How much did you save for kids’ college?

[beachdweller]

We've got 3 kids - ages 13, 10 and 5. We've got a total of 160k saved between them.  I started them after we paid off our own grad school loans (100kish) paid off.  I'm planning to get each kid's account to 100k, then stop saving in the 529s.  Like PPs mentioned, prefer the flexibility of a brokerage account in case needs change.  We have the HOPE scholarship in Georgia, which covers in-state tuition in full at all of our public universities if you maintain a B average in high school; who knows where any of them will end up but I feel like I will for sure spend 100k per kid and will need to cash flow/use investment funds for expense over that.  I am shocked as well at the living expenses; friends whose kids are at our flagship state schools (UGA and Ga Tech) are spending about 25k a piece for living/room and board/etc.  

[ssmjlm]

I have no idea what is in the 529 we opened for her, probably a few thousand? We save $100/month for the tax break (VA).

Grandparents plan to stop contributing when each account hits $100k, so $200k total plus growth.

[dr.girlfriend]

FYI because I didn't know it until someone mentioned it to me the other day:

Starting in 2024, families can rollover unused 529 funds in a Roth IRA account for the beneficiary. There are a few rules to keep in mind:

The 529 account must have been open for more than 15 years and the rollover amount must have been in the 529 account for at least 5 years.
There is a lifetime rollover limit of $35,000 for each 529 account beneficiary.
Rollovers can only be made to the Roth IRA account owned by the named 529 account beneficiary.

Also, just a reminder that 529 money can also be used for apprenticeships, tools, etc. if kids are more likely to go a vocational route.

[themoneytree]

We cover 70% of D1’s college expenses. She is just finishing up freshman year. Due to stock market volatility we have liquidated stock to cover our portion of the next two years so it’s ready to go in cash.
I am hoping that the stock market is strong enough to pay the last year of her college (in state; $35K per year) and to cover a year or two of D2’s in-state level college expenses when the time comes (currently in 6th grade).

D2 has education accounts with about $30K in them so far and various stock I have earmarked if necessary (but hope it won’t be) with a further $60K.

Our major knock back has been moving D2 from public to private school for which we did not financially plan.
If that continues through high school it is the equivalent of another college education - in fact it’s more expensive than D1’s college cost.

I have scraped together $60,000 towards that unexpected expense so far, but it’s not enough.

[aprilsails]

I'm in Canada so it's different. If our kids go to one of the three local schools the cost would be $15k annually including tuition, books and fees. If they stay in the province we're looking at $32k annually including living expenses.

At the moment we have $30k in an RESP for the 8 year old and $15k in an RESP for the 4 year old.

We're separately funding another savings vehicle that we can use flexibly. Our goal is to have an additional $100k per kid in that by the time they are 24. This can be used earlier for out of town school of that's what they want, or for graduate school, or we can hold onto it to help with a first home purchase.

[archiethedragon]

My kids are 15, 12 and 9. We have $280k saved in 529s for their college expenses. The goal is to pay for 3 years of each of their colleges and have them get loans for the 4th year. Total annual cost for Uconn us currently $37k for instate.

[shaynaatl]

Our 10 yr old- have $80k saved.
Our 7 yr old- have $35k saved.

We've started to put in $8k a year for each kid.

We haven't decided when we will stop. The issue in our state is that we have 2 well-regarded public universities, but they are difficult to get into. After those 2, there is a huge drop in rankings/reputation of the other public schools.

So the norm here (at least in upper middle class suburbs) seems to be sending your kid to an out-of-state public school if they can't get into one of the 2 good in-state public schools. So bottom line- we will probably want to save enough to fund out-of-state public.

[Pibs]

We don't have kids of our own, but we're doing what we can you help give our niece & nephew help and set up a 529 for each of them. Since $35k can now be rolled over, that's our goal for each account.

But, this just occurred to me -- my brother and SIL also have 529s. Is the $35k total per person no matter the number of accounts, or $35k for each account that they've been listed as the beneficiary of? 🤔 I need to figure that out.

[ohgillian]

Apr 25, 2024 19:40:57 GMT -5 Pibs said:

We don't have kids of our own, but we're doing what we can you help give our niece & nephew help and set up a 529 for each of them. Since $35k can now be rolled over, that's our goal for each account.

