College funds

Zjman said:

These kids don't see it, my brothers son is gonna be a junior this year and my buddy's son just graduated this summer, both are gonna be teachers, my buddy's son is over 100k in debt, his girlfriend is in same boat, they act like it's no big deal cause they haven't started to pay those loans back yet, my brothers son will be over 100k too, he's spoiled and gets what he wants, he talks about going to Applebee's and eating and living high on the hog, I ask him where you get ur money, he says student loans man
These kids had it drilled into their heads from 1st grade that they had to go to college or there wasn't gonna get a job, my daughter worked and paid to get her Stna license and currently making 16 bucks a hour wiping asses at old folks home and gonna do a lpn class part time then rn and pay as she goes, yeah it's gonna take a few years but it will be paid for and she's getting experience as she goes
I can see setting up some sort of fund but no way I'd pay it all or let a kid go 100k in debt to make 50k a year. Just don't make sense to me


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That's where the parents' guidance are supposed to come in. Let them be responsible for the costs, but make sure they don't get in over their head. $100k in debt is fawking dumb. I mentioned one of my good friends I work with in P's thread. He stayed 4 years at Jacksonville State for a dumbass degree in criminal justice (now works manufacturing with me getting paid better than just about anything he could do with a criminal justice degree), paid for his dorm, booze, recreational drugs, and everything else with student loans. He is around 35 years old now and still has about $15-$20k left to pay off his student loans. Damn retarded.

The way I look at it, if you wanna help your kids out with college, all you really gotta do is make sure they don't **** up and waste time on a dumbass retard degree and make sure they don't **** up and borrow too much money. They are and should be capable of handling the rest. Or send him to trade school, learn how to weld, be an electrician, or lineman, and he won't need college. If I had two good legs I would have already done something along those lines. Electricians and linemen for power companies make killer money. I think it would be badass to be the guy that flies in on a helicopter and drops off onto a transmission tower to work on it. But instead I need to gear my carreer toward a less physically demanding job, so college it is. Actually just applied for another job with TVA, but with my luck I probably won't get it either.

100k is easy to rack up if you go into a medical field. 4-5 years undergrad and 3 years of a masters program and BAM!

I personally think a bachelors degree will be worthless by the time the boy is looking at college. They're already giving away associates degrees. Give it time.


I do not plan on paying all. And if I feel he's taking advantage or not taking it seriously, I can pull the plug. But if he wants to get into grad school or a trade school, I don't want money to be the reason he can't go.

I'm going to give my kids every chance that I feel they deserve. If they turn out to be an absolute turd, I'll hold that money until they straighten out and help them with a house. If they still are a butthead, I'll buy a hoverer, as I assume bouncers will be old news by then.

Meh, VERY few jobs out there prefer advanced degrees. Being a pharmacist or doctor, sure. But most employers only require bachelors degrees and that's plenty, really, to know what you need to know to do the job. Engineers, Computer Science, Business Administrators, etc. As far as I've known, an Associates degree really never has been worth much anyways, because over half of it is basic courses that do not directly relate to the major. I feel a bachelors degree will continue to suffice in these general areas for quite sometime.

On the other hand, if one was to enter the medical field to become a doctor, $100k in student loans won't be ****, because there WILL be jobs open and readily available in that field that pay good. That's one thing not a whole lot of folks are doing, seeking advanced degrees in the medical field. Guess that's why it seems like half the doctors out there are from other countries. Doctor that seen us at the hospital last year after our car wreck was from Egypt.

It's not all doctors in the medical field man. OT's and PT's both have their medical license.

As for the bachelors being plenty, OT's for example used to require an associates degree. Over the last 10-15 a minimum of a masters is required for any OT position and now it's quickly becoming a doctorate required position. What do you think happens when a ton more people have an associates than there used to be? They become less special. They'll just look for the next "higher qualified" person.

I get what you're saying. But I see it on a daily basis. Guys trying to get a job and being overlooked because they don't have a stupid piece of paper. If I can give my kids any advantage at all, I'll do it. Even if that means rocking leaf springs on my rig so they can eventually run coil overs.

