college

personal question so feel free not to answer!

how much do you save per month for college for your kids?

[Cumberland]

Re: college

let me calculate......

nothing!


My parents open a college savings fund for each grandkid, so there is at least something growing for them.

[rainbabies]

Re: college

let me calculate......
nothing!

and that would be us as well. we will have to make up for it big time in a few years.

[Vanquisher]

Re: college

let me calculate......
nothing!

and that would be us as well. we will have to make up for it big time in a few years.

Our son is 10. Hopefully we'll be able to make up for it, and hopefully he is exceptional enough to get some kind of scholarship from somewhere.
FIL has an account for DS, but nothing for DD. I told him that he must not want his grandaughter to amount to much. In truth, I don't think he has much for DS anyway. DH and I both got full tuition scholarships for college, and I am hoping that DS will follow in that regard.

Re: college

i feel better

i just read somewhere that we should be saving close to 700 per month per child.

[spotty_dog]

Re: college

We just toss a chunk in one of Eddy's accounts when we have a bit of surplus (most of DH's moonlighting check goes into 401(k) but we put a grand here and there into an educational IRA.) Definitely not a set chunk of the monthly paycheck, we can't afford that.

Re: college

I like this calculator because you can put in more than one child:
http://www.smartmoney.com/college/inves ... story=save

According to this for 4 years of public college, we should do $750 a month. It triples for private. At this point, my opinion is that 4 years of paid for public college is a great gift. If we can do more later, great. Also, I'm not comfortable having more than that in the 529 plans (in case they don't use it and decide to join the circus). I've been trying to do $300 per month with the goal of setting up automatic transfer in the next 6-12 months.

There are worse things than kids having to take out loans or help pay for college so don't be too hard on yourself! Also just my two cents, retirement savings is a bigger deal because you can't take out a loan for that.

[migirl]

Re: college

My parents have contributed to both kids' 529 accounts, while DH and I have added ... nothing ... to them. At this point, any extra money we have is being socked away into our Roth IRAs since we won't qualify to contribute once DH finishes training. I expect that once we start the "real" job we'll really get going with the college savings.

And, as Nellie pointed out, your kid can always borrow money for college but you can't borrow money for retirement.

[JaneDoe]

Re: college

We do not regularly contribute to our kids 529 plans and I feel really guilty about it. However, any birthday/Christmas cash the kids receive goes into their accounts and FIL contributes $1000 for each kid once a year. We plan to start making regular contributions, but it probably won't be for several years.

[houseelf]

Re: college

Before this month's *fabulous* stock news, we have only about $3000 for DS, currently 8, and $700 for DD, currently 4. These funds mostly are comprised of holiday and birthday gifts from grandparents. Additionally, we have about 40 $50 savings bonds that should probably have been converted to investment funds long ago. Our failure to act may actually save some cash this time.

Two of the academic jobs Dh currently is considering offers free tuition for dependents. If he signs at either of these jobs, our children will attend at these institutions OR they had better find full rides from somewhere else. From someone who has been paying, paying, paying student loans for years and will for sometime, my kids will have a hard time convincing me that they need to attend somewhere other than where tuition is free. It would have to be really compelling circumstances. At eighteen, it is hard to convince someone how much student loans will affect the rest of your life.

With this being said, DH and I both would be willing to spring for semester abroad to round out the college experience. I *get* that it isn't a full experience if you go to school in the same town that you grew up in.

Kelly

[SuzySunshine]

Re: college

nada, zip, zilch - that will be our plan after residency. If I was working we'd be contributing but we just can't afford it with me staying at home.

[DCJenn]

Re: college

Ah, one of the newly minted perks of the newly signed GI bill- passing on the benefits to the kiddo.

(seriously, FQ- it's there!)

Jenn

Re: college

I'm figuring that my kids won't be eligible for any need based financial aid (not a complaint!). I agree that it can be done in a variety of circumstances. I want to have enough to pay for a state school but would let them use it at a private school too. Hopefully we could chip in on that as well. It would be great to have little to no undergrad loans.

[DCJenn]

Re: college

Of course, Rick says that the dude can figure out whichever Army will give him the better deal- the Russian Army or the American Army. (hmmm, conscription vs. volunteer...I wonder)

J.

[MDPhDWife]

Re: college

nada, zip, zilch - that will be our plan after residency. If I was working we'd be contributing but we just can't afford it with me staying at home.

The good news is in NM the tuition is free at any of the state universities for residents who enter immeadiately following HS graduation as long as they maintain I think a 2.5 GPA which is a reasonable expectation. It's part of the NM lottery program and I was lucky enough to be one of the first classes that benefitted from this.