But, this just occurred to me -- my brother and SIL also have 529s. Is the $35k total per person no matter the number of accounts, or $35k for each account that they've been listed as the beneficiary of? 🤔 I need to figure that out.

I would definitely check on that because from the bill text it looks as if the limit is per beneficiary, not per owner. You are amazing to be helping your neice and nephew!

[lolalolalola]

We are lucky that university in Canada is so much more affordable. If they can live at home it’s pretty inexpensive overall.

We have committed to paying their tuition and rent but expect them to pay for everything else. We don’t want them to stay at home just to save money- we think there’s great advantages to living away from home.


DD1 just finished her first year at a university in another province. Tuition was $7k ( 3k after scholarships). Dorms & meal plan was $14k. Total cost was $21k, or $17k after scholarships. (plus flights home which we used credit card points for). Next year will cost more because she will have to live off campus. 

She will earn $10k this summer working so that will help. 

We currently have about $110k in the 2 kids’ university savings, we withdrew $15k last year. This includes the government match (we deposited only enough to maximize the government match). 

[Pibs]

Apr 26, 2024 10:49:56 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

Apr 25, 2024 19:40:57 GMT -5 Pibs said:

We don't have kids of our own, but we're doing what we can to help give our niece & nephew help and set up a 529 for each of them. Since $35k can now be rolled over, that's our goal for each account.

But, this just occurred to me -- my brother and SIL also have 529s. Is the $35k total per person no matter the number of accounts, or $35k for each account that they've been listed as the beneficiary of? 🤔 I need to figure that out.

I would definitely check on that because from the bill text it looks as if the limit is per beneficiary, not per owner. You are amazing to be helping your neice and nephew!

That's how I was interpreting it too when I was looking earlier today. But then I just looked at the state colleges where they live, and it looks like right now the estimated cost is about $25k. Ew. I guess we'll bring it up when we're visiting in a couple of weeks and see about figuring out a plan that makes the most sense and makes my brother and SIL happy.

[Poppy]

We have two kids, 4th grade & kinder. We have $145k combined in their 529s. Cost of attendance for publics in our state is currently ~$40k including tuition, room & board, etc. So we have nearly half. We aren't regularly contributing, but I do plan to assist more from cash flow or whatever when they go.

Obviously it's a little early to know for the 6yo especially, but I do think they'll both go. I hope they'll choose either in state public or go to a great school out of state and get some aid. Oldest is very pragmatic and is excelling in school, so I am not worrying about it.

[coffee]

3 children (4th, 2nd, and K). We have $150K saved all together. We add $22k annually.
$100K is in their 529s the other $50K in a regular investment account.

The 3 of them are in private school now and the plan (that could change anytime) is that they will stay there until 12th grade. That money plus mortgage paid off should help us cashflow the rest in the future.

We want to fully pay their undergraduate. They won’t know our plan. We’ll let them get loans, and probably pay for them a couple of years later or by the time they get married (if). I’m not sure, the future will tell us how to manage it once we get to know their young adult personalities.

[Cheerio]

Apr 30, 2024 11:23:17 GMT -5 coffee said:

3 children (4th, 2nd, and K). We have $150K saved all together. We add $22k annually.
$100K is in their 529s the other $50K in a regular investment account.

The 3 of them are in private school now and the plan (that could change anytime) is that they will stay there until 12th grade. That money plus mortgage paid off should help us cashflow the rest in the future.

We want to fully pay their undergraduate. They won’t know our plan. We’ll let them get loans, and probably pay for them a couple of years later or by the time they get married (if). I’m not sure, the future will tell us how to manage it once we get to know their young adult personalities.

I thought you could only use $10k from a 529 plan to pay towards student loans. How are you expecting that this will work if you have them take out loans for all of their undergraduate education?

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2024 12:40:53 GMT -5 Cheerio said:

Apr 30, 2024 11:23:17 GMT -5 coffee said:

3 children (4th, 2nd, and K). We have $150K saved all together. We add $22k annually.
$100K is in their 529s the other $50K in a regular investment account.

The 3 of them are in private school now and the plan (that could change anytime) is that they will stay there until 12th grade. That money plus mortgage paid off should help us cashflow the rest in the future.

