How much did you save for kids’ college?

[jobae1234]

If you ever stopped saving for your kids’ college, like if you felt that you finished, what was your target amount? Either by how much was there at a certain age, or how much it was expected to grow to by the time they went to college.

The kid in question is very intellectually curious and into learning, so college feels certain as of now. I want her to graduate with no loans. We have an excellent state school, so public vs private feels less important.

[mccallister84]

Right now, with a kindergartener and first grader, we have about $80,000 in an investment account earmarked for college. Between that and paying off the house right before DD1 starts school, we hope we will be able to cover the vast majority of instate tuition at the state flagship university.

The big caveat to this is that I have just re entered the work force and am working very, very part time. So there is the potential for me to work more and is to throw all that money at college costs if it looks like we are going to fall way short as we get closer.

ETA: the plan is to cash flow half (from no longer having a mortgage) and use the investment account for the other half.

[mrsmayhem]

I used Vanguard's college cost projector to come up with estimates. This is what I got for my first kid:

In State $160K
Out of State $280K
Private $445K

Our goal is to save enough for in state tuition for each kid in 529s, then pad our brokerage accounts with enough to cover any extra. I would feel "done" saving if we had enough to cover private school between both accounts.

We still have a long way to go, but I'm not too concerned. I think we should be able to cash flow whatever we didn't save in time.

If we retire 2 years before our oldest goes to college, there is a chance we'd qualify for some financial aid, but I don't feel confident enough to bank on that. Plus, even though I think the American education system is a complete racket, it doesn't feel right taking financial aid when it could go to families who truly need it...

[niq]

We only use college accounts to save for in state cost of attendance, which is $80k per kid give or take. It's a pre-paid guaranteed tuition deal, and we paid for 6 years of tuition, but you can use the $ for other college costs.

Because I have stock based compensation I have a lot of taxable investment savings that will be easy to access if the kids go to private colleges.

If they want to go to a small midtier liberal arts college I think we'll have a long talk.

[jobae1234]

Apr 21, 2024 8:34:53 GMT -5 niq said:

We only use college accounts to save for in state cost of attendance, which is $80k per kid give or take. It's a pre-paid guaranteed tuition deal, and we paid for 6 years of tuition, but you can use the $ for other college costs.

Because I have stock based compensation I have a lot of taxable investment savings that will be easy to access if the kids go to private colleges.

If they want to go to a small midtier liberal arts college I think we'll have a long talk.

80k you put in, or 80k in total by the time they go to college?

[plutosmoon]

My goal is to pay up to $15,000 per year for DD. I will not have close to that much saved, I only have about 10k in her 529 and I add $1000/year, so I'll be lucky to have $20k. I plan to combo savings and cash flow. Money I currently use for her activities will be redirected to college. I have a dependent tuition benefit from my employer set at 50% of my institution's tuition, currently up to about $35k/year. My parents also plan to help if they are still alive and at my income I qualify for need based aid at a lot of more expensive schools. So I'm hopeful on avoiding loans, but I'm not opposed to a small amount of direct loans for her, if we have to do that I plan to help with repayment.

The cost of attendance at the college I work at is almost $90k/year (elite private), a state school will probably run you 30-40k/year, if your kid lives on campus. If you can plan to pay it all out of savings, I'd target 150k-200k for public school and $350-400k for a private school. If you have a high college savings rate, you should be able to cash flow a portion and save less. I love 529s for a family like mine, I'll never be able to save enough, but you might be better off spreading some money around to regular investment accounts once you hit the public school amount.

[jobae1234]

Apr 21, 2024 8:47:39 GMT -5 plutosmoon said:

My goal is to pay up to $15,000 per year for DD. I will not have close to that much saved, I only have about 10k in her 529 and I add $1000/year, so I'll be lucky to have $20k. I plan to combo savings and cash flow. Money I currently use for her activities will be redirected to college. I have a dependent tuition benefit from my employer set at 50% of my institution's tuition, currently up to about $35k/year. My parents also plan to help if they are still alive and at my income I qualify for need based aid at a lot of more expensive schools. So I'm hopeful on avoiding loans, but I'm not opposed to a small amount of direct loans for her, if we have to do that I plan to help with repayment.

