re: Those with children: how much are you saving per child for college?

I'm just cash flowing it. I want to keep control of my money.

I have a 6 and 4, put 500 each in their 529s monthly. Their mother passed and it's her SS that i let pass through straight to them so i can tell them she paid for their college.

Some wealthy people in this thread...

Came from a middle class family. I was given a vehicle and some cash occasionally when I needed it. My parents were always there if I needed them, but they weren't gonna just hand me a shite ton of cash just because I was going to college. It would be awesome to have no debt right now, but the work ethic I built through school helped mold me. Now with all that said I don't want my kids to come out of college with the amount of debt I or my wife had. I'm in a good financial position where I'll do like others and contribute a modest 100 dollars a month. But they will work, and they will learn to build a strong work ethic early in adulthood.

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I do about half in a 529 and half in a brokerage account

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I keep saying I'm going to split my $400/month like this but I always end up in the same place - at the rate things are going, I won't come very close to being able to pay for everything from the 529, so no danger in overfunding it and dealing with the penalty.

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Assuming 25k a semester? Holy shite dude.

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A semester at top 25 university has cost more than this for over 5 years.

FYI, according to an article my wife found on Yahoo Finance, a single year of tuition at a private school in 2030 will cost about $175,000 at the current rate of increase.

I've said this before, higher education is the last bubble left to pop in our economy, propped up by unlimited government loans. Fortunately, the demographics will pop this bubble before the government's support of liberal educational institutions will cease.

As of 1990 (kids who started college in 2008, I.e. the last year of generation Y, 1978-1990), the birth rate has fallen off a cliff and the number of college students has dropped every year since and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

As evidence, the WSJ had a recent series on massive layoffs at major private schools, notably Loyola New Orleans and Spring Hill, who have laid off over 1/3 of their respective staffs with huge dropoffs in applications and new students recently.

I'm on the board of my local alumni club for a top 25 university and the number of applicants is consistently 50% less than it was 5 and 10 years ago and the school has DOUBLED its acceptance rate from 10 years ago just to fill the same size freshmen class.

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I will pay for 4 years in state, non private tuition.

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I have one on the way. I'm not sure the whole idea that you have to graduate high school and go to college to be successful wil even be around in 18 years when she is making that choice. I always said I will pay for four year in state public and that my kids will have to work while in college as well. If they earn a full ride, I'll give them 50% of the tuition costs upon college graduation. That said, I will encourage my kids to pursue whatever avenue they want to go down, whether it be college or not.

No kids or wife yet but I am thinking I will pay for school but just not tell the kid.

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I'm just cash flowing it. I want to keep control of my money.

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This.

Whatever the cost is, I plan to cover half of all their college expenses. That is enough to give them a head start, but not enough to where they feel entitled or think they don't need to put out any effort.

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I would suggest nothing. Let them make their own way

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Some people will agree with this, and I don't necessarily think it's wrong. But, my parents paid for everything and it turned out great for me . I know too many people with 2 or 3 years of college who ended up quitting school to take a break and just make some money at the job they had eventually never going back to school.

I hope to pay for my kid to go to the best school possible for them. I don't think I'll pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for art school, but if he were to get into a school like Stanford, I'm not going to tell him tough shite, find a way to pay for it or go to a state school.

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Independence is a wonderful thing.

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My wife paid for everything herself through work and student loans. We both do very well, so it's by no means the end of the world. But if we didn't have her student loans, we'd be VERY comfortable. So independence might be a nice concept, but not having that debt if her parents would have shelled out the money for college would be pretty sweet too .

And I'm not saying that anyone has to shell out money for their kid. Her parents weren't in the best financial state at the time and it's certainly understandable. I would never hold that against anyone. But, I don't buy into the thought process that a kid will turn out better if they pay their own way. Way too many rich people have successful children who got a little bit of benefit from the silver spoon to think it's not beneficial.