Saving Money for College?

Discussion in 'The Toddler Years(1-3)' started by Sullyirishtwins, Oct 27, 2007.

  1. Sullyirishtwins

    Sullyirishtwins Well-Known Member

    Hi Ladies,

    How many of you have start putting some sort of investment/money put away for your twins college? Or is everyone doing whatever they can to pay FULL/4 years of college?

    I get a kick out of my husband thinking we should be paying them whatever they want for college. I'd tell him that we can do our BEST but we are already in our 40s started out having kids late. I tell him to pray that they can get a scholarship some day. But if not, we will give them whatever we have actually "save up" for them.

    Is everyone going to pay their way for the twins' college? Just curious :)
     
  2. mich17

    mich17 Well-Known Member

    We have savings accounts for them right now plus we bought them each some stocks. I don't think parents should be 100% responsible, but I think they should cover the majority. My DH parents took his paychecks when he started working & would put some into savings & give him the rest to spend. By the time he started college, he had the first 3 years fully paid for. He didn't work while in school. Just during breaks. In his last year he did have to work a little to help pay for it & that is when I met him.
     
  3. dfaut

    dfaut 30,000-Post Club

    We have a College Invest savings plan for each of them. We'll see how far it gets us! Hopefully we can pay for college!!

    It was never an option for me to not go and I hope to instill that in my kids! Good luck!
     
  4. summerfun

    summerfun Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We have a Maryland College Investment Savings plan (529) set up for all 3 kids.

    The best thing my parents ever did for me was pay for my college, so I had no debt coming out of college. I would like to do the same for my children.
     
  5. nikki_0724

    nikki_0724 Well-Known Member

    I would love to be able to pay for all my kids college years but i dont see thats going to be possible.... My parents didnt cover the cost for me and neither did Dh's parents.... I was able to get grants and Fin. aid to pay my way through.. I also worked to pay off my college days..... It was a learning experience for me and I like to think it made me more responsible.... We will be opening savings accounts for the kids but I dont know that they will pay for college....
     
  6. Sullyirishtwins

    Sullyirishtwins Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(nikki_0724 @ Oct 28 2007, 11:09 AM) [snapback]470426[/snapback]
    I would love to be able to pay for all my kids college years but i dont see thats going to be possible.... My parents didnt cover the cost for me and neither did Dh's parents.... I was able to get grants and Fin. aid to pay my way through.. I also worked to pay off my college days..... It was a learning experience for me and I like to think it made me more responsible.... We will be opening savings accounts for the kids but I dont know that they will pay for college....

    That what I was telling my husband. We can only do so much to put money away for the twins' college. If I had gone back to work full-time I think we would have made it. Unfortunately we are living on one income. If we really want to put money away we would have to force to change our lifestyle. It does not necessarity mean we are living in "fast lane". It is just that we can buy things we can afford and etc. We have a saving account for them since they were born. I was just arguing with my husband to point out there is no way we would be able to pay each child 4 years of college not on the budget we have. I wanted to find out if there were other couple going thorugh the same phase as us.

    We also have to think about getting a life insurance in case if one of us get badly injury or unexpect terminally illness. We would need that $$$ to pay for daycare, home care, nurses, and etc. I already experienced that with my mother who was terminally ill before she could retired but she passed away. I had to scramble to get the government to help us out because she was a single mother. Not only that -- we started late with our twins' I get worried if our health should go down but let's HOPE that will not happen for a very long time.

    Something we all need to figure out away with life insurance, college fund, and a Will.
     
  7. bkimberly

    bkimberly Well-Known Member

    We have 529s set up for each baby, we also have 2025 fund for them both. My ILs set up an annuity for them, and my parents buy them bonds every holiday. Our goal is to pay for their college. We started saving as soon as we found out we were pregnant. Now that I am back at work we are kicking our investments into high gear! I had to pay for my college and just now paid off my student loans! It sucked, and I have always felt drained because of it! My younger sister on the other hand had her eight years paid for by my parents and still doesn't have a degree.....(yes, you read that right I did write eight).
     
