forum

Welcome, Guest
Please Login or Register. Lost Password?

Go to bottom

Page: 1

TOPIC: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!

Forum Tools

Daddy Brad

Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them! 3 Years, 6 Months ago
What better time than during the most severe economic downturn in decades, to bring up the discussion of How Much is College Going to Cost. Check this out. For a child born today, the average cost of a college degree will be:<br><br>2yr Associates Degree: $51,955<br>4yr Piublic In State: $133,198<br>4yr Public Out of State $199,034<br>4yr Private: $287,089<br><br>What's your plan?

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

concretin_nik

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

I buy a lottery ticket twice a week. And here's hoping for scholarships.<br><br>Right now, we're saving $200 a month for him for whatever... the money doesn't have a plan yet, but it's there... I suspect it will go towards college, but I'm sure it still won't be near enough. I also suspect he'll graduate with some student loan debt unfortunately. Just like his old man did. (Paid off! Woo Hoo! But damn, that was an expensive piece of paper.)

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

Daddy Clay

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them! 3 Years, 6 Months ago
Dude -- listen to yourself…

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

sean2

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them! 3 Years, 6 Months ago
I think this is the most useful video you guys have ever done. Really, really good analysis.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

sean2

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

So to break it down...if you wanted to pay for a 4 year private school in cash, with no financial aid or loans, that would require $596/month savings for 22 years, assuming you are earning 5% on your savings. Ouch.<br><br>If you can muster up $200/mo payment for 22 years, you'll have $96,270.<br><br>These are rough numbers. The other thing is that if you are saving...say...$200/mo now, you should be able to save more on a monthly basis 10 years from now (considering inflation and earnings increases over your career). So I think a more realistic scenario of monthly savings amounts increasing over time would paint a more rosy picture.<br><br>Daddy Brad, you have inspired me to make a more accurate spreadsheet!! If I ever get around to actually doing it, I will share with group....

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

Daddy Clay

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

The one thing that isn't really accounted for in the vid, and has come into focus recently -- where can you get a useful rate of return on your investment? My wife and I have saved diligently, but we used 529s -- these are supposed to reduce risk over the life of the fund, but the money we have saved for our 10 yr old got slammed just as hard as that we had saved for our 4 yr old. Safer vehicles just aren't going to get the interest you need. Things get really hairy when you start to program into your planning an effective savings rate of 3-4% like you get with a CD these days. And just how safe is a CD? Munis?<br><br>8 years doesn't look as far away as it used to -- particularly when looking at these numbers.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

ben

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

I've read that the best place is an IRA or 401k since they can't count as income or assets, no matter how large. Our Credit Union offers an IRA savings account with 6.05% interest, which is pretty sweet. I don't know if Universal Life policies work the same way, but there are a good number of them that have fixed rates or at least they always have gains because they're tied to an interest rate, They may have conservative gains, but it's money you'll use whether you borrow against it for college or can keep it all for retirement.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

sean2

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

Putting the money in an IRA or 401k and then taking the tax penalty hit for an early withdrawl is an interesting idea. Obviously the IRS is gonna take an extra 10% whack at it for early withdrawl, but that might be acceptable when you consider all of the financial aid grants you are giving up if you were to have a huge 529.<br><br>However....there is one sticking point....if you pull $30k, $40k or $50k out every year for 4 years then your income tax bracket is going to go through the roof. You'll be in the 35% bracket in a hurry. And that could get really painful.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

sean2

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them! 3 Years, 6 Months ago
Maybe a Roth IRA solves this problem??

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

ben

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them! 3 Years, 6 Months ago
You can take a loan against your retirement, essentially paying yourself back. You can do that against a Universal Life policy, too. Then there's no tax issue.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

sean2

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

Right, I see what you are saying. But if I'm thinking about this correctly, you will be paying that loan back with after tax money...i.e. you have not taken advantage of tax deferred growth. If you're not taking advantage of tax deferred growth, then why not just forget about all this 529 and IRA stuff, and just dump your after tax money into a normal bank CD?<br><br>I think it would make sense to take a loan out against a retirement account, if my kid was 18 right now, and I was in desparate straights needing a quick fix. But I'm thinking more along the lines of how to start saving now for the upcoming 16-18 years.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

Daddy Brad

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

Well, lowering the bar is as difficult as it is to get her to raise the bar. Just as she is a person who is naturally not a cleaner, I am a person who is naturally up tight about clean things. And I have lowered the bar, but I don't want to totally let go of the bar. You know? I can't let go of something that's a part of my personality! Anyway, I think the thing is that we need to seriously talk about it. I mean, yes, I've had the conversation with her before. Before the baby news, I had asked if she didn't respect me because it seemed that she purposefully goes against me on the cleaning issue, when she knows how I like things to be in their place. It's frustrating, very frustrating! Bottom line is there needs to be some give from me on letting up on cleaning, and she needs to step it up a bit. That's the only way we will come to a resolution.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

amy

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them! 3 Years, 6 Months ago
Eek, I'd be terrified of doing this, and I used to be a real estate agent. Homes in my area have easily dropped $100k over the past year.

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

sean2

Re: Save Your Pennies, $#@& Loads of Them!
3 Years, 6 Months ago

Would love to be in more real estate right now. I think it would be a wonderful hedge against the inflation I see coming down the road.<br><br>However, I just finished reading an article in Wash Post claiming that if you are going to get a investment/rental property these days you need 20% down, and you're going to pay 1% higher interest rate than a normal owner-occupied mortgage.<br><br>So frustrating. Maybe some REIT's are the way to go?

Last Edit: 2009/04/16 05:51 By .

The administrator has disabled public write access.

Go to top

Page: 1

Powered by Kunena

get the latest posts directly to your desktop

New Live Show

Catch the latest episode of DadLabs Live.
Every Thursday at 1pm CST

example_live_show

Broadcasted live from DadLabs World HQ. Good News Dad News brings you the latest parenting news, reviews and hot topics.

Recent Video

Dadchelor Parties

Dadchelor Parties

Daddy Clay talks to Beth Feldman, Founder and Pres... more

Motorola - What to get Mom for Mother's Day

Motorola - What to get Mom for Mother's ...

More chatting with the DadLabs progeny! They have ... more

Recent Forum

Finding / Starting a Dad Group?

Hey guys, I'm sitting here in my office for what's going to be my last month of work in Washington DC before making my way down... more

From Bad to Worse!

Background My partner is now 8 weeks pregnant, and things between us is going from bad to worse. This is the second time she... more

Recent Blog

When a Tie Feels Like a Win

My son loves to drape his arm casually over my shoulder and loom there. Usually with a sli… more

Boogs & Bugs

As I dropped my youngest off at daycare this morning, the teachers’ in the 18 month old ro… more