WWYD

[tvguy]

But you have to pay interest on the loans, don't you? I still like the 529. If you don't use it for secondary education, you can transfer to a Roth.

ETA: The $300 you paid a month comes out to $3600/year. That MIGHT cover room & board for a semester. Ideally, we would have been able to afford putting them through school with no loans. Which they might have been able to do if they went to a school that didn't have their major & interests.

DD lived at home for 3 of her 5 years of College. And the year she went to Community College was free of tuition, which is why I said AVERAGED $300 a month.
As I have posted before she has gone back to school to get her Masters, this with no financial help from us. She is at a University in the former East Germany. She went there because they had the program she wanted, and at a much lower tuition rate, in a city with a low cost of living. I have POA and am in the process of doing her U.S. Tax return. She spend just under $12,000 in 2025 for everything. Tuition, rent for an apartment, food, insurance, everything. For the record, by far her biggest expense is health insurance each month. So you can find bargains in education if you look.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I agree with this.
I also disagree with people saying "it's her money, she should keep it." It's NOT her money, it is @sam_gordon 's money, which he has allocated into educational savings accounts. He can move things around as he sees fit for their educational purposes. And if he wants to say "she's had life lessons now, so here's the money" that's fine, but it is not her money (yet).

Morality plays a large role here. Arbitrarily deciding just when you apply things and when you don't never looks good and is most especially egregious when it's a parent doing it to their child (adult or otherwise). Ironic speaking about life lessons I'd say.

 

[sam_gordon]

DD lived at home for 3 of her 5 years of College. And the year she went to Community College was free of tuition, which is why I said AVERAGED $300 a month.
As I have posted before she has gone back to school to get her Masters, this with no financial help from us. She is at a University in the former East Germany. She went there because they had the program she wanted, and at a much lower tuition rate, in a city with a low cost of living. I have POA and am in the process of doing her U.S. Tax return. She spend just under $12,000 in 2025 for everything. Tuition, rent for an apartment, food, insurance, everything. For the record, by far her biggest expense is health insurance each month. So you can find bargains in education if you look.

OK, so another "outside the norm" situation. Choice of schools for us is in the past.

 

[kdonnel]

We felt student Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Parent Plus Loans made more sense.

I fail to understand how borrowing money makes more sense than saving?

529 plans are very generous in what counts as qualified use, has many exceptions around scholarships, death or disability of the listed beneficiary, use for student loans, apprenticeships, and the ability to transfer beneficiary.

And if you still overfund there are provisions for a Roth IRA rollover.

Absolute worse case there is a 10% penalty on the earnings withdrawn and then taxes owed on that withdrawal.

All of those are so much more appealing to me than a young adult starting life with loans.

 

[soccerdad72]

I agree with this.
I also disagree with people saying "it's her money, she should keep it." It's NOT her money, it is @sam_gordon 's money, which he has allocated into educational savings accounts. He can move things around as he sees fit for their educational purposes. And if he wants to say "she's had life lessons now, so here's the money" that's fine, but it is not her money (yet).

Obviously, the money is still Sam's to allocate as he sees fit (otherwise, this whole thread is moot). But given the situation laid out, right now, the 529 is allocated to the younger daughter. My opinion (take it for what it's worth - which is not much ) is that the funds should stay allocated to her for now.

 

[tvguy]

My kids all attended public universities, the total cost was about $620,000 (and thats with one graduating a year early, and two with merit, $10,000 a year and $17,000). They had 529s, federal student loans, and private loans (interest rate was always better with private). Our in state public’s are about $40,000 a year with housing.

That is crazy.

 

[tvguy]

I fail to understand how borrowing money makes more sense than saving?

529 plans are very generous in what counts as qualified use, has many exceptions around scholarships, death or disability of the listed beneficiary, use for student loans, apprenticeships, and the ability to transfer beneficiary.

And if you still overfund there are provisions for a Roth IRA rollover.

Absolute worse case there is a 10% penalty on the earnings withdrawn and then taxes owed on that withdrawal.

All of those are so much more appealing to me than a young adult starting life with loans.

I did not say we weren't saving. Just not within a 529. I did not like the restrictions. This was my wife and I's money, not our kids. And remember College Tuition was deductible at the time my kids were in college.

 

[barkley]

I also disagree with people saying "it's her money, she should keep it." It's NOT her money, it is @sam_gordon 's money, which he has allocated into educational savings accounts. He can move things around as he sees fit for their educational purposes. And if he wants to say "she's had life lessons now, so here's the money" that's fine, but it is not her money (yet).

legally it IS the op's but I think just by virtue of his raising this question in his own mind let alone posting for opinions he mentally/emotionally considers it his youngest daughter's and that's why he's questioning it's disposition.