How many of you have College Savings for your kids?

[ThreeMusketeers]

What is your plan, how does it work, and how much do you plan to have in it when they graduate HS?

Also, do you keep any other form of savings for your children?

 

[bevtoy]

I feel its best for them to be required to pay most of their way through college. I will assist them if I think they really need the assistance, but I think its best if they learn the value of a dollar by having to struggle on their own, it builds character.
They will receive a substantial inheritance and hopefully be mature enough by then to retain the principle investments instead of cashing out and blowing it in a senseless manner. Struggling for a time to get through college will help them learn the value of a dollar.

 

[Stein]

I checked not yet, but we have a few bucks saved. We plan to start in earnest next summer when we will have the cash flow to save. A college education with no debt was the best gift my parents gave me and we intend to do the same.

 

[Disney Ella]

We do, it probably won't be enough to pay for everything, but it's a start. Both DH and I had student loans and it was very hard, making those loan payments when we were starting out in jobs that didn't pay that much. People we knew who had their education paid for were able to buy houses, save money, contribute to a retirement plan, etc much earlier than we were.

 

[golfgirl3613]

I have a 529 plan set up for my DD (5). It's not a lot, but it's more than I had. My husband is against saving for college, so I'm the only contributor.

 

[imsayin]

I think its best if they learn the value of a dollar by having to struggle on their own, it builds character.

I had to pay for my own college and could do without the character it built. It was stressful and involved making poor college choices based on cost, not quality. I would have been on much better footing career wise had I had some financial backing in the beginning.

I will help my kids and fund their college expenses to the best of my ability.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

What is your plan, how does it work, and how much do you plan to have in it when they graduate HS?

Also, do you keep any other form of savings for your children?

We have the FL Prepaid tuition plan for DD, paid in full. She has 4 years of tuition, 4 years of fees, and 1 year of dorm at any FL state school. This is our backup plan, just in case she decides to go to a state school. The value of this plan can also be used at most other colleges if she does not go to a state school. We only did 1 year of the dorm plan because we figure that all freshmen live on-campus, but many live off campus after freshman year. We didn't want to lock DD into staying in a dorm if all of her friends want to move to off-campus apartments.

We also have a Utah Vanguard 529 plan that we contribute 24K/year to. We'll probably contribute this much until DD is 10 years-old and then evaluate to see if we need to add more. We plan to save enough for our child(ren) to go to undergrad and grad. school.

DD has a separate savings account at the credit union that we deposit small birthday/XMas checks into. This is her account to do as she sees fit with.

My parents and grandmother give DD very generous large checks for her birthday and holidays, and these go into a separate UGMA Vanguard account in DD's name. We are also going to start adding $100 a month to this account. This will be DD's $$ for getting established after college/grad school. We'll tell her about it once she's graduated from undergrad

We also max. out our retirement savings, so we aren't doing this at the expense of saving for retirement. We feel that it's our responsibility to pay for our childrens' educations in full, period.

 

[PatsMom]

We have an ESA and a 529 for DD. Not a ton of money in there - she knows that she will have loans to repay but that we will help her as much as we can without putting retirement in jeopardy. One of the problems of having children when you are old is the overlap between retirement and college. DH is already retired so without his income it is hard to save. She will have about 2 1/2 years of social security payments that we are adding to her 529. That will help with her freshman year. DH and I both paid for our own college with the help of the government (classes while in the military and then the GI bill afterwards). We would like it to be easier for her if possible.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

A college education with no debt was the best gift my parents gave me and we intend to do the same.

I couldn't agree more! Thank you mom and dad if you're actually reading this (they're Disney fans, but not Disers yet ) DH and I will do the same for your grandchildren of course!!

 

[cobbler]

I do, it's not a ton but it is a start and better than what I had.

My son is only 6 so I keep plugging away. Plus I know when my grandfather passes he is receiving some inheritance that will be put in the bank for his education.

 

[lpandorf]

Yes,
We do, we put a couple hundred in the kids accounts each month. At the rate college costs are increasing I'm sure it won't be enough but I think they should have to work during summers and part time job to help pay, too. My husband and I can to pay out own way and I don't want my kids to have the loans and debt when they start out like we did. It put us behind from the start. I know a lot of my friends had their way mostly paid for and they studied just as hard as I did even though theirs was paid for. They seemed to appreciate it just as much.

 

[sara74]

Yes, we have 529's for all 3 kids. We have monthly contributions automatically deducted for them and we contribute at a rate that is projected to cover the costs of a 4 year private college education for all 3 kids when the time comes.

DH and I had totally different college experiences at the same undergrad school. His parents covered everything for him, excluding spending money. He didn't have a job on campus (other than studying) until senior year when he started working where I did.

I paid my own way, to the point of signing the back of every paycheck and giving it straight to the bursar. To the point of wearing sneakers with holes in them in Rochester, NY in the middle of winter. Spring break was an opportunity to work triple shifts to earn more money.