  8. cwinslow7

    cwinslow7 Well-Known Member

    We have a savings acct for each of the kids but they will be nowhere near enough to cover the cost of college. Florida has Bright Future scholarships and with Patrick's grades he will have 75% of his tuition paid at any state school he gets accepted to (including community colleges) that will definitely be a help. I almost started a 529 for him when he was young but ended up in a job where there was no way I could afford...now I'm glad because the primary reasoning was supposedly that the rates when you started would be locked in...now parents are having to take out supplemental plans because the costs are going up so fast that the program can't keep up. I do not think that handing your child their college is nec a good thing, I think helping them is great but not giving (kinda like a car.) I think that when you have to work for something you appreciate it so much more...

    QUOTE
    My younger sister on the other hand had her eight years paid for by my parents and still doesn't have a degree.....(yes, you read that right I did write eight).
     
  9. rubyturquoise

    rubyturquoise Well-Known Member

    We have 529s, but I doubt it will fully cover all 4 yrs. DH's parents did pay entirely for his college (he just worked for spending money), and he had to hear about it and hear about it until about 8 or 9 yrs ago when I said my parents had told me they were not in a position to pay for college, so I'd better keep my grades up. I did, and between scholarships, grants, living at home and working I graduated with no debt. I told FIL the best part of that was that 20 yrs later I wasn't still hearing about how someone else paid for it. I don't think he has ever mentioned it since.

    I agree with a PP that people appreciate things they have to work for more than things that are handed to them. I want to ease the burden on my children in terms of paying for college, and I don't want them to graduate under a mountain of debt, but I do expect them to work for it, too, in terms of keeping their grades up before, and having jobs to contribute their own money.
     
  10. Utopia122

    Utopia122 Well-Known Member

    We live in Ky and have signed all of our children up for the Kentucky Education Savings Plan Trust. We put money in when we can and all of their Christmas and Birthday money goes into the account, at least until they get old enough to actually want to buy things.
     
  11. Debb-i

    Debb-i Well-Known Member

    Yes we opened a 529 plan(strongly suggest) for each boy shortly after they were born. We strongly believe in education and we are saving as much as we can for our boys. In starting a family in our late 30's and being working professionals for years, we are able to put aside the max allowed by the plan per child per year.

    My DH received several academic sholarships (he was valedictorian of his class) and his parents paid the rest of his undergrad and also paid for medical school. My parents paid for 3/4 of my college education and I did the rest. Besides all the love and encouragement that our parents gave us...it was the best gift they could have given us. It really gave us a great start in life.
     
  12. blessedby2

    blessedby2 Well-Known Member

    We started setting aside money shortly after they were born. We add to it each year and will continue to do so. My parents have set up 529's for them too as they know this is a concern of ours and they would like to help. So, instead of getting a lot of gifts, they have given them a few smaller toys and a contribution to their college fund. I think it is great since they are young and don't really understand - they don't have a lack of toys to play with and yet we are doing are best to provide them a great future.

    If you can, start now. :)
     
  13. RachelJoy

    RachelJoy Well-Known Member

    We keep planning to open 529 accounts, but haven't yet. However, I've been advised by people who know these things better than I do that we should not put all our savings into college savings accounts rather than retirement plans. If needed, you CAN borrow for college, but you CAN'T borrow for retirement!

    I actually work in an office that researches higher education costs, and what I've learned is that the key is to have really smart, well rounded kids who get good grades, good test scores, etc. who can get into the top colleges - the prestigious, wealthy colleges and universities have so much financial aid available that they will make it financially possible for any kid to come as long as they can get in in the first place . . .

    -Rachel
     
  14. avaoliviamom

    avaoliviamom Well-Known Member

    We contribute the max to a 529 for each child. We plan to pay for their college completely, that is what our parents did for both me and my DH and we realize how very lucky we are, and we want to do the same.

    My parents instilled in me the bright promise of a 4 year college education, I hope to do the same for my children. I went back and got my masters and paid that on my own, and my DH put himself through law school. But we will do what we need to so they can go to college.
     
  15. hopewait

    hopewait Well-Known Member

    When our twins were born we opened up their own savings account. Family and friends have given them money - they got some from an inheritance too, and the extra money that we got back on our taxes last year because of having them we put into their savings. It feels like they have more than me now! My parents didn't help me with college, nor did DH's parents. We worked full time and payed our own way. I would like to help them out a little bit, but I don't expect to pay for the whole thing, I think it would be good for them to have atleast a part-time job during college.
     
