Are you planning to pay for your kids education (ie college)?

MaryM

My kids are soooo young, but it is something I think about already. I would like to try to pay for our kids college if they decide to go, but I would have a lot of standards (must maintain a certain GPA, etc.) but my husband think that they should pay and learn responsibilty. What are your thoughts on it?

egpitt22

I see both sides of it.  We are saving for both kids right now (contributing each month to a 529), but who knows what college costs will be up to by then??  (of course my ultimate hope that I'll still be working at Pitt and they will both love it here and get in!)  we'll certainly do what we can, but we also know we need to take care of our retirement.

As far as responsibility, I was extremely fortunate in that my parents paid for my education.  They did tuition, as well as room & board. I was responsible for books every semester, and my cell phone.  I know there's an argument to say that kids need to learn the value of their own education by paying for it themselves, but for me, I was extremely motivated to do well in school because my parents were paying for it.  And maybe that's just my goody-two-shoes personality, but I have always had a huge fear of disappointing my parents.  So knowing that they were forking over a ton of money for me to be there was reason enough for me to get my butt to class enough to do fairly well!!  

lala5507

My oldest has a 529.  We haven't opened one for my youngest yet .  My feeling is, we will help them as much as we can.  I've heard financial people say you should always pay yourself first (retirement) and they put into a child's college fund.  Both dh and I are still paying off our college loans.  I think it will be a combo of both help from us and loans. 

Meghan&Rich

We have 529 accounts and plan to pay for as much as we can.  My parent's paid for everything and I would like to do the same, but I know that may not be realistic.  Rich's parent's didn't help with anything, which is fine, but I honestly can't imagine not helping even a little bit.  Of course, I have no intentions of paying for half-assed grades (although to be fair, I didn't always have stellar grades myself), so there will definitely be some standards if we're paying.  We will do whatever we can to help them out in any way...well, except delay my retirement. 

 The argument for paying vs. not paying can go so many different ways, you just need to do what is best for your family.  (as with everything!)

AmandaJLewis

we both managed to get out of college debt free. and it made a big difference in our ability to buy a house, get married, start a family.  Our hope is to provide the same for EJ. And we have a 529 plan started for her as well. But like others have also mentioned our retirements accounts are a higher priority. If we don't save enough for her full tuition, I don't have a problem with her taking on some loans. But we will help where we can.

gwennythepooh

In a perfect world, I'll still be working for a university which like Emmy said - she'll love and get into! I have no problem assisting her with college, but I do expect her to work hard in return. I commuted, so tuition was just what my folks and I worried about. I took on some student loan debt and they took on some Parent Plus loan debt and I got scholarships for the rest. So I'd lean toward something like this. But I don't plan on footing the bill entirely. We'll see how our finances look then!