Like everyone else, my personal experience is coloring what I decide to do for my children. That said, DH has no less character than I because he didn't have to struggle in undergrad. I'd much rather give my children $ for their education and the opportunity that that will afford them than leave $ behind when I die and hope that they use it wisely.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

Hi, I voted "Never plan on doing it"

We send our kids to private school. About 10 K a year. Our plan has been when they graduate from high school we will pay whatever the amount of their senior year tuition was for four years. ONLY Four!! If they get a scholarship, we are not giving them the money, if the tuition for the college of their choice is over that, the kids have to get student loans. It's the best we can do. We know it will be an amount that we can afford, because we are already paying that much. It is 100% more than either DH or I got. We bust our butts, both work rotating shifts and nights to send them to private school, so feel that is enough.

 

[EthansMom]

We have an Education Savings Account (tax-advantaged, similar to a 529) for each of our 2 kids. We max them out at $2k each per year. I hope to have $80k by the time each child graduates from HS.

IF we can get our house paid off just before DS graduates from HS, that would be an additional amount of disposable income we'd have to help pay for living expenses, etc.. for our children during college. Ideally, we'd like to help our kids have little-to-no debt from 4-year University and then, possibly, help just a bit with extras during post-graduate education.

IMO, it's a sad society we live in when hard-working folks who make a decent income have to scrimp and save for years just to hope to pay for college for their kids. I'd love to see more scholarships/grants/tuition reductions available for intelligent and hard-working students in the U.S.

 

[corndog]

I'm opting to purchase tennis lessons instead.

 

[mis099dlm]

I feel nobody owes their kids a college education, certainly not at the expense of retirement; however, I worked full-time while attending college and it's somthing I don't wish on my kids. I'll do the most I can for my kids and hopefully it'll be enough to pay the majority of their college education. With the way education costs are rising in relation to the cost of living and wages, I don't know how a kid could work while going to school and still not end up with a mountain of debt. Additonally, we are blessed with a 9 yo with special needs and realistically, I can't see her working and going to school in HS let alone college. Working the summers is doable, but she'll need to focus on her studies while in school. Hopefully, we'll still be in the position to do what it takes to get her through school. So yes, we have 3 college funds going for each of our kids.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I was on my own for college, my parents could pay nothing. I often took morning classes, drove 60 miles to work and back from roughly noon to 5, then drove back to campus for night classes. It was often 16-18 hours a day between study, driving, and work to pay for school. Thand god that after the second semester, I carried a 4.0 and earned a full scholarship for the rest of my schooling.

That being said, we are blessed to be in a financial position to provide at least most of the cost of schooling for our child when he goes to college. He will be expected to pay some to "keep him honest". I have seen too many unresponsible college students not care because mommy and daddy are paying for it. It makes you think twice about your behavior if you are putting out the bucks yourself or if things are given to you.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I did not but my mom started one for them. She gave placed $1,500 into an Evergreen fund for each of her grandchildren one year (my 3 kids & my sister's 3 kids). When we cashed them in, between the ups & downs, they ended up with just over $5,000 each. I know that isn't much but it was a start for them. My DS rec'd a 75% scholorship and after 3 semesters decided college wasn't for him The money my mom had saved for him more than coverd everything we paid out & still had much left over! We will see what he decides in the future (he did take time off & go back, but decided this Jan that he wasn't returning for good). His scholorship is gone. He lost it. He does work full time as a cook where he had been working part time since 2003. He now has a key to the place & will open and close when the owner is away. It is a small Italian restaurant & he loves it He has said he might consider somewhere where he can train to be an electrician. I would have thought a chief My DD is in her 2nd semester & seems to really enjoy it. She did not receive a scholorship.. we are paying everything, so that $5,000 will cover just about the 2 years at the community college she is at. We will be adding some to it, but not much. She had intentions of going for her RN which would is just the community college and that is it (unless she did BSN), but now she isn't too sure. She may want to switch to para legal (only because that doesn't require the Alg ). Our youngest is 14. She says she wants to be an attorney! We know that $5,000 will be a drop in the bucket for that! I do own land that if I do not end up building on, I can always sell & use that to pay for her college. So that is my plan.. I owe my Mom.. a big thanks.. she did give them the start... not me

 

[bellarella]

At this point in time we don't have one. We have a savings rate of about 20% of our gross income, but that is all earmarked for retirement. Retirement is where our priority is and we put every dollar we are legally allowed to into tax advantaged plans for it. At this point in time that doesn't leave any left over for kids college specifically.

Our hope is, though, to help our kids through school (though most likely not 100% even if we were in a financial position to do so). I am a SAHM right now, so in an ideal world our income is at a low point. We live off of DH's income and when I start working again my income will be earmarked for retirement and education savings primarily.

I know many kids when I was in college who had this arrangement. Their mothers were SAHMs for the majority of their childhood and then re-entered the workforce as they neared college. The mother's income was how they helped pay their children's college expenses.

 

[bevtoy]

I'm opting to purchase tennis lessons instead.