We want to fully pay their undergraduate. They won’t know our plan. We’ll let them get loans, and probably pay for them a couple of years later or by the time they get married (if). I’m not sure, the future will tell us how to manage it once we get to know their young adult personalities.

I thought you could only use $10k from a 529 plan to pay towards student loans. How are you expecting that this will work if you have them take out loans for all of their undergraduate education?

Probably they are planning to pay for some with the 529 while the kids are in school and also make the kids take out some loans each semester and then use cash to pay those loans off later. That’s what we are doing. My kid needs skin in the game so she takes out a loan each semester, we put in some money from her 529, some cash. Then at the end when she has the degree, surprise we are paying your loans off and planned to all along, but we felt like skin in the game was important to keep her on track.

[coffee]

Apr 30, 2024 13:21:26 GMT -5 @mrsgreeko said:

Apr 30, 2024 12:40:53 GMT -5 Cheerio said:

I thought you could only use $10k from a 529 plan to pay towards student loans. How are you expecting that this will work if you have them take out loans for all of their undergraduate education?

Probably they are planning to pay for some with the 529 while the kids are in school and also make the kids take out some loans each semester and then use cash to pay those loans off later. That’s what we are doing. My kid needs skin in the game so she takes out a loan each semester, we put in some money from her 529, some cash. Then at the end when she has the degree, surprise we are paying your loans off and planned to all along, but we felt like skin in the game was important to keep her on track.

Yes to all of this!
That’s our tentative plan. The money in their 529s will be about half of what they will need, another part is in a regular investment account and the rest will be “cash flow” which instead of paying right away we will be adding the money in the regular investment account while they attend college and get student loans for what the 529’s couldn’t cover.
After they graduate and pay student loans for 1-2 years and experience for a bit how difficult it is to pay loans, then we’ll pay it, maybe as a milestone gift or something. I’m not completely sure when/how. We shall see.

[hw77]

I like this plan! To me its all the extras that add up! And yes you absolutely must have skin in the game or else you'll head out to dinner instead of using the meal plan that is already paid for or go shopping at target for fun when you dont really need anything. I went to a private college and I truly had to sit out of a bunch of pricey outings just b/c we had a plan to pay for room and board but not all the frills.

[flygirl]

We plan to pay for instate tuition and are aiming for $125k in a 529 (on track) and may do cash saving if we can for other incidentals.

[4speedy]

My kid has 280K in a 529.  She starts college this fall and her cost of attendance is $65k/year after merit aid.  So we’re pretty spot on with savings.  The rules just recently changed so anything left in her 529 can be rolled over into a Roth IRA as long as the funds have been in her 529 for 5 years or longer.  (I’m proud that she started a Roth this year as soon as she turned 18 and she now has about $3500 in it)

[mrsmayhem]

May 1, 2024 8:54:17 GMT -5 hw77 said:

I like this plan! To me its all the extras that add up! And yes you absolutely must have skin in the game or else you'll head out to dinner instead of using the meal plan that is already paid for or go shopping at target for fun when you dont really need anything. I went to a private college and I truly had to sit out of a bunch of pricey outings just b/c we had a plan to pay for room and board but not all the frills.

I totally support the idea of having "skin in the game" in theory, but I feel like I missed out on so much of my college experience because I was constantly worried about money. I didn't join a sorority because it cost too much. I took on two jobs (research assistant and waitress) to cover part of my living expenses, leaving no time for any clubs or extra-curriculars. Basically, I worked and studied and that's it. I felt very isolated from my classmates who had the luxury of spending their time in other ways. If I can give my kids the chance to truly enjoy their college experience without worrying about covering the the small stuff, you better believe I'm going to do that. Maybe they will end up entitled? I don't know. I guess that's a risk I'm willing to take.

[sadlebred]

May 1, 2024 8:54:17 GMT -5 hw77 said:

I like this plan! To me its all the extras that add up! And yes you absolutely must have skin in the game or else you'll head out to dinner instead of using the meal plan that is already paid for or go shopping at target for fun when you dont really need anything. I went to a private college and I truly had to sit out of a bunch of pricey outings just b/c we had a plan to pay for room and board but not all the frills.

I suppose it depends on the person. I worked all through HS and in college-every summer, every break (no beach for me on Spring Break), anytime I was home for a long weekend. I also worked 3 jobs one summer. I had enough money for some basic extras, but I wasn't running to Target for fun (Ok, we didn't have a Target, but I grew up in the eras of "The Mall."). I had enough to go to dinner at the local cheap sit down place with friends and then out to get a drinks at the college bars once/month. I was very fortunate that my parents paid for all college expenses, and I was a good student. Keeping my grades up was simply part of the deal, and my parents would not let me work at my retail job during normal school blocks.

If they had make me take out loans to teach me out to be responsible it would have kept me back for years as an adult with saving for retirement early and buying my first home in my mid 20s. So, there are two sides to it.

[aspentosh]

We would love to fully fund DD's college. We have an instate tuition plan that will cover four years worth of a VA state school, or the equivalent to out of state. We won't require her to stay in state, but it'll be a convo when the time comes. She also, currently, wants to be a vet so..... lol

My mom paid for my college tuition and I am grateful for it each day. My first job out of college (in NoVA) made $33k. I lived with my sister, had no debt, lived frugally, and it was still almost impossible to make ends meet if I wanted to save anything. If DD is responsible with her money and we see her appreciating the gift and making college her "job", that's enough for me. I don't need her to take on debt to prove she cares, assuming we can make that happen.

[Deleted]

So I’m already living the college student that we are making take out small loans for skin in the game life. She also works and working is one of the best things for her. Anyway, she is living plenty college life fun. She goes to at least one concert every month, often two or three, eats out with friends (despite having a meal plan on campus), etc. we aren’t going to set her back years by taking out loans since they will be paid off as soon as she has graduated. She’s not missing out on much trust me.

But, she ended up in an alternative education program to finish high school. She had a 2.2 GPA finishing HS. She wasn’t great about attending classes or turning in assignments. So yeah some kids do absolutely need skin in the game to realize that this is $$ and not a time to screw around. She realized really quickly that if she went and took this loan this semester and then failed out she was on the hook for paying that money back without a degree. She’s about to finish her first semester with probably a 4.0. It was all a big risk for this particular kid, she’s only 17, she’s living on campus and she has a history of blowing school off and effing around. So yeah of course it’s nice to think your kid won’t do any of that and will be a model student going into college, but sometimes that’s not the kid you get. I’m just saying that keeping an open mind as to what might happen as your kids get older is probably a good idea. Oh and up until she was 13 and in 8th grade she was a model student and all that. It changed quickly.

[sdlaura]

aspentosh my first job out of college was also in NoVa and making $33k

[formerlyak]

Apr 23, 2024 11:15:34 GMT -5 sdlaura said:

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.

Are you taking a CSU? Because I just got my estimated costs from the UC my son will attend in the fall and all in it’s $44k.

[sdlaura]

formerlyak I’ll love if my kids can get into a UC. Yes I had looked up the CSUs. I think the housing costs vary a lot by region too.

[formerlyak]

sdlaura, I can't remember how old your kids are, but you really never know. If I learned anything this year, it's that each campus definitely looks for something different. My ds' first notification was from UC Davis, where he was waitlisted so we assumed the rest would be a no. But he got in to Irvine and Berkeley.

[sdlaura]

formerlyak that’s incredible - congrats to him! My oldest is 11 and youngest is 3, so who knows what things will be like when they’re applying.

[sometimesrunner]

We plan on paying for all of undergrad, assuming they choose an in state school. We started saving late, so we only have $43k saved between the two kids, and they're 12 and 8. We're putting in $900/month into their accounts and we probably won't stop saving since we're behind. If the 12 year old had $100k in his account, I would stop contributing because the growth alone should get us there and we could cashflow any shortfalls.

[Gato]

We haven't stopped yet, but we will stop at $80K for each. That's four years in our state university system or one full year at a top college. We're going by the rule 1/4 save before, 1/4 student provides through loans and work, 1/4 cash flow, and 1/4 (we hope more!) will be covered by grants and scholarships. Or if they stay in Maine, it's all paid for.  They've been told if they use less than $80K on college, they will get the remainder when they graduate.