Thank you. Maybe I'll write about why I don't think it's the parents' responsibility to pay for college next. Like you, I think that college is a choice that needs to be made by the child and not the parent. They need to earn it.
This is only true in regards to the "baby-cut" carrots in the little plastic bags. I just bought actual unpeeled baby carrots complete with their leafy tops from Citerella here in NYC. They look like adorable little carrots. And they really are babies as they are immature carrots which are more tender and sweeter than mature carrots and "baby-cut" carrots. They are not to be confused with those carrots they throw through a machine to have peeled and cut into uniform sizes. Those should only be used as compost for the garden. BLEH!
@ GF: As someone from a middle income family I respectfully disagree. I paid my way through undergraduate by working part time, weekends and nights. I unlike my peers saved up by myself; I did not feel any sense of entitlement from my parents. I refused to buy newest tech toys. I deferred buying a car and I took public transit. I lived at home as long as I could to reduce expenses. Obtaining an Ivy League education was not a concern. So, if my child wants it, frankly it will depend on their abilities. They will need to EARN IT. I researched and applied for and obtained many scholarships, grants, and even assumed debt for my education.
I attended a community college immediately (one week) after graduated from high school. At the same time I applied to State Universities and UCs (Berkeley, Davis, LA) and got accepted to all. I transferred as an advantaged standing student primarily because I had a plan and proactively researched and coordinated with admission counselors. Achieving all of this absolutely was not easy but it definitely taught me invaluable life lessons. E.g. Personal finances, discipline, time management, using public resources, research, deferred gratification, living below my means, cooking, and even how lose my ego and ask parents & counselors for advice.
Now as a career minded adult ready to start a family, I will encourage my children to work and save up too. As someone who did not rely on FAFSA I will tell it you financing a college education on your own can be done. The main difference using my approach is it places FULL financial responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the student and not on the parents. I did incur some school debts but I have long since paid it off in full. I rather owe education debt instead of transferring it to my aging parents. Simply put I view higher education as a choice. MY choice.
Now, can people finance their retirement? NO! We can finance almost everything else in life from birth, surgeries, houses, cars, vacations, and even funerals. But you cannot finance your retirement, can you? And until the day that is possible, I firmly believe the ONUS of financing a college education rests on the student. College as many have commented already is not appropriate for everyone. And, even if you really want your child to attend, there is no guarantee they will apply themselves and appreciate your generous gift to partly or full finance it. As such, doesn't it make sense for all students to take responsibility and create a "vested interest" by assuming some if not all of the financing?
Its not that we "Changed our minds" but that is how it worked out. She only spent about 10 hours helping us, other than that we did the rest of the work. She did not drive us around, we drove. We planned on compensating her somehow, but were unsure how much. We were unsure if this happens alot or how we might go about telling her we no longer need her assistance. Yes I do feel bad about not going through her, but that is how the cards played out.
THE TWO MAIN WAYS that I've found to increase mpg is #1. add a GOOD hho generator (use a hydroxide like NaOH for an electrolyte), & #2. use gas vapor-you won't need fuel injectors or fuel pump. Ask google how to make both! I'm an inventor- Wendell Ferrell
There's quite a bit of great discussion on that article, too. 5.13% of savings is a lot of money if you save 100k to 200k for a child's college. A college would knock off 5 to 10k on your aid at that amount of savings. If your child were able to get that aid and work a bit more for the rest it might not be so bad. Additionally if you do put that money in a retirement fund, and you really want to help your kid pay off college later on you can still take the money out of your retirement fund and help them finish off the loans. You can start withdrawing from IRAs and 401ks penalty free at age 59.5 and for roth IRAs you can take the contributions out penalty free any time. Maybe I should've clarified that a bit more in my article.
I have read about the financial aid process, and I'm not a financial planner. I don't know where you got that idea. I'm just writing about why I think I shouldn't dump too much into a college fund. Obviously everyone's situation is different.
I didn't say that middle income families shouldn't save at all, but given a choice between retirement savings and college savings for your kids I think it's probably better to save for retirement. Kids can figure out paying for college later on on their own since they have many more years of future earnings.
sorry, NFL Sunday Ticket's online options are not available without a DirecTV subscription AND a regular Sunday Ticket subscription. I tried "cutting the cord". it sucks. especially with a newborn baby... I watch more tv than ever now sadly. the satellite and cable providers have a lockdown on everything and they're too scared to make most content available online (unless you're willing to "steal" it...).
Offer to pay her for her time taking you around and showing you houses, or at least let her write up the contract and pay her a decent fee. That is the only decent thing to do. And yes it would be a horrible thing to do to get someone to drive you around and waste their time and gas, and then cut them out of the picture when it comes time for them to get paid. It's equivilent to hiring someone with the understanding that they will be compensated, then on payday, you decide to give a bonus check to your supplier instead of paying that employee because you "changed your mind".
