unfortunately financial aid is almost completely dependent on income, so we received very little, about 10% of the total cost. I really pushed for the much more affordable state university, but my child and wife felt strongly that a better college was worth the added loans. In hindsight, I should have asserted myself more. Now we are looking at a financial nightmare. But I feel if we had managed to save, it would have mainly just reduced what little aid we did get. But the advice I read said to fund your retirement first, which I did. The bottom line is for people with decent incomes, you are on your own!