TacomaJD said:

How long ago was that??? Is that just for the 2nd 2 years? If it only costed $18k for 4 years of school, that had to either be a long time ago or the cheapest college in america.

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2002.
It's actually a part of the UGA Collage system. NGU in Dahlonaga GA. They are big on ROTC.

What if a 529 account is started and they either don't go to college or go to a school in a different state? What happens to the money?

The Luke said:

I love how saying I'm going to help with tuition, means that he'll be living off mommy and daddy.

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I get what you are both saying, but I think he believed you meant you were going to pay it all. I am with JD, I wouldn't let my kids know I was going to pay a penny until they were already employed.

Also, not very many people I know are employed doing exactly what they went to school for. I would say half the time it is a waste of monwy.

Big David said:

2002.
It's actually a part of the UGA Collage system. NGU in Dahlonaga GA. They are big on ROTC.

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That's pretty awesome. Bachelors for $18k is a hell of a deal!

muddinmetal said:

Also, not very many people I know are employed doing exactly what they went to school for. I would say half the time it is a waste of monwy.

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I don't disagree at all. It Is what it is though.

I'm a walking example of not needing a degree. I've been a tobacco delivery guy, a chemist at an environmental lab, all the way to a fiber optic engineer

Fixed it for ya.

The Luke said:

Nothing like starting out at 25 with no trade, no experience, and can't use that degree your parents just paid $125k for.

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muddinmetal said:

Also, not very many people I know are employed doing exactly what they went to school for. I would say half the time it is a waste of monwy.

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That's because only a select few with absolutely amazing guidance from their parents know at age 18 what they want to be when they grow up. I sure as **** didn't. All my parents (mom) told me was that I was going to college after high school. I literally went to the college for orientation the fall semester after graduating high school with 100% no idea (or care) what major to pick. They asked me what major I wanted and I literally said "I don't know, whatcha got?" They started naming them off and mechanical engineering caught my ear so I said sure, I'll do that. Not even realizing the gravity of choosing an engineering degree. Went for one semester, while working in a sock mill 50-60+ hours a week, got my current job toward the end of that semester, quit college, and didn't go back until a few years ago when I finally matured a bit and gained a sense of direction with what I wanted to do.

I know a whole lot more people that have "some college" under their belt but bitched up for whatever reason like I did when I was 18 than people who actually finished their degrees. And even if they did finish their degree, some of them are like my buddy at work, blows a lot of money and time for a dumbass degree like criminal justice because most kids are too immature at age 18 to do anything wisely that will impact their lives later on. To me, it's 100% not a bad idea at all to go to work after high school then figure out college later on. And that's not just because that's what I did, but because I feel like choosing to do college in your mid to late 20's is better because the things you learned are soaked up better, by then they've had some real world financial experience and understand the burden of school costs and how to approach it, and maybe even end up with a pretty good employer that will foot the bill for college costs like mine is currently doing.

I just wish more people could see the negative affects of a kid going to school for 13 years, then going straight in to college for another 4-5 years or longer, only to graduate with a piece of paper that says they are smart but they have essentially zero work experience or anything to make them stand out among the others who just did the same thing. People ain't popping out babies in their early 20's like the old days, there shouldn't be a rush placed on finishing college immediately after high school in my opinion, but it seems to be the standard. I am extremely satisfied the way it worked out for me, I hated school and was burnt out bigger than **** by the time I graduated high school. I damn sure didn't want to keep doing more school. Now I actually enjoy it and have a clear vision of how it will impact my future.

Rambled a lot there, typical post-whore post. Anyways, it's never a bad thing to plan for college costs for little ones. Question: How does these 529 accounts work? Is it invested in the market so that is succeptible to gains/losses? Maybe low risk investment? If not, what makes it so special? Sounds like a glorified savings account.

Weezul said:

What if a 529 account is started and they either don't go to college or go to a school in a different state? What happens to the money?

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Pay income taxes + 10% penalty on the GAINS it made when you withdraw it. It's kinda like a Roth IRA retirement account in that regard.


But if the person is perusing and education beyond a high school diploma (or equivalent), it can be spent on pretty much anything that could be considered "for school", even rent.

