Didn't save. Wish we had. Kids borrowed money for school. I'm paying it off over 10 years. I'll be done when I retire. Hook, You might want to start saving for a wedding too. I'm still paying that one off too.
Average cost to raise a kid: $241,080 - Aug. 14, 2013 $241,080 is the new average to raise a child from 0 to 18.
Seems about right. Although our baby has been much cheaper than I was expecting. Not including nanny costs, we might spend $50/month on her right now
yeah breastfeeding and one of the large boxes of diapers only costs like $40 and they usually last about a month right now
I have a stash for her college some money I inherited and some of mine. Every year I max out my 401k and I take a look at my checking account and take 25% of that money and put that in her mutual fund.
Yes, we have 529s for both kids but the reality is that won't even come close to covering it. My son graduates this year and even after putting in what we thought was good amount a month since he was 5 there is maybe enough in there to pay for part of one year. Definitely max your 401K before you put money in their 529, your child having a college degree doesn't mean you can live with them when you retire. You don't want to be a burden on them in old age.
We didn't start a savings plan just for their college as we wanted them to do all that they could . We did pay what we had to when we had to but they all done a great job of finding scholarships or going with the GI bill . My biggest expense was paying for a summer class every once in a while just to lighten their coarse load , when needed .
Add in the other sunk cost of crib, diaper bags (matching purse), baby Toms, clothes, stroller, etc and I bet your avg cost per month increases substantially! Oh, and if you extrapolate over 18 or 20+ years...and add in a few more... -Bill
I am of the opinion college is their(student) responsibility and agree with much of hooks assessments in the second paragraph of his first post. I am there for my daughter. Her car, insurance, phone and such. Provided she is doing her part. She slacks off, then so do I. She had a 3.9 gpa as a freshman. A small dance scholarship and now has a job. Seems to be working. Problem is with the student loans being setup per parents income (unless she becomes pregnant and moves out on her own, then the government pays for it) she can only borrow a certain percentage of the actuall cost. The rest we had to take a loan out for and she will be paying us back. She does get a chunk back at tax time because if the student loans. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Set up a 529 College Savings Plan for your kid(s) and contribute what you can to it. Every State has one. The money grows tax free and is invested in the market with the potential to grow thanks to compound interest. I don't plan on paying for the entire thing but I'll do the best I can to help. If you save all your money to pay for your childrens schooling you will end up living in their basement at retirement because you will have underfunded your 401(k)
Hooker it really starts to cost you cash as they get older, they out grow clothes in months and sometimes weeks if they hit a growth spurt. I have bought 3 pairs of soccer shoes in the last 7 months and they were not worn out, just to small. She went from a kids 6 to a ladies size 8 in less than a year. Here is what I spend just on my daughter School 11,000(this is my choice, but it's still expense) Soccer Club $2,500 They above is not counting food, doctors, glasses, braces etc. Yes I save for her college.
We opened money market accounts and savings accounts for both of our children when they were born. When they get cash for anything they get to keep some to save for whatever they want, buy some stuff and the rest goes into the savings until there is enough to put more into their money market account.
I can only speak of my own experience with my son who is halfway through college. As long as he makes good grades (3.0 or better), stays out of trouble, takes a full course load and puts what he makes in the Summer towards his college, I am going to pay the rest so that he doesn't have a huge debt starting out his career. Like many of you, I had no choice but to put myself through, working full time on the evening shift at a grocery warehouse and going to classes in the morning. I am proud of this but at the same time, I missed out on a lot of the college experience by doing so. I know there is fine line between spoiling and helping, but I did save for his college and can afford to help him, so that is what I am doing. He has never dropped a class, has a 3.6 GPA, and will finish his undergraduate in Accounting in MAY 2014 after only three years. If he was just partying and had a low GPA, I would do things differently, but as long as he upholds his end of the bargain, so will I.
I put savings for his college in a 529 account and it has worked out nicely. Also, FWIW, some of you that have kids that are interested in sports...depending on the sport (my son played baseball), there High School Summers will most likely be filled up with Summer Leagues that can limit the amount of work they can do towards saving for college. We could start a whole other debate on the over emphasis of sports at the High School level, but the reality is that if your child goes to a school of much size at all, they will most likely have to really concentrate on that sport in order to compete unless they are really athletically gifted. And if they are, you will still have them in everything you can pertaining to that sport hoping they can make it to the college level.
I paid for my school on my own (paid off), and am still paying for my wifes school (about half paid off). With us going to a single income as of tomorrow so my wife can stay at home with our little man, we aren't able to double up on the existing school loan for my wife anymore. As of right now I'm inclined to start saving something for the kid once my wifes loans are paid. I don't think we will pay for all of the schooling or even half of it, but if he's a hard worker we will find a way to help him when that time comes.
My son just did a couple months of physical therapy for his pitching/throwing arm. That was about $2000. His feet have cost about the same with custom orthodics and such. It was actually a shoulder issue. Cleats are rediculous. I was buying them 2 1/2 sizes big just to get through a season and he was in adult sizes when he was 8. They're more expensive. This past season I had to buy 2 pair Dance was/is extremely expensive as well. Daughter had both feet operated on between her junior/ senior seasons in high school. It had to be done if she was going to continue to dance. Might have been able to live with it otherwise. I agee, it only gets more expensive. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
It sucks paying $700 a month for school loans for the last 8 years with 7 more years to go. I don't want my kids to have to do the same. We're planning on helping out as much as we can with housing, food, etc. but our kids (only have one currently) will be responsible for a chunk. I'm really hoping that our local university is still offering 75% off tuition for employee's children when that time comes. I'll take whatever job I can get there to save that kind of money.
