How much do you have set aside for kids' college?

[Lienlord]

Our local Community College had a partnership with our two son's high school that offered free tuition for an Associates Degree. So for the first two years they lived at home, worked PT jobs and commuted to CC. We paid for fees and books. Upon graduation, they transferred to state University, continued to work PT jobs and we paid tuition, fees and books each semester. Older son chose to live on campus, so he paid his rent with his PT job while we helped for food and gas. He graduated with a Finance degree and now has a great job. Younger son is now a Jr. He chose to live at home and commute.
Though never well-off, we still never qualified for any financial aid except student loans, which we absolutely refused. So while saving for FIRE, we always managed to scrape up enough to pay that tuition bill when it was due. And Amazon.com was a great source of used textbooks! Haha

 

[RenoJay]

I over-contributed and in the end will have maybe $50K stuck between DS1 and DS2. Now, it is not really a big problem because it is only 10% penalty on the growth, but still not optimal.

I should have stopped contributing around where OP is right now.

Thank you for pointing this out. I rarely if ever hear people talk about over-contributing and/or the associated penalties. I do hear them talk about the transferability of 529's, how you can use it for you nieces and nephews, etc. Not sure about everyone else, but I feel an obligation to help my own children through college, and no one else's.

 

[Ready2Save]

We have $70K in a 529 for our 7 year old. Our initial goal has always been to fund around $100K in today's dollars, which would cover most of the cost for in-state public U.

 

[FlaGator]

I was recently hanging out with some successful, professional friends and was surprised to hear they each have ~$200k/kid saved in 529's for kids who are aged 8 - 13. I have ~$100k saved for each kid in that age range, and figured I'd see how life turns out to determine the rest, assuming more is required. I'm curious how much others on this thread who have youngish kids have put aside specifically for college. (And I have no idea how to create a survey, so if someone else wants to add one that'd be fine.)

Your number looks right to me for state schools, maybe some left over for grad school. Your friends' figure is in line if they are targeting private undergrad work, or state undergrad and grad school.

I'm about in the middle with 529s, FL Prepaid and max Bright Futures (FL program for full-to-partial in-state tuition). Expect my HS senior will have enough to go in-state and grad school if she chooses. Similar for the younger kid.

May prove to be overfunded, but that cushion made it easier to RE when I did.

 

[MI-Roger]

A bit of a ramble...

Son and daughter in law retired early at age 59, despite having three children (sic) now aged 23, 21 and 19, all in college at the same time. While both Son and DIL were lawyers, there was no way that they could have afforded to pay for those educations. Despite good pensions, and a safe retirement, all three of the "children" have had, at the least, full tuition scholarships. Oldest is in third year of medical school (MD) at Pitt. Middle daughter just graduated U of Fl, Tampa Magna C_m Laude, and has a further scholarship to a med school this coming year. Youngest is in third year of Univ of Miami, 100% All expenses Stamps Scholarship.

Home - Stamps Family Charitable Foundation

This not only offers room, board tuition and books, but also a new computer, and $12,000 to further expand his horizons by going to a foreign country, which he did this past summer going to Chile, to intern with doctors there.
The School, has scholarship may also extend throughout graduate school.

Kids are all very smart, and have applied themselves throughout from H.S. on.
But...it doesn't stop there. It was and is a major project for DIL, who has spent more time than we can imagine, in researching availability. Like finding a way through the forest. Youngest was accepted at Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Brown, but with partial scholarships because of parent's income. The Stamp scholarship meant the University of Miami Coral Gables... not the first choice, but many, many tens of thousands dollars difference, and it looks like Harvard may be available as a 'paid' continuation. The scholarships fit the person... leadership and contribution to society in the future.

Long hours of research, multi visits to schools, and digging for those little known possibilities.
For those who are in the middle of this, right now or in the future... suggest spending some time in Niche for starters.

https://www.niche.com/

Be prepared to spend some time, as the website is vast. Also can be used to find the right place to live.

Talk about coincidences! Our youngest received a Full Tuition scholarship to Med School, graduated this Spring and is currently a Resident at Univ of Penn Medical Center.

Our oldest graduated from Univ of Miami (on a Bass Guitar scholarship!) and earned his JD at Univ of Florida - Gainesville. He turned down a Full Ride to another Law School to attend Florida because it is a Tier #1 school.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

We have a 14 year old and an 11 year old- have about 130K saved in 529s. We could contribute more but we should have plenty in other accounts to contribute if need be.

 

[ncbill]

Military for my kids.

