NHdisneylover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2007
$11,000 combined per year seems very very low to me. I guess it depends on the cost of tuition and room and board at the school your child is at, how much you managed to save in 18 years prior to them starting college, and your preferences on how much if any of your child's college you want to pay for. My son exhausted all our savings for college for both our kids with his selection of a $50,000 a year college, with room and board, and after a $10,000 grant each year from the College. To keep some breathing room, he took on $30,000 in student loans, and DW and I took on $30,000 in loans. His sister is 4 years younger, and she bounced from a State University away from home, to a Community College a mile from home, to a State University 6 miles from home, to a year at a University in England, back to a State University 6 miles from home. Her most expensive year, tuition, room and board came to $12,000. As we had paid off our mortgage, the $1,100 a month we had been paying there was more than enough to pay her tuition without going into further debt.
When my mom passed away and we sold her house, we were able to retire all the debt related to my son's college.
Which is why cost was a huge part of the decision making process for my kid. Personally, I would have strongly advised my kid against choosing a $50,000 a year college. STRONGLY. I also would not have blown all saved funds on my oldest, leaving my youngets with fewer options, to support my older one going to a pricey university. And if one child chose to go into a lot of debt anyway, while the other found ways to live more within their means, I personally, would not feel comfortable spending family inheritance to save the one from feeling the effects his poor financial planning decisions while not spending a similar amount to help the other (maybe giving that one the same amount towards a down payment on a home, etc). Your son is very lucky.
University, like anything else we purchase, from homes to cars to clothes to vacations, needs to fit into our budget. There are things we can afford and things we may like to have but cannot afford (or choose not to budget for while sacrificing elsewhere). Homes and education are things we will take on some debt for, but we still live within our means and choose homes and educations where the amount of debt really allows us to actually live well in those means and prefer never to rely on a future inheritence to pay off aynthing. It'S fine that you chose otherwise, but it is not at all how we want to live, or raised our children to think---for us the "right fit" school includes fitting into the budget. And it is certainly possible to make decisions which fit into those means---as even your daughter's education did.
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