I agree that this should be taken down. This is terrible advice and borderline negligent. You should fully educate yourself on the financial aid calculation process before giving out such advice as a so called "expert" financial planner.
This is poor advice for middle income families. Not saving for college will leave you in a position to need to borrow significantly for college. Your income is by far the biggest factor used by schools to determine your ability to pay. FAFSA only uses 5.13% of your savings to determine you Expected Family Contribution. When you do the calculation, you will be surprised at how low of an income puts you out of reach of a lot of aid.
Middle income families are most at risk with your strategy. They probably earn too much for financial aid but will not have saved anything under your recommendation. High income families can pay out of their current income and low income families will qualify for aid.
We are house hunting. I went through and look at a ton of houses on line and found a bunch I wanted to look at. We were unsure how to do look at them, so we contacted an agent and told e-mailed the addresses we wanted to look at. She spent the day and took us around to look at the houses. Other than that she has really not done any other work. If we want to see a house we ask and she sets up the times. About a week or so ago a friend of ours contacted us cause he heard we were looking at houses. He said he has a house that is being rented and he wants to sell it. It is not on the market and it is not listed. We met with him and he showed us the house. We really liked it and he is willing to come down to our budget. He does not have an agent and wants to just sell it to us. We too just want to buy it from him without having to list. We already gave him an offer and he accepted it. How do I tell my agent that we are going to buy without an agent? Is this a horrible thing to do? Please give me advice on this process.
Yup, community college is a great route. There is actually a great shortage in trained machinsts right now. My old roommate went to her 35th high school reunion and found that a girl that went to beauty school became a salon owner and now makes millions, but a boy she knew that went to MIT is now unemployed.This shows that people make their own way regardless of college and an useful trade is often more in need than a general college education.
Not everyone is going to have parents that actually set up an account for grandkids. It is possible to shield that money, but what is to prevent the grandparents to withdraw the 529 money that you put in for your kids? It just makes it more complicated if you do it that way.
I am like you and my parents paid for my college and I had an engineering degree, but if I did have a loan I would've been able to pay it off pretty quickly because I got a good job after college. So basically what I'm saying is that if your kid is able to make money later it's better to just let them go out and do it themselves.
Yup, those work-study type of aid also is calculated due to FAFSA/CSS PROFILE so it's better to have your money in your retirement accounts and give your kid an edge in qualifying for those jobs. I found that getting jobs in college really helped me learn how to work in a professional environment and collaborate with people. It was also easy for me to get a job later on.
My parents paid for my college but I did take off a semester to work at an internship full time. I also worked on campus and I saved over $20,000 from working during college. It is a more productive use of time.
ROO:
How do you move to an out of market area? Do you mean physically move out of market to watch whatever games you want. MLB.TV officials told me that they know where I am through my ISP address, so I'm unclear on how to remove that and get out of market so I can watch the local teams.
Taking financial aid into account is a good idea when thinking about saving for college. Not all grants and loans are given according to the income of the parents, although most are. You will get significantly less amounts than those who did not save, but what if the savings out weight the loans? Also, it is VERY true that those who are forced to work and go to school do better. Not only are they more invested in their education and grades, but realizing that they are paying for classes and time spend in school, is a much greater incentive than to those who have their parents pay for it all. It also forces students to be less lazy with their time - if they only have a certain amount of time to get school work done while also balancing a job, they will be less likely to sit around and watch TV or browse the internet. At least this is true in my experience.
Its crazy the lengths stores will go to to make you spend more. All that time and energy going into rearranging the whole grocery store just to make you waste more time looking for what you want?! Another trick I've noticed besides the fact that the carts are so big, is that the baskets are getting smaller and smaller! This means you can't fit what you want in a tiny basket, even if it is just a few items, so you're forced to grab a cart which means you'll (naturally) buys more than you originally wanted to.
I love these posts about reusing old stuff for novel ideas! I don't know if I'm the only one obsessed with Pinterest, but there are SO many cool DIY ideas on there for old t-shirts, but these ones are a lot more creative. Not only can you cut them up for workout attire, but using them as old rags and "tug-toys" for pets is a great idea.
Love these ideas, Wisebread! As I run out of store bought cleaners and personal care products I am experiementing on making my own. So far we make homemade: diaper spray and bubble bath. This week we are trying out homemade shampoo and conditioner. Next on the list; laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent.
Thank you. Maybe I'll write about why I don't think it's the parents' responsibility to pay for college next. Like you, I think that college is a choice that needs to be made by the child and not the parent. They need to earn it.
