Comments on: Can You Afford To Send Your Kids To College? http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college Promoting Positive Images of Marriage and Parenting Since 2007 Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:09:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: ESW Financial Group, LLC http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-27277 ESW Financial Group, LLC Sat, 19 Jun 2010 15:10:57 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-27277 Please take a very good look at all the video's on my web site www.savingmoneytaxfree.com. It will be the best college savings tool you can start. feel free to contact me if you want to know more. Please take a very good look at all the video’s on my web site http://www.savingmoneytaxfree.com. It will be the best college savings tool you can start. feel free to contact me if you want to know more.

]]> By: Best Value Colleges | AXI http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-22059 Best Value Colleges | AXI Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:12:18 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-22059 [...] Can You Afford To Send Your Kids To College?That is their commitment to getting the best value for the money. This becomes a joint pro… [...] [...] Can You Afford To Send Your Kids To College?That is their commitment to getting the best value for the money. This becomes a joint pro… [...]

]]> By: Jill http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-21976 Jill Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:22:05 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-21976 Hi Tara, No matter what, the expense of getting through college is worth it. Over the course of his or her lifetime, the average high-school graduate will make about $1.2 million. The average college graduate will make almost double that—$2.1 million. Sounds like a great deal, even for those students who graduate college with $20,000 or so of student loans. There are some amazing statistics out there about how much college costs. For a four-year school, you've probably heard of numbers that sound impossibly large—sometimes beyond $100,000 for a private college. The good news is that the numbers don’t have to be so high. The average public college or university charged less than $13,000 last year. If that still sounds like too much, there's more good news: Financial aid is always an option. As someone who is an advocate of Allstate Insurance, I suggest checking out their financial Web site that has a lot of resources and information on savings plans including financial calculators that will help you determine the best method for you. You can find the information here: http://www.myallstatefinancial.com http://www.myallstatefinancial.com/financial/save-for-college.aspx Good luck! Hi Tara,
No matter what, the expense of getting through college is worth it. Over the course of his or her lifetime, the average high-school graduate will make about $1.2 million. The average college graduate will make almost double that—$2.1 million. Sounds like a great deal, even for those students who graduate college with $20,000 or so of student loans.
There are some amazing statistics out there about how much college costs. For a four-year school, you’ve probably heard of numbers that sound impossibly large—sometimes beyond $100,000 for a private college.

The good news is that the numbers don’t have to be so high. The average public college or university charged less than $13,000 last year. If that still sounds like too much, there’s more good news: Financial aid is always an option.

As someone who is an advocate of Allstate Insurance, I suggest checking out their financial Web site that has a lot of resources and information on savings plans including financial calculators that will help you determine the best method for you.

You can find the information here:
http://www.myallstatefinancial.com
http://www.myallstatefinancial.com/financial/save-for-college.aspx

Good luck!