  16. SweetpeaG

    SweetpeaG Well-Known Member

    Education is very important to us. We want the boys to have both the fund, the education, and the experience of college. We started saving for college after they were born. We put any money we received for birth, gifts, etc. in a savings account. Then, when the enrollment opened, we enrolled them both in the GET (guaranteed education tuition) program. You purchase credits at today's college prices and are guaranteed those credits when your student reaches college age.

    We pay about $175 (for both kids combined) per month and will have about 80% of their undergrad pre-paid by the time they get to college.

    The grandparents can also contribute to their GET fund, which has also been a tremendous help.

    We will also expect them to contibute 50% of any money gifts they get as they grow up to a college fund, which will be theirs for living expenses. If our kids are not enrolled in sports during high school, they will also be expected to work part-time jobs and put 50% of that money towards college funds also. If they are in sports, we'll expect them to work pt summer jobs to instill work ethic and responsibility.
     
  17. RRTwins

    RRTwins Well-Known Member

    I had to pay my way through college and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Working full time while taking a full time course load did NOT make me appreciate it more in any way. It made me wish I could have enjoyed the experience more like the rest of my friends and not graduate in a mountain of debt.

    We started working with a financial planner and contributing to 529s shortly after our children's birth. When they turn 18, we'll have enough to fully fund their education and living expenses. We are also saving to provide them with a sizable "starting off" fund as a college graduation present (which we do not plan to tell them about until they graduate!)
     
  18. Sullyirishtwins

    Sullyirishtwins Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(hopewait @ Oct 28 2007, 04:54 PM) [snapback]470769[/snapback]
    When our twins were born we opened up their own savings account. Family and friends have given them money - they got some from an inheritance too, and the extra money that we got back on our taxes last year because of having them we put into their savings. It feels like they have more than me now! My parents didn't help me with college, nor did DH's parents. We worked full time and payed our own way. I would like to help them out a little bit, but I don't expect to pay for the whole thing, I think it would be good for them to have atleast a part-time job during college.

    WOW! What a great review on this important topic! We have open a savings account for both of our twins. The biggest different between us and everyone else on this board. My parents could not afford me to go to college because of their divorce. We went from being rich to poor for those years. My mother was single and supported me and my older brother.

    My parents are both GONE and only have my father-in-law and no other living relatives. My husband is the only child with no brother/sisters. This means the twins will have NO cousins only each other. My mother passed on very LITTLE money when she died. I was fortunate to be able to put it away for our retirement. On the other hand, my father left NOTHING for us and gave EVERYTHING to his girlfriend of 8 years and her daughter.

    What so odd about it -- my brother and I used to go to my father's house when growing up with a stepmother. Unfortunately things fell apart after 13 years of their marriage. From that point on, I could not handle him anymore. It was heart wrenching when I decided to pulled all my stop from seeing him for about 10 years. My mother had kept in touch with him to let him know how I was doing and etc. When my father became ill with cancer. I decided to put aside my emotional just to be at his side for the last 3 years of his life. We will never know WHY he did what he did with his Will. We only suspected that he could not win out of his last divorced from my stepmother. She literally took almost everything away from him because he cheated on her. With his new girlfriend must have said, I'll take care of you. In that term, he had to do himself a favor by giving her whatever she wanted when he lived with her. When I first met her shortly after getting in touch with my father again. I can tell she was very controlling of him. The funny thing my brother and I had no choice but to asked my father if he has a Will. Because of my mother's situation -- she never had a will and lucky enough she was still alive and her memory to write up one before any government take everything away from us. Anyhow, if my mother was still living she would have smack my father for doing that to us. What so sad is that my brother can't survive because he has a disability problem. I have no idea what is going to happen to him because we are not exactly close with each other. I see him once a year during Christmas season. He has so many problems since he was a child (loner). I tried to talk both of my parents to stop doing what they were doing to him. They keep giving him money over the years when he has a serious gambling problem.

    Heck I don't know why I am mentioning all of this -- not to feel sorry for me. I just wish my parents were BETTER people. I am so LUCKY that I came out just fine and doing everything for our twins. I would NEVER want to put my kids through what my parents did if anything shall happen to me or my husband. They should be able to have $$$ to go on with their life and that the way it should be?!

    One thing I have is when I was working -- my Company has pension plan and that remain untouchable until I retired even I am no longer working. Yes, I have my own 401(k) but I rolled that into an IRA with my investor outside of the Company. My husband has increased the take out for his 401(k).