Any similar top subscriptions for European sports?
This is only true in regards to the "baby-cut" carrots in the little plastic bags. I just bought actual unpeeled baby carrots complete with their leafy tops from Citerella here in NYC. They look like adorable little carrots. And they really are babies as they are immature carrots which are more tender and sweeter than mature carrots and "baby-cut" carrots. They are not to be confused with those carrots they throw through a machine to have peeled and cut into uniform sizes. Those should only be used as compost for the garden. BLEH!
@ GF: As someone from a middle income family I respectfully disagree. I paid my way through undergraduate by working part time, weekends and nights. I unlike my peers saved up by myself; I did not feel any sense of entitlement from my parents. I refused to buy newest tech toys. I deferred buying a car and I took public transit. I lived at home as long as I could to reduce expenses. Obtaining an Ivy League education was not a concern. So, if my child wants it, frankly it will depend on their abilities. They will need to EARN IT. I researched and applied for and obtained many scholarships, grants, and even assumed debt for my education.
I attended a community college immediately (one week) after graduated from high school. At the same time I applied to State Universities and UCs (Berkeley, Davis, LA) and got accepted to all. I transferred as an advantaged standing student primarily because I had a plan and proactively researched and coordinated with admission counselors. Achieving all of this absolutely was not easy but it definitely taught me invaluable life lessons. E.g. Personal finances, discipline, time management, using public resources, research, deferred gratification, living below my means, cooking, and even how lose my ego and ask parents & counselors for advice.
Now as a career minded adult ready to start a family, I will encourage my children to work and save up too. As someone who did not rely on FAFSA I will tell it you financing a college education on your own can be done. The main difference using my approach is it places FULL financial responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the student and not on the parents. I did incur some school debts but I have long since paid it off in full. I rather owe education debt instead of transferring it to my aging parents. Simply put I view higher education as a choice. MY choice.
Now, can people finance their retirement? NO! We can finance almost everything else in life from birth, surgeries, houses, cars, vacations, and even funerals. But you cannot finance your retirement, can you? And until the day that is possible, I firmly believe the ONUS of financing a college education rests on the student. College as many have commented already is not appropriate for everyone. And, even if you really want your child to attend, there is no guarantee they will apply themselves and appreciate your generous gift to partly or full finance it. As such, doesn't it make sense for all students to take responsibility and create a "vested interest" by assuming some if not all of the financing?
Its not that we "Changed our minds" but that is how it worked out. She only spent about 10 hours helping us, other than that we did the rest of the work. She did not drive us around, we drove. We planned on compensating her somehow, but were unsure how much. We were unsure if this happens alot or how we might go about telling her we no longer need her assistance. Yes I do feel bad about not going through her, but that is how the cards played out.
THE TWO MAIN WAYS that I've found to increase mpg is #1. add a GOOD hho generator (use a hydroxide like NaOH for an electrolyte), & #2. use gas vapor-you won't need fuel injectors or fuel pump. Ask google how to make both! I'm an inventor- Wendell Ferrell
Also I have written about the middle income families and college aid before if you're interested: http://www.wisebread.com/not-rich-enough-and-not-poor-enough
There's quite a bit of great discussion on that article, too. 5.13% of savings is a lot of money if you save 100k to 200k for a child's college. A college would knock off 5 to 10k on your aid at that amount of savings. If your child were able to get that aid and work a bit more for the rest it might not be so bad. Additionally if you do put that money in a retirement fund, and you really want to help your kid pay off college later on you can still take the money out of your retirement fund and help them finish off the loans. You can start withdrawing from IRAs and 401ks penalty free at age 59.5 and for roth IRAs you can take the contributions out penalty free any time. Maybe I should've clarified that a bit more in my article.
I have read about the financial aid process, and I'm not a financial planner. I don't know where you got that idea. I'm just writing about why I think I shouldn't dump too much into a college fund. Obviously everyone's situation is different.
I didn't say that middle income families shouldn't save at all, but given a choice between retirement savings and college savings for your kids I think it's probably better to save for retirement. Kids can figure out paying for college later on on their own since they have many more years of future earnings.
sorry, NFL Sunday Ticket's online options are not available without a DirecTV subscription AND a regular Sunday Ticket subscription. I tried "cutting the cord". it sucks. especially with a newborn baby... I watch more tv than ever now sadly. the satellite and cable providers have a lockdown on everything and they're too scared to make most content available online (unless you're willing to "steal" it...).