The cost of attendance at the college I work at is almost $90k/year (elite private), a state school will probably run you 30-40k/year, if your kid lives on campus. If you can plan to pay it all out of savings, I'd target 150k-200k for public school and $350-400k for a private school. If you have a high college savings rate, you should be able to cash flow a portion and save less. I love 529s for a family like mine, I'll never be able to save enough, but you might be better off spreading some money around to regular investment accounts once you hit the public school amount.

This is super helpful, thank you!

[niq]

Apr 21, 2024 8:47:31 GMT -5 jobae1234 said:

Apr 21, 2024 8:34:53 GMT -5 niq said:

We only use college accounts to save for in state cost of attendance, which is $80k per kid give or take. It's a pre-paid guaranteed tuition deal, and we paid for 6 years of tuition, but you can use the $ for other college costs.

Because I have stock based compensation I have a lot of taxable investment savings that will be easy to access if the kids go to private colleges.

If they want to go to a small midtier liberal arts college I think we'll have a long talk.

80k you put in, or 80k in total by the time they go to college?

We front loaded the savings in college accounts, so we hit $80k by the time they were 6.

Also since it's guaranteed tuition, it will probably pay out more like $120k by the time they're in college.

[heygrey]

We are going to save $30,000 in DS's education fund, then start diverting savings to a general account. Our goal is $40-50k total.

Schools in Canada are a lot cheaper and we are basing this off tuition and materials, but not board + some extra for inflation/other costs. We have a highly regarded university in our city, the science programs are the most expensive (just under $8,000/year), and based on DS's current interests and strengths I can see him choosing that. Even doing a couple years there while living at home would be a huge savings.

If he wants to go to a different school we will explore all the options for scholarships, bursaries, and financial aid. We talk a lot about university being a means to end and about making a financially responsible choice to avoid debt after graduation.

[quesyrah]

Apr 21, 2024 0:05:11 GMT -5 mrsmayhem said:

I used Vanguard's college cost projector to come up with estimates. This is what I got for my first kid:

In State $160K
Out of State $280K
Private $445K

Our goal is to save enough for in state tuition for each kid in 529s, then pad our brokerage accounts with enough to cover any extra. I would feel "done" saving if we had enough to cover private school between both accounts.

We still have a long way to go, but I'm not too concerned. I think we should be able to cash flow whatever we didn't save in time.

If we retire 2 years before our oldest goes to college, there is a chance we'd qualify for some financial aid, but I don't feel confident enough to bank on that. Plus, even though I think the American education system is a complete racket, it doesn't feel right taking financial aid when it could go to families who truly need it...

Omg what state do you live in??

I looked at my local state college websites and they list just shy of $8K per year tuition. We’ve been assuming about $10-$12K a year by the time our 10 and 14 year olds get to college. Plus room & board and books, but they’ll have to help with that.

[turkletsmom]

When all 3 were babies, we put $5k each into 529s. We maybe put a little more in my oldest son's since it was easier to save at the time with only one kid but I can't remember. He's 11 now and has around $17k. My other two kids are 7 and have around $9k each.

We stopped there because we live in Louisiana which has the TOPS program. It's free in-state college tuition to any LA public university as long as you maintain a certain GPA. We have two decent, local universities within commuting distance. If they decided to go to LSU for example, they'd need to live on campus, so we'd use the 529 money for that and either just pay as needed any additional costs or take out loans for any difference we couldn't cover.

[mrsmayhem]

Apr 21, 2024 12:16:48 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Apr 21, 2024 0:05:11 GMT -5 mrsmayhem said:

I used Vanguard's college cost projector to come up with estimates. This is what I got for my first kid:

In State $160K
Out of State $280K
Private $445K

Our goal is to save enough for in state tuition for each kid in 529s, then pad our brokerage accounts with enough to cover any extra. I would feel "done" saving if we had enough to cover private school between both accounts.

We still have a long way to go, but I'm not too concerned. I think we should be able to cash flow whatever we didn't save in time.

