We were aiming for 250k per kid for 529s. Looking at college costs these days I don’t think that is going to be nearly enough? What are people targeting?

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Nothing wrong with community college for 2 years and then transfer somewhere

That’s the route I did. And 9 years into my career I’m at 175K TC

likesmartuplifting

Yep, I did that too. CC was free because my high school test scores were high and I was able to work my way through college. Graduated in 4 years from a state school, full time student, part time worker. Took on minimal loans and had them paid off in a couple years. I was first one in my family to go to college and was raised lower middle class. I now make an extremely good living in a LCOL area and on track to retire in my early 50s.

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at 17, my parents said we provided you a good home, good food and good vacations. the day you leave for college youre on your own. turned out great for me lol. didnt ask for a penny from them since i left for college. went to a public school. applied crazy for scholarships and worked to cover other expenses. graduated in 4 years debt free. loved them for that. made me a responsible independent person. 10 years later, which was 2 years ago....they gifted me my "education savings." got $1M from that education fund that i didnt use because they played tough love and i didnt call their bluff lol.

Are private schools really worth it? blah. Ill never send my kids to private school and ill never pay for more than 50% of their college cost. being an adult is figuring how to survive. it starts with college. lol.

likehelpful

I can tell you from 40 years' accounting experience that private schools are not worth it. (the joke for one private univ near me was "that's where you BUY a degree". Some of the graduates were not very bright, either. Go to a state college if you feel you must have a 4 year degree. If I were starting over, I would look at a trade...they make much more money than many college grads.

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My daughter is going to University of Washington. She also got into NYU but with no aid the cost and ROI of a bachelors just didn’t make sense. Total costs at UW including living expenses is around $64k/year. She got a small scholarship. Do not expect any big scholarships. My daughter had a 3.9 gpa, extracurriculars etc and applied for 80 scholarships. It was a common complaint that strong students could not land any decent scholarships. So she has a 15hr/week job and a roommate. And we are paying for the tuition. She could have gone to community college and finished at the in-state university for even less. It’s doable but harder than when I was in college. The loans are nothing less than predatory. And kids will dream big about everything. Important to remind them that $400k is NOT worth it for a bachelors. Save it for the masters and maybe only if you get some solid aid.

Don’t put everything into the 529 if 250k is your goal. I put aside over 100k in a 529 for my kids. One did not go to college (learning disability assessed in HS) and the other is very frugal and wanted to do community college then transfer to a state school. I can’t complain, but now we have more in the 529 than we need and I’m stuck rolling out 7k per year to an IRA with a max of 35k for each. There’s no way we will use it all. Put a significant portion into something you have more control over.

Does the learning disability count as disability for the purposes of the 529 disability withdrawal waiver?

Maybe don’t waste your money on expensive degrees at private schools. Encourage trade schools, apprenticeships, cheaper gen ed courses as local or communities colleges. Then transfer to finish out specific training. My Kid took it upon himself (rising senior) to research college costs for the degree path he wants to follow and immediately crossed off all the private schools due to cost. I don’t think most career paths care where you got your piece of paper from that says you know what you’re doing.

When my daughter was born, I didn’t go the 529 route because I wasn’t sure if college would be her path. Instead, I opened a regular investment account, which is on track to cover more than half of a 4-year degree. If she decides college isn’t for her, she can use the funds however she wants. I’ve always believed kids benefit from having some “skin in the game” to really make it count. Just sharing my thoughts

community college for 2 years (free now) and then one went to UCI (total cost approx $30,000) and the other went to CSUF. he did the first year of college while still in high school, did upper level classes remote while at community college and will graduate in 2 1/2 years instead of 4. total cost approx $15,000. UCI kid is going to medical school and CSUF kid already has a finance job lined up on $100k starting. In short: you dont need a private college.

If, that is, everyone's kid is the same as your kid and has the same interests and plans and so on.

But different kids and different situations are different.

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