Why pay for kids college?

[kmitchl]

Any more you need to have a business plan to have college make sense. What do you expect to spend for college, what can you expect to earn after graduation for an excellent GPA, average GPA and low GPA, how does that equate to return on investment. I see too many new college graduates with college majors that have no relation to employers needs who will never see a ROI that makes business sense.

[GARY]

Not questioning your path if that works for you.

I took on debt, financing all of what I couldn't pay from summer and Christmas jobs. My bachelors cost me $20K from 1984-1988 and with starting salary of $24K I had a 1.2 payback. My folks had no means to pay my way, but covered kept my truck running and payed my insurance and supplemented my gas and food.

I have 3 kids and over past 6 years (two graduated as of Saturday, last in December). Public university "all-in" about $100K for 4 years. While the job market is bright and all have employable degrees, none will see the same payback ratio I did in 1988.

Wife and I have covered all, leaving them with a token $10K each to pay off. It' been hard, I have taken assignments away from my family and my wife has continued to work full time (over 34 years now) to help. While it will have no bearing on our retirement direclty, it has extended our work careers a couple years no doubt.

[Palmetto]

I have 2 boys. They are young, and they despise school. Much like I did. They are 8 & 12, and both say they don't want to go to college. They want to learn a trade. My wife and I have had long talks with them about trades & college and what it takes to make it in life. We shall see.....

I told them that we would help them if we can, but only if they have a plan. Your gonna figure out what you want to do, and start at a community college. When you aren't in school, your gonna be at work. If you don't have a plan for school, then you are going to work. You can stay at home as long you need to, but no free ride. There will be expectations, and rules. If you don't like that, strike out on your own and figure it out.

I always joke with them and tell that at the very minimum, when they leave my house they will know how to work.

[Garbuster]

All I can say is my personal experience. We are still paying on the oldest daughters college loan and was fortunate enough to be able to pay for my youngest daughters as she went. Dual credit classes in high school helped a bunch. She was almost a junior in college by the time she graduated high school. Now having said that both my daughters are doing well financially but neither one of them are doing what they went to college for

[BarBBar]

If they will go to school, help them. It does them more good on the front end of their life than anything you can leave them at the end of your life.[/QUOTE]

I often pointed out to clients that rather leaving assets to a child when the parent dies at 80+ and their children are 60+, they will do more to help them and their grandchildren by helping them during the formative years of their lives. What they inherit at 60+ might just go to a nursing home.

I bought Texas Tomorrow Funds for my two kids when they were very young. It locked in tuition charges, and insulated them and me from rising tuition costs. That combined with scholarships helped out a lot. I never owned a bass boat, took exciting vacations, or paid for a deer lease, but I don't mind bank fishing.

Whether you feel obligated to help your kids is a personal decision. I got through my years of higher education with a $59 a month VA death benefit and $159 per month Social Security death benefit when my father died at 51. Worked summers, and part-time as a grad student, waited tables for a free dinners. My kids never had to experience that, but they worked hard as students so I feel that it has been worth the years and effort invested.

[Bisch]

I paid for my sons college, but it was with the stipulation that he had to pass all courses. I sat him at the kitchen table, showed him the bill for the first semester and dorm, and told him “You pass, I pay! You party, you pay!”. It must have worked because I had to pay for the whole 4yrs!!!

Bisch


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Jon B]

I can't speak for anyone else, but my thinking is like this....No one told me that I had to go to school so I didn't. Wife and I killed ourselves trying to get to this point in our life.

We value hard work and will expect the kids to have skin in the game, but I want them to have it easier than I did. We have been blessed to the point that our kids have never done without. That is not something I can say about my own upbringing. Food, clothes shoes....these were not things we always had. I don't want them going through that.

My raising taught me that I could do without a lot and that hard work makes most things possible.

My hope and prayer is that my children never have to do without nor work as hard for anything in their life.

I don't see the point in them having to learn the hard way as I did. My children are small and I still have a lot to learn about being a parent but this is my current motivation.

So if you see me driving an old or cheap car and wearing cheap clothes, know that I have two degrees to pay for.

[gingib]

We were able to pay our kids college. We told them if they kept up good grades they were taken care of. Both graduated with honors and I was more than happy to get them started in life without debt. Both have very successful careers and would do it again . IMO, no reason not to help out if possible. YMMV.

YEP!!!!

Simple 529 investment now

Because you love them and my parents did it for me.

[Hockley]

I have one that will be a Senior in High School and heading to college after that. I plan to pay for it with a few rules in place:

-In the state of Texas unless she finds a way I don't have to pay out of state tuition.
-No goofy degrees.
-She keeps her grades where they need to be.

My parents paid for mine in the beginning, but after a few semesters I decided I wanted to go to the military. When that didn't work out, and I went back to school, they probably would've resumed paying. I decided not to ask them.

I like your rules. My wife paid her way through college and graduated with a good bit of debt. I was fortunate enough to have parents and an employer help pay for most of my college. Both ways worked out. My wife has no intention on helping our kids pay for college, but I've started 529's for both.

[bboswell]

I made them earn a lot along the way buy I don't want them starting life having to dig out of a hole so I covered tuition and books etc so that no loans were required.

[donpablo]

Want to hear something that'll really chap your hide? A friend who's working hard to pay for her kid's school found out that the wealthy parents of her daughter's classmates figured out how to make us pay for their college. When the kids were young they paid a lawyer to make them emancipated minors. They then did not have to report the parents' income on FAFSA and were considered poor. Rich kids getting free college on the working man's dime.

[AgHntr10]

Because struggle is good. That’s why we have so many week people in this country. They have never had to struggle and when and if they do. They fall apart. Having to struggle teachers many important life lessons.

I get what you are saying. I could counter with letting them get buried in student loans causes them to become Bernie voting liberals hoping to get their student loans forgiven.

But we both know the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Parents can both support their children financially and teach them the skills they need to survive in the real world.

[bullets13]

Both my parents and my wife's helped us through college so we didn't start out with debt. We helped them by getting married a couple years earlier than we planned to qualify for pell grants and reduce what they owed each semester by about 85%. I won't have to help my kids because we adopted through CPS, and state college is covered. That said, if you can help your kids out, do it as long as they're taking it seriously. I don't advocate sending them on a 7-year general studies degree adventure, but if they've got a plan and make good grades then do what you can for them. I understand that not everyone can afford to send their kids to college, but I don't agree with letting them start out with a mountain of debt on some weird matter of principle.

[TheHammer]

How much is a good amount to save for a kids tuition? We save some every month and I plan to pay for my children’s college if they want to go. I do think college is overrated and will not require them go if they don’t see fit and can use the money on real estate investments or any other investments if they would like.

[Outback]

We were pleased to have given our boys a college education. I'm thankful we could. I'm also thankful that they didn't go somewhere really expensive! My boss's daughter went to Carnegie Melon. She said she would have $250K in debt when she graduates. Not sure about that.