College Savings for Kids - what are your goals?

[creditcardfree]

I am retired so I cannot transfer it.

That makes sense...and is to bad really. I do remember reading or being told that we should transfer it before he would retire, but he still has 7 years left.

[Like2Plan]

Our goal was for DS to graduate without any loans. We did accomplish our goal. DS graduated 4 years ago.

We started out saving when DS was a baby. I think that was one of the biggest factors in accomplishing our goal. Slow and steady definitely won the race in our case. We were not able to meet the per month saving amount goal at first, but we just kept at it.

Another factor which contributed quite a bit of the heavy lifting for us was the prepaid tuition plan. Part of it was lucky timing. But, the prepaid plan paid out over twice as much as we invested. That program began (in our state) when DS was in jr high. We were able to purchase it with other money that we had saved for his college up to that point.

Another factor was DS attended an in state college (same college his father attended)--otherwise the prepaid plan would not have worked as favorably.

DS started his career 2 weeks after he graduated in his dream job.

[tripods68]

Our daughter will be eligible to receive College Fee Waiver, plus any other scholarships (under UC & CSU system) when she start college in 9 years from now. That's save us big chunk. We have 529 that we contribute every month but to covers books & housing only.

[HouseHopeful]

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. It all definitely gets me thinking. We prioritize retirement and savings first, but do want some funds for her education in the future.

I worked multiple jobs all though college and my husband earned a really decent scholorship. We want her to have the lesson of working for her education, but do not want her burdened by student loan debt afterwards.

We are starting small this year and plan to put any cash birthday and Christmas gifts into the 529 for the moment. Still weighing our options on where we prioritize after that.

[kork13]

We prioritize retirement and savings first, but do want some funds for her education in the future.

Still weighing our options on where we prioritize after that.

Two important points here that are worth emphasizing:

1) ALWAYS prioritize your retirement & your family's present/foreseeable needs before education savings. There are affordable, easy to acquire loans for school. Not so for retirement or a sudden job loss/disability.

2) If you're going to save for future education costs, you have to prioritize it somewhere, and save for it consistently just like anything else. Regularity leads to habit leads to lifestyle. If you just do it, you'll get used to the savings coming out of your accounts, and it won't be a burden because you're used to it. Priorities are everything.

[msomnipotent]

My goal is to have $60,000 for our one child. We have 8 years left, so it is still pretty doable even with the recent downturn. I'm thinking of keeping half in college-specific savings and the rest in other accounts. She has wanted to be a paleontologist ever since she could talk. I'm still not going to rule out her changing her mind and becoming something that doesn't require a degree. Since she is the only child, I don't want too much on the table that we would be penalized for.

[DaveInPgh]

My wife and I both put ourselves through college, and paying the way for our child is not one of our priorities. Whether we provide assistance or a full ride will depend on two things:

1. The ability to do so without derailing our retirement
2. Grades

I know several people that went into debt to pay for their child's college education only to watch their child flunk out. Beer bong or beer pong is not something I will finance. Any financial assistance provided will be based on good grades and will be done after the fact.

[Nutria]

She has wanted to be a paleontologist ever since she could talk.

That'll require at least a Masters and probably a PhD. Even then, she'll probably earn a pittance as a post-doc.

Better to become a geologist for Big Oil....

[Fishindude77]

We just tightened the belt in other areas and cash flowed it for the one child that went. Other child went to work straight out of HS and is getting along fine.

Paying college for your children isn't a necessity. Make sure your own finances are secure first.

[phantom]

At this point, our plan for paying for "college" is to get ahead on our general financial goals before our daughter hits middle or high school so that we have the flexibility to help her follow whatever path seems best after high school. Our mortgage will be paid off well before then, and our retirement savings should be pretty well along.

In my view, college becomes worse value for the money every year as the cost continues to rise beyond the rate of inflation. Meanwhile, I think there's more acceptance of the idea that people don't need degrees to do good, productive work, along with less willingness on the part of employers to give jobs to people simply because they have degrees. Certainly, the choice of school and the choice of degree impact the exact value, as do factors like the availability of scholarships. But, I don't have a high opinion of the way the value of a college education is trending.

I have and have had a lot of brilliant co-workers without degrees in my field or without degrees at all. In some cases, their paths have been harder than mine, so it's not like my own degree didn't do anything. But, I don't have to look hard to find people who are doing great without degrees.

I think there will always be careers that will take a great deal of education to get started in. That might not always mean getting a bachelor's degree followed by some other advanced degrees. But, if my daughter wants to pursue them, and that's still what it takes, I'll help her do it. But, I'm not going to prepare to help her down such a path at the expense of being able to help her down another.

The ability to identify what one really wants and choosing a path that is likely to get there is an incredibly valuable life skill. It's a concept that tends get lost in the "get good grades so you can get into a good school where you'll need to get good grades to get a good job" mantra that was drilled into my peers and I as kids. I still find myself fighting it, wishing for some simple path where just $X/month in a 529 would set my daughter up for the best possible career. But, my experience thus far has been that a fulfilling life requires a bit more thinking and flexibility than following simple rules down a straight path.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Hoping to pay for it 100% in state school tuition. Just discussed this morning with DH. We are both very concerned about affording that much for 2 kids. I am stressed out thinking about it. Our kids are 6 and soon to be 4 and we have $10k and $16k saved so far. We use and ESA because $2k a year seemed like a reasonable goal. We need to obviously save more for college, but we aren't in the position right now to do so. We also only saved $2k/year because we took care of ourselves first and our retirement is secure and our financial position for what we're doing now is secure. We will secure the kids future but it'll take more time.

I also don't want to pay for college partying so we're leaning towards potentially loans and then we pay off loans on a grade based average. I'm not paying for d or f but I will definitely pay a or b and maybe even C depending on circumstances or classes.

[DaveInPgh]

I also don't want to pay for college partying so we're leaning towards potentially loans and then we pay off loans on a grade based average. I'm not paying for d or f but I will definitely pay a or b and maybe even C depending on circumstances or classes.

Reimbursement based on grades is how my education was paid for after my first two years of college. I was presented with an opportunity of full time employee with a company that offered tuition reimbursement. Rather than take out additional student loans, I decided to complete my education on a part time basis.

The program originally reimbursed 90% for an A or B and 80% for a C, then subsequently removed the reimbursement for a C. Definitely provided me with the incentive to get good grades. Books were not reimbursed, and of course were no small expense.

I put tuition and books on my credit card at the beginning of the semester, and typically would take advantage of a 0% balance transfer offer to avoid paying interest on the expense. By the time the semester was over, I would have the expense paid down enough to where the 90% reimbursement for classes only would be enough to pay it off. Repeat the following semester.

[sv2007]

Personal Finance are definitely Personal. I am curious though - what are some of your goals for college savings for your child/children? We only have 1 child and are not planning any more (unless adopting in the future). That being said, my personal goal is to save in a 529 for our daughter as well as a non-education savings vehicle of some kind.

We plan to just pay it from our savings.

[sv2007]

It is. In state tuition, room, board, books, medical, etc... runs $23,888 here in OH.

You can save the medical insurance if your don't remove your kid from your coverage. I don't htink college medical coverage is too expensive but there's no need for it.

[moneybags]

You can save the medical insurance if your don't remove your kid from your coverage. I don't htink college medical coverage is too expensive but there's no need for it.

There's a need if you don't have other coverage. We are currently paying Cobra for our medical insurance. We are moving our kids to their college coverage. It is just as good and a lot cheaper.