Offer to pay her for her time taking you around and showing you houses, or at least let her write up the contract and pay her a decent fee. That is the only decent thing to do. And yes it would be a horrible thing to do to get someone to drive you around and waste their time and gas, and then cut them out of the picture when it comes time for them to get paid. It's equivilent to hiring someone with the understanding that they will be compensated, then on payday, you decide to give a bonus check to your supplier instead of paying that employee because you "changed your mind".
I agree that this should be taken down. This is terrible advice and borderline negligent. You should fully educate yourself on the financial aid calculation process before giving out such advice as a so called "expert" financial planner.
This is poor advice for middle income families. Not saving for college will leave you in a position to need to borrow significantly for college. Your income is by far the biggest factor used by schools to determine your ability to pay. FAFSA only uses 5.13% of your savings to determine you Expected Family Contribution. When you do the calculation, you will be surprised at how low of an income puts you out of reach of a lot of aid.
Middle income families are most at risk with your strategy. They probably earn too much for financial aid but will not have saved anything under your recommendation. High income families can pay out of their current income and low income families will qualify for aid.
We are house hunting. I went through and look at a ton of houses on line and found a bunch I wanted to look at. We were unsure how to do look at them, so we contacted an agent and told e-mailed the addresses we wanted to look at. She spent the day and took us around to look at the houses. Other than that she has really not done any other work. If we want to see a house we ask and she sets up the times. About a week or so ago a friend of ours contacted us cause he heard we were looking at houses. He said he has a house that is being rented and he wants to sell it. It is not on the market and it is not listed. We met with him and he showed us the house. We really liked it and he is willing to come down to our budget. He does not have an agent and wants to just sell it to us. We too just want to buy it from him without having to list. We already gave him an offer and he accepted it. How do I tell my agent that we are going to buy without an agent? Is this a horrible thing to do? Please give me advice on this process.
ESPN online is great; I watched the entire Wimbledon tournament online this year. The Olympics are also going to be online this year.
Yup, community college is a great route. There is actually a great shortage in trained machinsts right now. My old roommate went to her 35th high school reunion and found that a girl that went to beauty school became a salon owner and now makes millions, but a boy she knew that went to MIT is now unemployed.This shows that people make their own way regardless of college and an useful trade is often more in need than a general college education.
Not everyone is going to have parents that actually set up an account for grandkids. It is possible to shield that money, but what is to prevent the grandparents to withdraw the 529 money that you put in for your kids? It just makes it more complicated if you do it that way.
I am like you and my parents paid for my college and I had an engineering degree, but if I did have a loan I would've been able to pay it off pretty quickly because I got a good job after college. So basically what I'm saying is that if your kid is able to make money later it's better to just let them go out and do it themselves.
You are welcome!
Yup, those work-study type of aid also is calculated due to FAFSA/CSS PROFILE so it's better to have your money in your retirement accounts and give your kid an edge in qualifying for those jobs. I found that getting jobs in college really helped me learn how to work in a professional environment and collaborate with people. It was also easy for me to get a job later on.
My parents paid for my college but I did take off a semester to work at an internship full time. I also worked on campus and I saved over $20,000 from working during college. It is a more productive use of time.
ROO:
How do you move to an out of market area? Do you mean physically move out of market to watch whatever games you want. MLB.TV officials told me that they know where I am through my ISP address, so I'm unclear on how to remove that and get out of market so I can watch the local teams.
Taking financial aid into account is a good idea when thinking about saving for college. Not all grants and loans are given according to the income of the parents, although most are. You will get significantly less amounts than those who did not save, but what if the savings out weight the loans? Also, it is VERY true that those who are forced to work and go to school do better. Not only are they more invested in their education and grades, but realizing that they are paying for classes and time spend in school, is a much greater incentive than to those who have their parents pay for it all. It also forces students to be less lazy with their time - if they only have a certain amount of time to get school work done while also balancing a job, they will be less likely to sit around and watch TV or browse the internet. At least this is true in my experience.
Its crazy the lengths stores will go to to make you spend more. All that time and energy going into rearranging the whole grocery store just to make you waste more time looking for what you want?! Another trick I've noticed besides the fact that the carts are so big, is that the baskets are getting smaller and smaller! This means you can't fit what you want in a tiny basket, even if it is just a few items, so you're forced to grab a cart which means you'll (naturally) buys more than you originally wanted to.
I love these posts about reusing old stuff for novel ideas! I don't know if I'm the only one obsessed with Pinterest, but there are SO many cool DIY ideas on there for old t-shirts, but these ones are a lot more creative. Not only can you cut them up for workout attire, but using them as old rags and "tug-toys" for pets is a great idea.
Love these ideas, Wisebread! As I run out of store bought cleaners and personal care products I am experiementing on making my own. So far we make homemade: diaper spray and bubble bath. This week we are trying out homemade shampoo and conditioner. Next on the list; laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent.