First child - best way to invest
#11
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2010
Posts: 291
On the one hand, it's a tough discussion when you lay it on them that their higher education is on them. That's not what ANY of their friends are doing. It's not fair!
But, I cannot in good conscience deprive them of the responsibility for making the risk/reward/ROI decisions that higher education costs require. There's a wide range of education choices out there, from private/public schools, arts/STEM, trades, etc. The mainstream path of skyrocketing costs, loans, 529s, the idea that you MUST pay for your kid's school no matter where they choose to go, and probably the worst of all: entering school undeclared seconded only by changing majors; it's all a well crafted marketing ploy sucker-bet.
Only way to win is not to play.
#12
^^^^^^^This right here.^^^^^^^
On the one hand, it's a tough discussion when you lay it on them that their higher education is on them. That's not what ANY of their friends are doing. It's not fair!
But, I cannot in good conscience deprive them of the responsibility for making the risk/reward/ROI decisions that higher education costs require. There's a wide range of education choices out there, from private/public schools, arts/STEM, trades, etc. The mainstream path of skyrocketing costs, loans, 529s, the idea that you MUST pay for your kid's school no matter where they choose to go, and probably the worst of all: entering school undeclared seconded only by changing majors; it's all a well crafted marketing ploy sucker-bet.
Only way to win is not to play.
On the one hand, it's a tough discussion when you lay it on them that their higher education is on them. That's not what ANY of their friends are doing. It's not fair!
But, I cannot in good conscience deprive them of the responsibility for making the risk/reward/ROI decisions that higher education costs require. There's a wide range of education choices out there, from private/public schools, arts/STEM, trades, etc. The mainstream path of skyrocketing costs, loans, 529s, the idea that you MUST pay for your kid's school no matter where they choose to go, and probably the worst of all: entering school undeclared seconded only by changing majors; it's all a well crafted marketing ploy sucker-bet.
Only way to win is not to play.
#13
find a good state run 529 plan and deposit $200/month. I’ve paid for two daughters and don’t regret setting them up for success and be debt free. The argument of “having skin in the game” might be useful for a lower/middle class family (don’t save for retirement let alone college) but doesn’t hold water if you’ll a WB FO or Captain when they turn college age... you can afford it or have your priorities messed up.
#15
What about the kids who went to the military and used their education benefits to cover tuition? Maybe the government will give them a $100k refund check. Or the parent who saved for a few decades? Assuming they’ll get a huge check back as well.
#16
It’s supposed to be tied to the parents earned income... designed to benefit the lower/middle income families. In other words... don’t expect any forgiveness unless you are just starting out in the airline industry. Number I’ve seen floated is married dual income cap of $125K/year.
#17
Personal choice of course... Ive always had the personal goal of making the lives of my girls a bit better than I experienced, and I asked my two girls to do the same when the time comes for their kids.
#18
I seriously wonder if that will stand up in court. Have to pay for the debts, somehow. I would think that would take an act of Congress for an appropriation of money, not just an Executive Order.
#19
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2005
Posts: 390
All student loan debt forgiveness would be is a handout to the rich. Only 36% of Americans have a bachelor degree - are we really going to ask Americans to pay off their college debt for them? People who generally have a higher paying job than the average person?
Let’s say I’m wrong and student debt is forgiven, won’t we be back here in 10-20 years anyways? Unless college costs come down we will always have people with $100,000 of college debt.
So yeah, it’ll never happen.
#20
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2010
Posts: 291
find a good state run 529 plan and deposit $200/month. I’ve paid for two daughters and don’t regret setting them up for success and be debt free. The argument of “having skin in the game” might be useful for a lower/middle class family (don’t save for retirement let alone college) but doesn’t hold water if you’ll a WB FO or Captain when they turn college age... you can afford it or have your priorities messed up.
My priorities are raising well adjusted young men and women, vice kids that I can send off to a four year daycare. There's a reason why we have a workforce full of $100k indebted liberal arts majors with <$50k jobs; they all marched off to uni like good little automatons.
Thought exercise: would you send your kid to Med school just because? Law school? MBA? No, not without a solid plan of where you wanted to go with that very expensive education. And yet, like automatons, kids head off to college undeclared, or with a tenuous idea of their own career plans, at best. 5y? 6y? meh, doesn't really matter, mommy and daddy are picking up the tab. What's the value of the education at the particular school chosen? Is it a "party school", or in a fun location like an urban setting $$$ (because of course those are important considerations).
I'm spending my energy teaching my kids about money, about responsibility, about critical thinking. As a counterpoint, you have succinctly boiled down the talking points of the "marketing campaign" fed to us over the past five decades, which has hypnotized us into a behavior pattern driving the cost of education up eight times wages.
Higher education is a business. Once any business gets its feet under it, the next objective becomes growth, and engineering ways to part more money from the customer, and preferably at a lower unit cost than yesterday. Typically through marketing. Looks like the marketing has worked and my thesis "doesn't hold water". Checks.
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