If we retire 2 years before our oldest goes to college, there is a chance we'd qualify for some financial aid, but I don't feel confident enough to bank on that. Plus, even though I think the American education system is a complete racket, it doesn't feel right taking financial aid when it could go to families who truly need it...

Omg what state do you live in??

I looked at my local state college websites and they list just shy of $8K per year tuition. We’ve been assuming about $10-$12K a year by the time our 10 and 14 year olds get to college. Plus room & board and books, but they’ll have to help with that.

Our state school is currently $12K for in-state tuition but almost $20K annually for room and board (HCOL area)...bringing it to $32K. Using the Vanguard calculator to estimate the cost almost a decade in the future puts it much higher. This is probably a conservative estimate. Hopefully college costs will decrease - or at least not increase as rapidly as they have been the past couple decades.

[simpsongal]

Virginia state schools are great but on the pricey side. We save what we can and try to target the tax deduction threshold, $4k per kid.

Ds is in 4th grade and has $58k, dd is in 1st and has like $38k. The roi is ok, not the compounding levels you see in a Retirement account. If we save the $4k each kid until hs, that should give us over $100k, I expect we could bank roll a fair amount (see my sports thread comment in ML- we spend $16k annually on piano and sports) and maybe have extra for an advanced degree. My In laws have said they would help pay for school too but there’s no money earmarked for it so we try not to rely on it.

ETA - I should have noted, we’re committed to fully funding their undergrad, we’ll have to see how things go re advanced degrees.

ETA 2 - Anyone else have mixed feelings about saving for 529s while you're still paying your own student loans? 

[scm1011]

Both my kids have between $15-20k in their 529s as of ages (nearly) 5 and 7. We put $100 per month per kid in right now plus any cash gifts. I’m much more concerned with funneling money into our retirement and HSA accounts right now. We hope to be able to cash flow a good deal in addition to the 529 money, but being able to cover it all isn’t my top financial priority at the moment.

[brooke77]

I contribute about $8,000/year to a 529. I am hoping he will go to a state school where in-state tuition is free. There will still be costs - room/board, books, fees, etc. My bigger concern is if he pursues an advanced degree, so we are hoping to have enough to help out with that. We have about $60K saved so far. He’s 6 and our only. If we had multiple children, we would obviously be splitting that amongst each.

[quesyrah]

Apr 21, 2024 14:38:17 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Both my kids have between $15-20k in their 529s as of ages (nearly) 5 and 7. We put $100 per month per kid in right now plus any cash gifts. I’m much more concerned with funneling money into our retirement and HSA accounts right now. We hope to be able to cash flow a good deal in addition to the 529 money, but being able to cover it all isn’t my top financial priority at the moment.

This is where we are at. Right now funding retirement has to take priority.

My kids each have about $20K (thanks largely to my inheritance). We’d love to fully cover undergrad but we’ll have to see.

Hopefully we can get our mortgage paid off in time to cash flow college expenses, but my kids are going to have to work. We’re not going to have the extra money to fund their lifestyle.

[mrsGreeko]

We haven’t stopped saving but my oldest started college this semester. Her 529 had about $20k in it when she started school. We are having her take a $2500 loan each semester. Her personality is such that not having skin in the game would have been a bad idea. She won’t necessarily have to pay those loans because we will likely either pay them off for her when she graduates or the UTMA she has that reverts to her at 21 will have about the amount of her loans in it so she could pay them off herself. She doesn’t know about any of that though. A free ride for her would have been an excuse to party based on her teenage personality going through HS. We are taking some from her 529 and cash flowing some plus her loans. She’s also done really well this semester so it seems likely she will receive a small merit scholarship once they ever get the financial aid stuff sorted out.

She’s going to an inexpensive state university where tuition and fees runs about $4400 a semester. She’s living on campus and that costs about $5-6k a semester. The living expenses are where they get you.

My other kids are 15 and 12 and both have about $20k in their 529’s and we will continue to save for them until they are in school. I expect to do similarly for them if they go to college. Middle indicates so far she will, youngest hopes to join the military but that’s complicated at the moment for him so we shall see.