Anyone think the college bubble will pop anytime soon?

Growing up with 3 older brothers, my father went a different way knowing the costs in putting us all through college at the same time. Baseball. My brothers and I were fortunately athletic enough to soften the burden on my parents bank accounts and we were all able to get through college on full ride athletic scholarships. Nowadays that is almost an impossibility with the 30-50% delegation of scholarship monies universities offer. Pretty much no matter how good a player is, they stretch there athletic dollar by offering benefits to more players and less money to fill there teams. Being that we only have one child, we planned from the moment he took his first breath, to employee a 529 plan as well as a personal account for miscellaneous deposits from bonuses, etc. Even with that, $100,000 doesn't go that far. Our son is at a 4 year college that is considered to be conservative cost school, and still will eat up every dime of that investment. Is it worth that much, I say YES, but in 2 more years we will find out. :indianajones:




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I tried this,sadly my ex wife ****ed that up. So deep in debt we goooo :****:


* Daughter is in dorms living the college life. Moved in last weekend. She is happy, it's worth it

TacomaJD said:

Rambled a lot there, typical post-whore post. Anyways, it's never a bad thing to plan for college costs for little ones. Question: How does these 529 accounts work? Is it invested in the market so that is susceptible to gains/losses? Maybe low risk investment? If not, what makes it so special? Sounds like a glorified savings account.

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For Tennessee at least, it is invested in the market and can be setup however you want in terms of risks etc. Basically you pick a Target Year of needing the funds and pick a Target Amount of what you want in the account, pick how much you want to put into the account, and pick Low/Medium/High Risk investment accounts to try and get you to your Target Year and Amount.

It is susceptible to Gains and Losses, plus you have a penalty/tax upon any withdrawals, like TBItoy stated.

The biggest advantage of the Tennessee version is your money (up to a certain amount, but I don't recall it right off) is backed by the State (like how the FDIC backs your bank account up to a certain amount) vs having your money invested in the open market.

P said:

I tried this,sadly my ex wife ****ed that up. So deep in debt we goooo :****:


* Daughter is in dorms living the college life. Moved in last weekend. She is happy, it's worth it

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Still waiting on pics of said daughter.

I think it is awesome asking advice on college funds to a bunch of men who beat the crap out of their kids college funds to get to the top of a hill
That is a joke, I think there are a lot of different perspectives here, so it is a good place to ask.

My parents paid for my lodging and books while I was in school. I lived in a fraternity house so all my meals were paid with my room and board. The state paid my tuition through vocational rehab programs because I have "learning disabilities" (ADHD) My responsibility was truck, fuel, extracurricular activities and living expenses other than room and board. I made terrible grades my first semester and got put on notice that if I did it again I was coming home and paying my parents back. I am fortunate that my degree has helped me in my career so I am a big supporter of college as long as you go for the right thing. I had it good and will never be able to thank my parents enough for helping me. To this day, my dad still works full time because the money he should be putting up for retirement he used to put me and my sister through school. I bought my boys a life insurance policy that accrues cash value so when they get ready to go to school, we can take the cash value of that policy and use it to send them through school. My father in law is wealthy and says he has all his grand kids school paid for, but I am not banking on that. As my kids get older we will have discussions about life goals and what they want to do. If they want to go the trade school route I will support them as long as there is a future in what they want to do and if they want a 4 year degree (or more) I will support them in that as long as it is not something like music history, philosophy or some stupid crap like that. If they want to get a degree or go into a trade that will not benefit them, I will let them pay for it.

I graduated college with a Bachelors degree with a mountain of student debt. Joined the Army and they paid it off. Parents helped out while I was in school with bills , books, food here and there when needed. While I agree with the community college for two years for basic classes and 4 year university for the remainder I will pay for my kids educations. As a parent you should be responsible enough to plan for and provide for your child as long as the child helps themselves. Too many parents these days say "**** it, he's 18".

jeepmedic said:

Too many parents these days say "**** it, he's 18".

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You are literally the first person I've ever heard of having that sentiment.

It's ususally "well, he's just a kid" (and he's 27), or "well we don't want him to stress about money during college" (and the "child" is living the high life and not contributing a dime).