I was just wondering what kind of college funds people had set up for their kids, or even if people had one. When my grandmother died in November, she left me some money, and Scott and I decided to take most of it and open a 529 plan for the kids.

If you do have one, do you make deposits in it regularly, and if so, how much?

Holly

__________________
Forgiveness is love in its most noble form. -Anonymous

Save all you can, college is getting more and more expensive every day!

Ditto for retirement!!!

__________________
Square dancing is friendship set to music!

Ours is invested in a state tuition fund. I won't say what state. We put $200 a month into the fund.

You can't save too much. Our oldest is a freshman at MSU here in Montana. Thankfully she got a four year all tuition paid scholarship (academic) and we thought we were home free. Nope! Room/Board in the dorms is $3500 PER SEMESTER and then you have to add on books. This puts us around 8 grand just for her freshman year and we aren't even paying tuition!

Two more girls behind her too. Oh well, it IS money well spent, it's just hard writing those checks.

We have a 529 plan for each of my kids. We put $333/mo per kid. That is the max the state will let you deduct.

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Sadly we dont have any savings for the boys for college but I think that we are finally in a position to change that now. We should be able to help both the boys out quite a bit with school but they are either going to have to work part time or get scholarships too.

Darlene

__________________
Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

I have a senior at Miami U. Ohio and a senior in high school that just got accepted to Miami U for the fall. When both of the boys were toddlers, I opened a prepaid college tuition fund for them through the state. It was the best thing I've ever done. Great program and so easy to understand. I ended up having 5 years worth for the oldest which is a good thing because he just got word today that he was accepted for the master's program there. He tells me that alot of his college buddies are going to graduate and be $100K in debt. for a 4 year degree. Will they ever get that paid off??

Zero, zilch, zip, nada.
Both dh and moi-self found ways to put ourselves through school and we figure if it was good enough for us, it's good enough for our heir force.
We keep pounding into our kids' craniums that scholarships/grants are a musto in this fam.
Have one kid in college now, earned a boatload of scholarships, was high school valedictorian, and now has more expendable income thane *we* do at this point, due to all his scholarships.
Have 4 more kids to go, are still pounding into them the same as we did for first college kid. Currently we have a hs sr., a 14yo, and 2 - 12yo kids. HS sr. is autistic (with a mensa IQ) and has mental illness. Because of his disabilities he will be eligable for grants/scholarsahips most kids won't have access to. But we still keep re-iterating his need to get to/and apply for college on his own steam.
We remember our own college days and how the kids who had to pay their own way made out much better ( 30+ years later) than the kids who had folks who could pay their way through school.
That said, how I wish I could be able to afford to be one of the parents who *could *pay my kids' ways through college ;-) Is that a hypocritical dichotomy or what ? ;-)
MZ

DH & I both paid our own ways through college and didn't want the same for our kids. However, we will pay their expenses, but do not plan to pay for their spending cash & extras. They need to appreciate it. The 529 plans have a low penalty if you don't use it for college expenses. We're still preaching scholarships and have told them if they receive scholarships and don't need the money we've saved, we will pay part of a car or take a trip to Europe or something with it. So, they still have incentives to do their best, but it's there if we need it.

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I'm going to check into the pre-paid college program in our state where you lock in the current cost of tuition, local fees, and dormitory housing. DD is only 7 months old right now, but if we start the pre-paid plan, that means that we won't have to put as much in each month as we would have to if she were 7 years old. Now to determine which tuition plan to choose. There is a 2-year community college program, a 2-year community college and 2-year university program, and a 4-year university program. I want DD to get a good education, but I can't force her to go to school if she doesn't want too, so I don't know if we should sign up for a 2-year program or a 4-year program. If we sign her up for a 4-year program and she doesn't go, then the money would be gone.

Sign up for the 529 plan - you don't have to use the state you live in, pick the state that has the plan that's best for you - you use it for any college expenses at any program at any school...even stuff like a computer for college is covered. It can also be transferred to any member of your imediate family, so if a younger sibling needed it or if you wanted to go back to school at a later date you could use it. Also, if you end up with it and don't need it or don't use it all, it's a lower penalty to take it out. It's a great deal!

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

First and foremost our 'retirement fund' comes first, but we do save for our daughters college too. We have a very healthy 529 plan that we contribute to each payday and also have I-Bonds too. Between the two it should be enough to cover at least 2 years worth of college (or more) plus we will also be looking into every possible scholarship and grant we can for her. While we won't be able to pay 100% of her college years, we'll do the best we can without going in the hole.

__________________
"Why must you speak, when you have nothing to say." Horatio Hornblower

I have to tell you people that we (DH andI) did not plan for our children to have a "college fund". They do have one because all the great-grand children in the family has a trust fund from dear-departed great- grandma. Great-grandma died the day we had our middle DD and we didn't know until about a year after that there was a trust fund for college. We had decided that we paid for ours and appreciated it more than if we hadn't earned it. I don't want to mislead you either....both of our families could have put us through college with ease...they choose not to and we thank them every day that we earned it. Just something to think about.

nooooooo... if my kids want to go . they can pay for it. With ssi disappearing dh and I decided to cover our retirement so we do not have to burden our children as we age. We may help them if we can.. not killing myself to do so though!

__________________
Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

My mother ia actually paying for my DD's college fund. She puts money into a state paid tuition fund and DD's tuition rate is locked in at 1998 rates because she signed her up when she was 1yr old. If DD decides not to go the money is refundable so you might want to check into it.

__________________
"Let me watch my children grow to see what they become
Lord don't let that cold wind blow til I'm too old to die young'

our daughter 's college , when fishined will actually cost more then our home and 5+ acres did when we bought it.

__________________
·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·
«·´¨*·.¸¸. Jo ¸¸.·*¨`·»
«·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·»


Please leave feedback for me here.
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/g-l/...-littlejo.html



gretchengirl@gmail.com

http://lifewithlittlejo.blogspot.com/

We started mutual funds for the two oldest boys when they were babies. Unfortunately, we have pretty much liquidated our oldest son's to help pay for all of the expenses of his oncology treatments this year, and the easiest place for us to get the $$, so it was really a godsend for us. Hopefully, he will be able to get some scholarships, I have heard the American Cancer Society is great about that, and we have plenty of equity in the house to draw from as well. The 13yr. old is set and the two younger boys will have their college paid for by us as well. My parents didn't pay for my college, or really help in any way to support me, and I ended up not finishing. As long as my kids are in full-time and doing well, we will foot the bill. And I hope they remember us in our old age-lol...

We have an UGMA setup for both our little ones. We deposit a little bit every month along with Grandma. We also deposit all the money they receive for birthdays and holidays as well. Because they are both so young we ask for no gifts at birthdays and if people want to give they can give towards their college fund (no pressure). The advantage to the UGMA (uniformed Gift to Minor Act) it is invested in mutual funds and if they don't go to college they don't lose it. It can also be spent on lots of other things as well.

linnybop,

so sorry to hear about your son.....we had a scare last year with our middle DD and I can't even imagaine your nightmare. Mine was scary enough and ours was over before it started. Let me know if you need anything, a shoulder, some prayers, whatever.

mrk11118