We unexpectedly were able to pay off our house a few years ago so we have enough breathing room in the budget to deal with college.

My oldest also works to pay for her day to day expenses like going to concerts, out to eat, gas, insurance, anything else she wants.

[orval]

My ds is a junior and we have saved what we thought was good amount ($80k), but that won't quite cover four years at an in state school. His major is only at one state school and in a rural area which is not his ideal locale. His current dream school is a out of state public university which has the COA at about $45K per year. If I was starting today, I would aim for at least $150k per kid of savings.
The room and board costs are pretty shocking these days. When I went to college (large midwestern state uni) room and board was around 3k, now it is $13,500.

[quesyrah]

Wow! these room and board costs are eye opening

[midwestmama]

We will not be able to fully fund/save for college/uni for both kids. DS has almost $25K in his 529 and DD has about $21K in her 529; they are one year apart in school. We just increased monthly contributions to each account to $200, but at this point, it's likely the savings will maybe pay for about 2 years of tuition (no books or room & board) at a moderate in-state school. Both kids will be expected to try to get scholarships.

DH and I also need to prioritize our retirement savings, so we are balancing wanting to help our kids out as well as making sure we can afford to live in retirement. Our plan is to pay off our mortgage by the time DS graduates HS (in 4 years), and then split the amount we pay on the mortgage to half on college and half into retirement savings.

[lessel]

Our kids are 9 and almost 6 and we have about 18k and 16k in 529s right now. We stopped contributions for now though because they're both now going to a specialized private school for kids with learning/developmental differences (oldest has ADHD/dyslexia, youngest has ASD). So right now we're really just focused on trying to cashflow the tuition (total for both is about $40k for coming year--which would be more expensive but we have some state special needs scholarship money). We have about 100k in savings that we're hoping to not tap into for tuition. If we can make it through this coming school year without needing to tap into it, we're going to look at a different savings vehicle for that.

[fortnightlily]

I read that aiming to save 1/3 of what you think you'll need is a good guideline for ensuring you take advantage of tax-free growth but also don't overfund in the event they go to a cheaper school, get a scholarship, or don't go to school at all and you need to find another use for it or pull it out and take the penalty. So you pay 1/3 out of 529 savings, the rest out of cash flow, other savings, or loans.

DS is 10 and we have $47k in his 529. My parents also opened one for him and have maybe $40k in it. The current per-year full cost of attendance for the best public college in my state assuming on-campus housing is $31k for Resident, $60k for Non-Resident.

[mae0111]

My kids are in 8th and 5th right now. We've been adding $5K per year since they were born, and we will keep adding until they graduate, then flip the $5K over to college payments directly. Right now, the 8th grader has enough for 3 years room and board at our flagship state university (which, even as a state school, is not cheap - $17K a year for just tuition, and commuting is not an option as it is 2.5 hours away), and 5th grader has just about enough for 2 years. I'm not at all convinced that the large state university will be the right fit for either kid, so I'm assuming they'll both want a smaller private option. But I anticipate that they will both go to college.

We plan to cash flow what we can, have the kids take loans - also want them to have skin in the game. We also have savings that is earmarked for college, so we will see if we need to dip into it.

[EvieEthelGarland]

My HS freshman has about $80k combined in the accounts we opened and my parents opened. He is talking about not wanting to go to college so we've stopped funding the college account but have the money elsewhere. I've anticipated costs for in-state (or a state with reciprocity) to be about 25k/yr but the estimated cost of attendance on the websites are more like 30-35k at this point. Regardless, I'm not too concerned.

I think the on campus costs are wildly high, but not having been in the rental market in 20 years I might be out of touch regarding off campus costs. When I was a freshman in 92, my on campus apartment was $700/mo per person sharing rooms (with no meal plan!). This was in a desirable, but not major, CA city. I moved off campus and my rent for my own room in a lovely townhouse was $290. I could've gone cheaper if need be, but we were all within the budget our parents set. I fully expect his housing costs to be higher than my mortgage payment.