Told them we'd pay for in-state public, but they used ROTC scholarships to pay for private.

(well, the oldest re-applied & moved on to a military academy after their first year at university)

 

[MI-Roger]

Talk about coincidences! Our youngest received a Full Tuition scholarship to Med School, graduated this Spring and is currently a Resident at Univ of Penn Medical Center.

Our oldest graduated from Univ of Miami (on a Bass Guitar scholarship!) and earned his JD at Univ of Florida - Gainesville. He turned down a Full Ride to another Law School to attend Florida because it is a Tier #1 school.

Sorry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The acronym UPMC is so widely used that I forget what the P stands for.

 

[imoldernu]

Military for my kids.

Told them we'd pay for in-state public, but they used ROTC scholarships to pay for private.

(well, the oldest re-applied & moved on to a military academy after their first year at university)

Military scholarships are an excellent choice, and a search will turn up many dozens of high value scholarships.

Here is just one of many... a "SMART" scholarship that offers as much as $38,000/yr. for four years.

https://www.military.com/military-report/dod-offers-smart-scholarships.html

As I recall, the only obligation for most scholarships is a commitment for 2 years of active duty for ROTC scholarships.
IMHO... a great unseen benefit for the future of the student.

The SMART Scholarship requires one year of employment in a Department of Defense approved corporation for each year scholarship after graduation..

 

[Teacher Terry]

RJ, does Nevada still have the Milienum Scholarships?

 

[Spock]

cut the cord. if the kid wants an education they can save and work enough for scholarship qualifying grades.
Private trade schools are starting to charge $60K for tuition for a 20K/year job... with near infinite loans available to their customers, they can charge near infinite prices. Soon there will be a "cash price" similar to uninsured medical care. Not going to play.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I have one child (DS) entering junior year in high school. He had so-so grades, but has improved them considerably in tenth grade. I have about $90K in a 529 and another $45K in a UTMA/UGMA in his name.

I'm seriously considering telling him that he has $200K to pull from (the 529 + UTMA + other provided by me) for college, with the knowledge that unspent funds will still be his if not all used up for college.

The reality of the situation is that he will be getting the in the end anyway, and more (unless something catastrophic happens), but he doesn't know that.

 

[Dash man]

So far I’ve put aside about $65k for three grandkids, starting at $20k/kid when born. Plan to continue to add to their 529 plans.

 

[Cobra9777]

Our kids are now 29 and 26. One engineer, one teacher. They both went to state universities for 4 years. Total cost was $16K per year per kid with only one year of overlap. Total $128K spread over 7 years. We had no savings specifically earmarked for this. But we were both working and at peak earnings level so we just paid out of normal cashflow. We retired when the youngest was in her final year of college.

They each had PT/summer jobs and paid all their own misc living expenses, including bills once they moved off campus. We paid rent in lieu of R&B. We typically gave them laptops and cell phones as Christmas or birthday gifts and they each got a new car upon graduation with job offer.

They each had very minor scholarships, typically one-time $500 or $1000 mostly related to high school activities. DS had full-ride offers to two "lesser" engineering schools here in Texas. But he really wanted to go to UT Austin, which is a top-10 engineering school nationally. So we agreed. He was accepted into the honors engineering program at UT but no merit-based scholarships.

 

[ncbill]

Military scholarships are an excellent choice, and a search will turn up many dozens of high value scholarships.

Here is just one of many... a "SMART" scholarship that offers as much as $38,000/yr. for four years.

https://www.military.com/military-report/dod-offers-smart-scholarships.html

As I recall, the only obligation for most scholarships is a commitment for 2 years of active duty for ROTC scholarships.
IMHO... a great unseen benefit for the future of the student.

The SMART Scholarship requires one year of employment in a Department of Defense approved corporation for each year scholarship after graduation..

8 years for Army ROTC scholarships.

But, the above still pay for non-STEM majors.

Most other branches require STEM majors for scholarships.

 

[karen1972]

I don't have kids, but my one friend has put away $400K for her 13 yo son. They plan to retire before he turns 18 and are very conservative investors so wanted it all covered. Obviously, they only have 1 so they can be more generous. Only a portion of it is in 529 as they are not convinced he will spend it all, it will completely depend on where and what he goes for. They based this off their nieces who just graduated from private colleges and spent roughly $80k/year. Any money left over will be his to do with as he wishes basically front-loading his inheritance. It's an interesting concept, we shall see how that works out.

They wanted to give him options to also choose a trade and have money to start his own business if he chose to go down that path instead.