    Like all of you, we have to find a way to pitch in for their future college fund. We are also looking into the 529 fund after the holiday. We have to sit down and figure out how much we can put away since we are living on one income.

    Let's just say I am nervous but at the same time I want to do whatever we can to help both of our twins to college. Yes, I have seen many college students goes into debt but that only if we can help them to manage their money wise. I definietely hope they both will work part-time before going to college.
     
  19. doubledownmom

    doubledownmom Well-Known Member

    We have 529 accounts set up for the girls. We are going to pay for undergraduate college, and, possibly grad school if they decide to go. Our parents paid for our undergrad college; however, we both had to pay for our graduate programs. My husband is still trying to convince me that they can have a "double wedding" so we'll only have to pay for one wedding!!!! I told him NO Way!!!!
     
  20. RachelJoy

    RachelJoy Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(hopewait @ Oct 28 2007, 04:54 PM) [snapback]470769[/snapback]
    When our twins were born we opened up their own savings account. Family and friends have given them money - they got some from an inheritance too, and the extra money that we got back on our taxes last year because of having them we put into their savings. It feels like they have more than me now! My parents didn't help me with college, nor did DH's parents. We worked full time and payed our own way. I would like to help them out a little bit, but I don't expect to pay for the whole thing, I think it would be good for them to have atleast a part-time job during college.


    If you have an account in your child's name (savings or 529) you should be aware that college financial aid offices will expect a higher contribution than if the account is in a parent's name. I think it's important for kids to have bank accounts and learn to manage their money, but I would hate for them to then have to spend it all on college when we might receive more aid if the money is my name . . . just something to keep in mind.

    -Rachel
     
  21. cmudeanna

    cmudeanna Active Member

    My parents paid for me to go to college. It was the greatest gift they could have ever given me and I appreciate it so much. I don't think that because I did not pay for my education that I don't appreciate as much or less responsible. My husband had to pay for his entire education. He does not want our twins to go through what he had to go through. We are planning on paying 100% of their education. Of course, they will have to keep up their grades and work during the summer unless they are taking classes.
     
  22. rematuska

    rematuska Well-Known Member

    We have 529 accounts for each of our girls. We are trying to have enough to pay for tuition, and room and board. Both DH and my parents paid that for us, but then was had part time or summer jobs that would pay for spending money and the extra/fun stuff while away at college. It helped us learn to budget, but not so much that we had to take on full time jobs that would have been hard to handle with a full course load.
     
  23. Jen620

    Jen620 Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We have 529 plans open for each of the girls. I also currently teach at the community college and will receive free tuition credits as long as I teach there. (It's my first term, so I'm still waiting to find out more details.) I would like to be able to pay for the girls college as much as we can. My parents gave my sister and I a choice: they would pay for our college or our wedding. For each of us that was a no-brainer--college. They locked in the rate of my private college costs my freshman year by remortgaging the house and paying in advance for all 4 years. I graduated a semester early and they used the refund to pay for my sister's extra term.

    DH didn't go to college, but knows how important it is for the girls to go. We were contributing to their accounts until he was laid off last year. We're getting things back together slowly and hope to start again soon. We have put their birthday and other gift monies in their 529s, so they haven't been totally inactive.

    I like a PP's idea of putting half of whatever they receive/earn away for college. Definitely makes sense!!
     
  24. MichelleS

    MichelleS Well-Known Member

    We have 529 accounts set up for the girls and will set one up for the baby too. There won't be enough in those accounts to pay for college fully but it will be a nice start. We also have a bunch of bonds put away for them. Hopefully now that DH changed jobs we'll be able to put more into savings for them too. Personally though I don't believe in paying for it 100%. I think that they need to take on some of the responsibility as well.
     
  25. Jberman

    Jberman Well-Known Member

    My parents paid for mine and my sister's college educations. When I have kids I will do anything in my power to save for college.
     
  26. Rose524

    Rose524 Well-Known Member

    I would love to pay for my kids' college, but we will need to take out loans for sure.

    My parents paid for mine and my brother's education (private school for 12 years plus college), and I would love to do the same for my kids. But since we spent everything we have, including money from my parents, just conceiving these precious babes, it doesn't seem likely we will have any discretionary income to put away for college.


