pushing out retirement to help kids with college

[Brat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeTN Many environmental science BS grads have trouble getting good jobs. ....

My concern as well.

The son should take the required courses, ideally at a CC, then research the jobs in the field before committing to an environmental science major. At the start of the Sophomore year he should consider all options including various medical technologies. [My opinion: Watch out for the Biosciences, high standards, low pay for skills required.]

My DD enrolled in a university engineering program then discovered it was too much an 'individual contributor' profession. Academically she was doing VERY well but when looking at engineering as a profession she didn't find it a good fit for her other skills. She transferred to their school of Finance.

I believe students should have a goal but be prepared to change that goal to accommodate new information.

[Teacher Terry]

The department of labor puts out job outlook for different positions in all the states. If he plans to stay in the state he is located your local unemployment office will also have that information. As others have stated the pay is low and outlook generally poor.

[daylatedollarshort]

The Job Outlook Handbook shows faster than average job growth for Environmental Science technicians with 2 year degrees: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/environmental-science-and-protection-technicians.htm

The 4 year degrees shows good prospects as well: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physica...pecialists.htm

[Brat]

As in most fields networking makes a difference. If the prospective student can land a job while in school that is directly related to that field he will not only know if he likes the work but he will know those who can help him with employment. For example Bioscience majors should work as a Lab Assistant before or during college.

[FreeBear]

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[Potstickers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry My youngest son graduated high school at 16 , went to college for a year and dropped out. He moved across the country and worked. At 21 he was considered independent of us for financial aid.

Rules now and for the past ten or so years:

Until you're 24 or older by December 31st of the academic year for which financial aid is being evaluated, you are considered a dependent student UNLESS one of the following criteria is met:

- Already completed a first bachelor's degree
- Orphaned
- In the military or a veteran
- Declared an emancipated minor by a judge (at the time that you were still a minor)
- In foster care after age 13
- Married
- Have legal dependents for whom the applicant provides more than half the support
- Been documented as homeless by a McKinney-Vento Coordinator or the director of a youth homeless shelter

The only other option is to have a Financial Aid Officer at your college grant a dependency override. If the parent in question is incarcerated, institutionalized, the subject of a restraining order involving the student, has whereabouts that are unknown, there has been rejection/abuse related to sexual orientation or religious affiliation, or there is a lengthy history of no contact, then dependency overrides are usually granted if there is substantiation/documentation of one of those exceptions. It is very, very rare to see dependency overrides approved in circumstances where there is still a relationship.

[Teacher Terry]

Daylate, I have been retired 6 years so things may have changed. We never had much luck placing people with these degrees into jobs. Sometimes a occupation will have a great national outlook but be terrible in some states.

[Teacher Terry]

Pot, wow things have changed but that son is now 38.

[brucethebroker]

I'm a little late to this one....forgive if someone else mentioned this already. I'm just too tired to read thru 4 pages of responses..

Again, why does this have to be black and white? To retire completely or not retire completely? Are there not stress free PT or consulting jobs available for OP? Quit the "killer" job and do something you enjoy, even if it is for lower pay. ANYTHING is better than killing yourself. Even a $20k a year gig would help your kids and allow you to stay within your retirement guidelines.

Or reduce your spending. Downsize. Sell a car. Move to a cheaper area. In 2-3 years, once the kid college deal has been dealt with, regroup and up grade your retirement. Think outside the box.

BTW: think of it this way with the eldest. If you had retired two years ago, and he now decided to go back to school, would he STILL expect his retired parents to help out? How about if he knew you would have to take a job to do that? I doubt it, and that situation is not really much different than the one you are considering.
Good luck.

[Badger]

If your health is being compromised by your work environment then consider that sacrificing the two years now may just be giving up more enjoyable years for less enjoyable last two years.


I think I would rather let them take out loans (I would not co-sign), work while going to school, work for a scholarship,etc. If they were not claimed on your taxes and have no money then they could even qualify for food stamps and possible other financial assistance.



Then in the future you could help each of them for two years them with up to $14k/year to pay off debts or a lesser amount/yr up to a total of what you originally considered.


Cheers!

[db79]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry Pot, wow things have changed but that son is now 38.

They haven't changed that much. I'm also 38 and here are the FAFSA questions I had to answer to determine independence. I was able to answer Yes to one of the questions below and therefore receive independent status, which only helped me qualify for Federal loans.

Not sure how your son would have qualified simply due to working and living on his own. Was he emancipated?