Basic tuition/fees has always been a fraction of what daycare cost so I always figured if we could afford that, we could afford college.

[Susie]

My kids are 4 and 8, and they currently have about $12k and about $13k respectively in their 529s.  Given the age difference (4 years) and the dollar difference (of lack thereof), you can tell that we didn't have a lot to contribute when the older one was tiny.  We've significantly increased just in the last 2 years or so.

Currently, we aim to hit the $10k/year limit for MFJ filers for the NYS income tax deduction for 529 contributions.  To get there, we currently put in $100/mo/kid, plus $1k/quarter/kid which aligns with my bonus schedule.  Then I just try to find another $800/year/kid to round it out to $10k.

That feels to me like we're taking decent advantage of the 529 vehicle, while balancing with other financial priorities.  I'm well aware we'll need more when it comes time for college, but we'll hopefully have other options by then to augment.

[ohgillian]

Apr 21, 2024 12:16:48 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Apr 21, 2024 0:05:11 GMT -5 mrsmayhem said:

I used Vanguard's college cost projector to come up with estimates. This is what I got for my first kid:

In State $160K
Out of State $280K
Private $445K

Our goal is to save enough for in state tuition for each kid in 529s, then pad our brokerage accounts with enough to cover any extra. I would feel "done" saving if we had enough to cover private school between both accounts.

We still have a long way to go, but I'm not too concerned. I think we should be able to cash flow whatever we didn't save in time.

If we retire 2 years before our oldest goes to college, there is a chance we'd qualify for some financial aid, but I don't feel confident enough to bank on that. Plus, even though I think the American education system is a complete racket, it doesn't feel right taking financial aid when it could go to families who truly need it...

Omg what state do you live in??

I looked at my local state college websites and they list just shy of $8K per year tuition. We’ve been assuming about $10-$12K a year by the time our 10 and 14 year olds get to college. Plus room & board and books, but they’ll have to help with that.

The in state cost of attendance at the most expensive state school where I live is $27k and my kids aren’t college age. I can imagine spending these amounts by the time they are.

It’s not just tuition. Once you add in room, board, and fees, the number gets large quickly. For example, my state school estimates:

Tuition $7000
Fees $2000
Housing $7700
Food $5900
Books & Supplies 1300

This is from their website.

[wesleycrusher]

My 2 kids are 11, we have $70,000k each in 529s. We have decided to mostly stop funding them- we have $100 per kid each month going in, and grandparents give $1000 each per year, but no further lump sums from us.

We are unsure if one of them will go to college, so want to balance 529 vs us having outside savings if some of ones 529 goes towards the other. I could not see either kid at any elite private school.

[whitemerlot]

My kids are in 6th and 8th grade and we have about $215,000 saved in 529 plans. I’m contributing about $500 a month total at this point but am not sure what the goal is.

[ohgillian]

I think we oversaved in 529s and I wish we had been counseled to put less in the 529s and more in our regular brokerage or retirement vehicles. The kids are 11 and 13 and we saved based on our estimation of the most expensive in-state school; I wasn't sure that would be enough b/c I imagined them at a private college like I attended. Now that I know my children, at least one of them is not on the track to go to even the in-state school, much less an elite private. He's more on track for a mid-grade in-state school at best which would cost much less than I estimated.

We have around $160k in each 529, plus $165k earmarked for college in our retirement accounts. It feels unlikely that we'll even use all of the 529 money. The mid-level in-state school rn would be about 80k for 4 years if paying full sticker price, which I expect to pay.

I know we can use part of the 529s to roll to retirement for them, change beneficiaries, etc. I still wish we had less in the 529s.


ETA: For anyone reading this thread feeling demoralized, I think it’s important to share that we did not save all of this ourselves. We inherited most of the funds that we contributed, and the balance has grown from there.

[sdlaura]

We have four kids, so we're trying to build up their accounts. We have $276k total saved now. Oldest kid is 11 and youngest is 3.

I'm hopeful that at least a couple of them go in-state where we live (California), but even though in-state tuition is under $10k per year currently, room and board pushes it to about $30k per year.