    Maybe they will get scholarships. :D
     
  27. Sullyirishtwins

    Sullyirishtwins Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(Rose524 @ Oct 29 2007, 10:25 PM) [snapback]472900[/snapback]
    I would love to pay for my kids' college, but we will need to take out loans for sure.

    My parents paid for mine and my brother's education (private school for 12 years plus college), and I would love to do the same for my kids. But since we spent everything we have, including money from my parents, just conceiving these precious babes, it doesn't seem likely we will have any discretionary income to put away for college.
    Maybe they will get scholarships. :D

    I went through the same thing as you did. When my mom died she had very little money given to me and my brother. We used the $$$$ toward to our IVF (twice) to conceived our twins. My father died and left with us nothing for unknown reason! I get wishful thinking how it would have been nice to conceived them as "natural" and that $$$ would have been put away for college too. We are working on getting a 529 college fund and already have a small significiant savings account for both of them when they received monies from Birthday to Christmas. We would like to put them through private school and then onto college. But we can't have both unless I go back to work full-time.
     
  28. Rose524

    Rose524 Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(Sullyirishtwins @ Oct 30 2007, 08:39 AM) [snapback]473194[/snapback]
    I went through the same thing as you did. When my mom died she had very little money given to me and my brother. We used the $$$$ toward to our IVF (twice) to conceived our twins. My father died and left with us nothing for unknown reason! I get wishful thinking how it would have been nice to conceived them as "natural" and that $$$ would have been put away for college too. We are working on getting a 529 college fund and already have a small significiant savings account for both of them when they received monies from Birthday to Christmas. We would like to put them through private school and then onto college. But we can't have both unless I go back to work full-time.



    I hear ya... we did IUI twice, IVF 7 times, and used a gestational surrogate in the end...add in a failed adoption attempt in between, and we've spent around $200,000. I have no regrets, since my children are my entire world, and mean everything to me and DH. But I agree it would have been nice to conceive them naturally and have 200k sitting in the bank for college...:(
     
  29. Inlowtwins

    Inlowtwins Well-Known Member

    We have 529's opened for all our girls as well. We have asked everyone to put $ in them for birthdays and Christmas since we have more toys than we know what to do with. Our kids will have to go to private school too. Wish they have a savings account for that too!
     
  30. NicoleT

    NicoleT Well-Known Member

    QUOTE(avaoliviamom @ Oct 28 2007, 11:38 AM) [snapback]470601[/snapback]
    We contribute the max to a 529 for each child. We plan to pay for their college completely, that is what our parents did for both me and my DH and we realize how very lucky we are, and we want to do the same.

    My parents instilled in me the bright promise of a 4 year college education, I hope to do the same for my children.


    This is similar to what we are doing. We do plan on paying for their college.
     
  31. Minette

    Minette Well-Known Member

    We will pay as much as we can, but I don't know if we're going to be able to swing the whole thing. DH and I both had our whole college paid for by our parents (for which we are tremendously grateful), but as you said, we were older when we had our kids. Also, housing is a much higher fraction of our income than it was for our parents. Oh yeah, and this too:
    QUOTE
    But since we spent everything we have, including money from my parents, just conceiving these precious babes, it doesn't seem likely we will have any discretionary income to put away for college.
    My mom got pregnant for free -- it cost me $15,000.

    So I just don't know if we can save as much. And college has gotten a lot more expensive (relative to inflation). So the upshot is that my kids should expect to have to work/contribute somehow. I am also willing to make decisions about where they will go based on whether we can afford it, but DH thinks they should have the moon if they want it. :rolleyes:

    However, we haven't started saving yet. I'm nervous about it, but we just don't have any extra right now (after saving for retirement and trying to put away a safety cushion).
     
  32. twindependent

    twindependent Well-Known Member

    We live paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, with me being a SAHM (not much earning power even if I wasn't, to be honest) we just don't have any extra money to put away. Yes it makes me nervous, just not having anything put away even for an emergency, but college isn't really even on my radar.

    If it comes to the point that my kids want to go to college and there's no money, I guess they'll just have to take out loans or do well enough to get scholarships. Also, I don't think private liberal arts is necessarily the way to go- public universities or technical school, etc are things I was not encouraged to consider, but I will leave it up to them to do what they want and support them in whatever way we can...
     
  33. twoplustwo

    twoplustwo Well-Known Member

    our 429's for our firt two are fully funded. (Thanks mom :D )

    We have yet to be able to do ones for the babes yet though.
     
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