- Were you born before January 1, 1974?
- Are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces?
- Will you be enrolled in a graduate or professional program (beyond a bachelor’s degree) in 1997-98?
- Are you married?
- Are you an orphan or a ward of the court, or were you a ward of the court until age 18?
- Do you have legal dependents (other than a spouse)

[Travelfreek]

You don't need to wait till you retire to take care of your health! That's very important. So you have a son half way through college and another wanting a 2nd BS degree?

We have 2 kids we put through college. We started saving $750 a month when they were in junior high after meeting with a CFP and were able to fund their 5 year degrees at a state college 9 hours away from home. We made good money (together) and so it worked. It was a great relief to get them both off our payroll at the end of the 5 year period, however. Our daughter got her BS in Nursing (she worked hard and got good grades and worked part time for spending money). Our son got his BS in Accounting and managed to get his MS in Accounting as well during his 5th year. So, for us, it was 5 years. Our daughter had to get into the nursing program within the college first which delayed her 1 semester.

A friend of my husband used to say (he and his wife raised 4 kids) you either pay now or you pay later. I often thought of that since I didn't want 30 something year olds struggling to make ends meet. Both our kids make over $100k now and are just turning 29 and 30 this fall. Hallelujah! They are fully launched.

As for us, I never got a 4 year degree and paid for every nickel of my 2 year degree (parents couldn't help). My husband got his engineering degree during the first 2 1/2 years of our marriage as I worked and he went to school full time (Electrical Engineering is no joke). He did work one summer at the blackjack table in Reno between semesters. He had a blast and made some good $$. He graduated at age 29.

So, back to our philosophy. Since things went very well for us after my husband got his Engineering degree, we decided we wanted to fund our kids' degrees. They worked every summer starting with first year in high school and saved up to pay for half of their first car. They always had skin in the game. We also told them if their grades were below Bs while in college, it would be game over. We would stop paying and bring them home. They both also had to maintain certain GPAs for their majors so that helped also.

I think most of us parents want more for our kids than we had. But, with that said, kids need to partner with you to help out with expenses. YOU do need to address your health problems right away. There's stress classes with the HMOs and yoga and counseling through your health care provider that's just a co-pay away. There's even EAP (free through your work at most large companies). I went to one of those counselors once when I had a run in with my boss. It was WONDERFUL. 3 free visits for each topic. So many topics like the one you are wrestling with or work stress etc.

It sounds like you didn't plan for the costs that were involved for some reason with regards to college for your kids or maybe your oldest threw a curve ball with his wanting a 2nd BS degree. My husband retired a year ago (1 year EARLIER than the original plan) because we ran the numbers and figured out it was worth it for him to leave his very stressful job than to grind away another year for another $300 a month. Life is too short! So he did retire and then lost 25 lbs while starting a lot of athletic activities. He LOVES his new life. I'm so glad we decided he could retire.

Also, on another note, is your nest egg really big like in your 401k? If so, you can withdraw while you are working since you are over 59 1/2. The tax law is more favorable (federal) and we are all in lower brackets than 2017. As a result, we are now paying off our house by the end of 2018.

So, there's a lot of variables that might make it all do-able. You may be able to retire AND help w/ college. It sounds like you have raised some awesome sons!

Sometimes my husband is tight w/ money even though we are sitting pretty financially. And he acts like we can't afford things that we certainly can. I guess it's from years of watching our dollars and dimes and nickels. Sorry for the long post. We all want you to be healthy so that you can enjoy a well deserved retirement.

[albireo13]

Actually I think we are doing ok and could swing both retirement and helping but, my wife is very worried about it unless I keep working.



My oldest has an Associates degree in forestry. We've helped the other kids more than we've helped him so, we feel it's only fair to do some more.

[steffano]

Sounds like classic burnout and you should seek some help to unwind this. Your kids will survive with or without your help but you are not on a good path. Be kind to yourself first.

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingaway I'm basically FI. I'm doing OMY (or more) to build some buffer and help my sons in terms of possible inheritance. Although this is different from what you plan to do, the purpose is the same. I'm 54, and my job is not stressful. But I still want to get out as soon as possible.

I disagree with you. If you are 54, it might be another 40 years before your sons see a dime!

[Urchina]

There's a lot of good discussion here on college and leading for it. But I'm interested in the assumption that retiring is the only way to deal with your health issues.

A standing or treadmill desk, regular walk breaks at work, seeing if there are commuting options available and exploring stress-relieving methods that don't involve alcohol may address your work issues sufficiently so that another couple of years is doable. (And the alcohol issue is one worth dealing with right now, regardless. That's a choice you're making, not a mandatory response to work stress).