Granted I'm not sure how tax savvy that is as they have had to file taxes for him since he was 5, but I appreciate how conservative they are and that they just want their son to have every option since they can afford it now.

I always wondered because don't you have to treat college like retirement, ie more conservative the closer you get so that senior year you may be only making the 2-3% that fixed income provides.

 

[Danie424]

We put one through school at Purdue University and he had less than $60k in 529s. He still graduated with no debt because his internships paid so well. Two more kids to go and they will average between $80k and $90k each in their 529s which is plenty. We are blessed to live in a state with great public universities and I think the youngest will even be able to finish his Masters with the $90k.

 

[pjigar]

I have not saved anything for my daughter's education. My plan was to create enough annual free cashflow to pay for her collage by the time she is of college age. We are on track to do that. I live in Texas where you have no state income tax so it doesn't make lot of sense to open 529.

 

[sengsational]

Thank you for pointing this out. I rarely if ever hear people talk about over-contributing and/or the associated penalties. I do hear them talk about the transferability of 529's, how you can use it for you nieces and nephews, etc. Not sure about everyone else, but I feel an obligation to help my own children through college, and no one else's.

I've got tons of younger cousins and their kids, I think, could be made beneficiary on some part or all of the leftover 529 funds. I thought about approaching the parents and doing a deal where I would pay the U and they would pay me. Sounds illegal though, hehe!



So of the $50k stuck, the original principal, $25k comes out tax and penalty free. If I pulled the rest of it out at 28% marginal tax rate, plus the penalty, I'd only get $15k (rough numbers) for a total of $40k. What if I was paid $45k to pay out $50k. My cousin and I would each save $5k. Of course I'd never do it unless it was 100% legal.

 

[CRLLS]

We did not use any education targeted savings for our 2 kids. We agreed to cover 50% of the state-school tuition and Room/board. We both felt that having a chip in the game would make them work harder. We simply budgeted it into out annual expenses. That was many years ago. If they decided to go out of state, that was on them for making up the difference either by working more in the summer, part time job during the school year, or scholarship.

DS1 went to State school and graduated. Since, has earned his Masters degree (on him)

DS2 decided the Jr College route, then entered the military. He is almost 20 years in now. He qualifies for various GI Bill plans. The neat part is that those benefits can be used for himself, his wife, or his child, possibly all three in various percentages.

Things were simpler (and less expensive) 20 years ago. I don't know how I would plan for kids today. Fortunately, that is behind us. I am thinking about helping out in some small way for our GD's education. Not sure exactly in what form. Probably a simple annual gift if necessary, or maybe help pay off any loans come graduation time. We are not sure how to be equitable if DS2's daughter takes her dad's GI bill benefits.

 

[Cayman]

We have 1 in college with 2 years left for undergrad.

• We set aside $100k+ but haven't used it, we've cash-flowed (that's our LBYM lifestyle habits .... we will use it next semester)
• We're paying ALL expenses for a 5 year degree at a top tier state school, including a car. Except - DD pays $5K every year out of her summer internship earnings. She also works during the school year.
• We will help some with grad school, but she knows she's on the hook for the majority of her grad school expenses.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

....He likely needs a year or two of working abroad teaching or something (not his field) so he can travel. Degree was in International Studies, Czech, and Russian Studies. Anyone know of a perfect job...?

I have friends and colleagues still in the Navy with these majors and minors, so I would recommend looking at intel officer, or foreign area officer possibilities.

 

[pb4uski]

I've got tons of younger cousins and their kids, I think, could be made beneficiary on some part or all of the leftover 529 funds. I thought about approaching the parents and doing a deal where I would pay the U and they would pay me. Sounds illegal though, hehe!



So of the $50k stuck, the original principal, $25k comes out tax and penalty free. If I pulled the rest of it out at 28% marginal tax rate, plus the penalty, I'd only get $15k (rough numbers) for a total of $40k. What if I was paid $45k to pay out $50k. My cousin and I would each save $5k. Of course I'd never do it unless it was 100% legal.

Do more due diligence but I don't see any reason why that would be a problem.

 

[hausfrau]

I have one 9 y.o. child with about 43K in a 529 plan. We put a lump sum in when she was born (during the recession) and then contribute $100/mo. With that, and what we have saved elsewhere, I think that will be enough for a state school.

 

[MI-Roger]

[*]We're paying ALL expenses for a 5 year degree at a top tier state school, including a car. Except - DD pays $5K every year out of her summer internship earnings. She also works during the school year.

Curiosity only. Other than Architecture, what degree plans are now five years?