How much to save for child's college?
Assuming targeting a top 50 public/private university. I know there are many factors, but let us discuss.
If you can start at birth, I think $10k per year should work out well.
Or have them go to state school, great education, and won't take all your money
Private school with scholarship. I had very little help from my parents and graduated $22k in students loans.
I went to a state school (not ranked) where semesters cost $2k, I had no trouble getting into Amazon straight out of college, no need to pay for expensive school, however with a scholarship that makes sense
If you're an immigrant send your kids to get (usually much cheaper) education in your native country and then come back to US. That's a good plan especially for tech jobs. Because education is pretty similar, always a ton of vacancies, and you don't pay those crazy ridiculous prices to US universities.
That may work in some very specific circumstances but otherwise it's horrible advice. Chance of your kid getting into top school in native country are pretty low and your kid is pretty much guaranteed culture shock.
State college. Pay with cash. Save your money for other things.
I have 5 kids and zero explicit college saving for them. Fuck college, I want them to have real lives, not be a corporate slave. We'll probably start a commune somewhere in Montana instead of continuing to participate in this fucked up world
I plan to be retired by kids college age, will have expenses under 24k. Will use that low income level to get 100% free college for every kid while still being a millionaire since this societies handouts are based on income not net worth
Depending on college You are expected to contribute 5% of your net worth (ex retirement accounts, primary house) every year to college for your kids.
I keep an eye on the yearly tuition cost for good in-state public universities. I want to be able to cover that, at the very least. Our plan is to offer our daughter to live with us when she goes to college, and we'll cover her tuition and living costs. If she wants more than that, she'll have to apply for scholarships or take student loans. If she chooses to go to college in our home country, it's a pretty sweet deal. No tuition and relatively low cost of living. But very shitty quality of life, so I doubt she'll want that.
Why would she (or you) want to live at home during college? She would be missing out on 50% of the value of college...
To save on costs? That way she'll be able to join the workforce without a ton of debt. And if she gets a part time job she can start investing way earlier than most.
$0. They can get scholarships.
What if they don't? Hard to predict when they are in2nd grade
Normally I would try to save more than what I might need (like retirement) but for education I don't mind coming a bit short (as opposed to end up with too much money in the 529). With that being said, I'm shooting to accumulate $100k for my son who will start college in 3 years. And $115 for my daughter who'll start in 7 years. Might not be enough but if that is the case, no big deal I'll just either pay the rest with out of 529 money or rely on subsidies or have my kids have small student loans.
How'd you pick those numbers? Aiming to pay for half of their education?