I'm sure there are many approaches that might improve your current life short of retiring early.

Btw, I have a degree in Environmental Science and now work a challenging and interesting job as a regulator. My parents helped with my state school expenses. Between that, scholarships and work I graduated without debt. It was one of the best gifts I could have gotten from them.

I teach at a community college as a side gig. I see how many of my most capable students struggle because they have little to no family support. Nearly all of my students work part-time. The ones who are really on their own face significant barriers to success.

[Philliefan33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urchina I teach at a community college as a side gig. I see how many of my most capable students struggle because they have little to no family support. Nearly all of my students work part-time. The ones who are really on their own face significant barriers to success.

I see this also with some of my young coworkers on the river. Those with parents who are unable or unwilling to support them after high school have a tough time. A little financial support combined with boundless emotional support can go a long way.

[sdawson]

To the OP if still listening.

We are in a similar (but not quite the same) boat. We have four daughters -- one in her 30s, two aged 21 and 22 currently in college, and a 13 year old. For this discussion the focus is on the 21 and 22 year old.

When they were graduating high school, we agreed that if they helped themselves in college by working and doing well, we would help them with their undergraduate degree. The arrangement we made was they would be responsible for 1/3rd of the expense (tuition,rent,food) and we would pick up 2/3rd. The deal was they had to be frugal (no cars, minimal eating out, etc.), as this was not a blank check.

As for background, I put myself through undergraduate and a masters on my own, as my parents loved me but could not afford to help. I am luckily in a bit better position so I want to help more. At the same time, I don't believe that a free ride is beneficial, they need to have some skin in the game.

This has worked out well, and both girls will graduate next spring. The older one will graduate from Oregon State with no debt. This is in part due to the fact that she took her first two years at the Commmunity College level (less expensive) and worked more to pay for college while taking a lighter, but longer road. The other will have about $14,000 in debt, as she went to Portland State for all 4 years, and both the college and cost of living wa more expensive there. I will point out that the debt is hers. We also were firm that while we will help financially, we will not co-sign any student loans. Both girls worked during college, and as we are unexceptional middle class, there were no scholarships, so the tuition/room/board is all on us.

Now, we also said that for graduate school (if they chose) they were on their own. My girls were grateful, and are fine with that. But as it turns out, they both are in fields which need a Masters or Doctorate (the older wants to be a physical therapist, the younger social work)

I will be 56 when they graduate next Spring, and we are set. My wife and I and our younger child, would be fine financially if I retired next Spring, which is the current plan.

HOWEVER, as I look at the costs of graduate school for the other two, I am weighing whether I should work for another year or two to help them. I would not even consider this, if they had been irresponsible in their undegraduate schooling, but they honestly have been pretty much perfect in their frugal life style and dedication to schooling.

This is a different boat than yours as 1) I am younger and 2) I dont' feel too much stress at work. The younger 1 is looking into 15 month Masters programs (about 32,000 dollars), while the older one will need to get accepted into a physical therapy program (difficult) and will need a minimum of 3 years and over 100,000 dollars to get through.

The good news is that they will not be in school at the same time. One will start immediately, the other will be delayed at least a year.

So I am considering offering up $1500/month to them to help them. $18,000 a year may make the difference. It would be 1/2 of the younger ones tuition, and perhaps 40% or so of the older ones. They still have to come up with room and board outside of that, as well as work or take on debt to complete the degrees. It is my understanding that for the physical therapy doctorate, one really doesn't have the time to work much outside the program, so that would be mostly debt.

So doing the math, that is a $72,000 commitment or about $100,000 before taxes.

So I am considering working a another year to two to bump up my retirement savings by another 100,000+ to do this.

-S

[albireo13]

Taking care of my health is something I've put on the back burner the last 2 years with helping my elderly parents and trhe demands of work.
It has become harder at work. Literally before I can turn on my computer in the morning people are in my office talking about the days priorities and what needs to be done. I used to walk at lunchtime but, now the trend is to schedule meetings over lunchtime and at evenings. I am often chewing on my lunch sandwich while a meeting drones on in the background.

I could blow off meetings but, my programming is to do what i can to help the project.
That plus as I get older more responsibility is "rewarded" me, which means more meetings and more documentation.


It's like a steady diet of addictive laxatives!!

[pb4uski]

So since you can't stand it why don't you just do something about it rather than just complain... tender your resignation or tell them that your job responsibilities need to be restructured if they want you to stay... they will continue to take full advantage of you as long as you continue to let them... sometimes in order to get what you want you need to be a prick.