]]> By: Anna http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-21952 Anna Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:02:05 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-21952 Can You Afford To Send Your Kids To College? ~~~~~~~~~ Nope! Too late though, one just graduated. I say let them get in debt like I did. LOL. I was a young mom and did not know any better. A 529 is great, and you do have to look towards the future. Is the 529 connected to your job, if so and you lose your job how does the 529 continue? I have a IRA that was purchased from my job that is deducted out of my "personal banking", even if I don't have my job, or go elsewhere to work, my IRA is still mine. No need to roll over. I have a life insurace policy with the company I work for but that also belongs to me no matter where I go, it has no ties to my job. I do have another life policy with the same company I work for, but it's a benefit of my job and that will be null and void if I no longer work where I do. I didn't read the comments and hope I did not reapeat what anyone said. @ Ronnie, I am mad at me for getting a FB account. I am not sure why I find it fun to chat with ppl I have always talked to on the phone. I finally completed my registration a few days ago. I already have 18 friends, too bad they are ppl I grew up with or my family. LOL. I was just happy that my kids accepted me as their friend. I sent a friend request to my first born. She accepted and said " Oh boy, welcome to fb mom". LOL . Kids, gotta love em. My first born had asked me a few weeks ago why I didn't have a FB page. She said it was fun. She forgot to add that it is addicting(but you already warned us). Can You Afford To Send Your Kids To College?
~~~~~~~~~
Nope! Too late though, one just graduated. I say let them get in debt like I did. LOL. I was a young mom and did not know any better. A 529 is great, and you do have to look towards the future. Is the 529 connected to your job, if so and you lose your job how does the 529 continue? I have a IRA that was purchased from my job that is deducted out of my “personal banking”, even if I don’t have my job, or go elsewhere to work, my IRA is still mine. No need to roll over. I have a life insurace policy with the company I work for but that also belongs to me no matter where I go, it has no ties to my job. I do have another life policy with the same company I work for, but it’s a benefit of my job and that will be null and void if I no longer work where I do. I didn’t read the comments and hope I did not reapeat what anyone said.
@ Ronnie, I am mad at me for getting a FB account. I am not sure why I find it fun to chat with ppl I have always talked to on the phone. I finally completed my registration a few days ago. I already have 18 friends, too bad they are ppl I grew up with or my family. LOL. I was just happy that my kids accepted me as their friend. I sent a friend request to my first born. She accepted and said ” Oh boy, welcome to fb mom”. LOL . Kids, gotta love em. My first born had asked me a few weeks ago why I didn’t have a FB page. She said it was fun. She forgot to add that it is addicting(but you already warned us).

]]> By: Alonzo@MochaMoney.com http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-21950 Alonzo@MochaMoney.com Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:57:21 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-21950 Tara, That's great that you set up a college fund already! If your kids are young then you have the greatest asset on your side - time and the power of compound interest. I always suggest that people pay more attention to their own retirement accounts than to their kids college fund - there will always be college loans but not loans to help people live after retirement =) I have to agree with Roger the best "investment" you can make for your kids is getting them prepared academically for high school and college. This is worth more than any money you could ever save. My parents didn't have much money but form a young age they made sure I was always reading (tv was seldom on in our house) and frequently took us to the library. They instilled great study skills and encouraged the development of a great vocabulary. Their first major purchase was not a new car or new tv but an encyclopedia set that they had to save up for quite a well to purchase. Academics always came first - we couldn't even consider sports until our grades were taken care of. All of this was more valuable to me than any amount of money and the skills they instilled early helped me get through college and graduate school. .-= Alonzo@MochaMoney.com´s last blog ..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MochaMoney/~3/Co_Act-quZ4/" rel="nofollow">Why Its Nearly Impossible to Leave the Supermarket With Just a Few Items</a> =-. Tara,

That’s great that you set up a college fund already! If your kids are young then you have the greatest asset on your side – time and the power of compound interest. I always suggest that people pay more attention to their own retirement accounts than to their kids college fund – there will always be college loans but not loans to help people live after retirement =)

I have to agree with Roger the best “investment” you can make for your kids is getting them prepared academically for high school and college. This is worth more than any money you could ever save.

My parents didn’t have much money but form a young age they made sure I was always reading (tv was seldom on in our house) and frequently took us to the library. They instilled great study skills and encouraged the development of a great vocabulary. Their first major purchase was not a new car or new tv but an encyclopedia set that they had to save up for quite a well to purchase. Academics always came first – we couldn’t even consider sports until our grades were taken care of.

All of this was more valuable to me than any amount of money and the skills they instilled early helped me get through college and graduate school.
.-= Alonzo@MochaMoney.com´s last blog ..Why Its Nearly Impossible to Leave the Supermarket With Just a Few Items =-.

]]> By: Tara @ The Young Mommy Life http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-21939 Tara @ The Young Mommy Life Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:26:51 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-21939 @Ronnie - I knew soooo many guys like your son when I was in high school (wow, has it really been seven years? LOL). Smart, could do homework in no time, but didn't really push themselves. I'll tell you though, in college, they had a rough first year, but picked it up by the time they got to sophomore year. All my husband's friends were like that. But they are all approaching 30 now, and every last one of them has a Master's. So it is possible to turn his attitude around. I do think he has to want it for himself, but at 16, 17, it's hard to understand how studying tonight will impact him 5, 10 years down the road. I would encourage you to keep doing what you're doing. As he gets older, his decisions are his decisions and as hard as it is for a mother, you will have to let him decide what he wants to do. He may stumble, but you are a great mom and will be able to help him back up if he needs it. :) Man, now you have me thinking about high school and grades and study habits for my kids...LOL. .-= Tara @ The Young Mommy Life´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2010/01/07/and-now-a-word-from-the-dads/" rel="nofollow">and now a word from the dads…</a> =-. @Ronnie – I knew soooo many guys like your son when I was in high school (wow, has it really been seven years? LOL). Smart, could do homework in no time, but didn’t really push themselves. I’ll tell you though, in college, they had a rough first year, but picked it up by the time they got to sophomore year. All my husband’s friends were like that. But they are all approaching 30 now, and every last one of them has a Master’s. So it is possible to turn his attitude around. I do think he has to want it for himself, but at 16, 17, it’s hard to understand how studying tonight will impact him 5, 10 years down the road.

I would encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing. As he gets older, his decisions are his decisions and as hard as it is for a mother, you will have to let him decide what he wants to do. He may stumble, but you are a great mom and will be able to help him back up if he needs it. :)

Man, now you have me thinking about high school and grades and study habits for my kids…LOL.
.-= Tara @ The Young Mommy Life´s last blog ..and now a word from the dads… =-.

]]> By: Ronnie http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-21937 Ronnie Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:51:20 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-21937 Thanks again Tara for motivating us to stay on the right track with our finances. I loved the post on your site regarding your four squares money plan. You listed all of things that I definitely need to focus on this year...especially staying out of Target sooooo much and tracking my spending at the grocery store. Regarding education I love that Mr. Madison stresses the importance of student commitment. I am struggling in this area with my teenager now. He is very intelligent and talented (all AP and honors classes.) I believe he could litterally do anything that he wants to do!! But it is a tooth and nail fight to get him to maintain As and Bs. If it was up to him , Cs would be perfectly fine. And he does not study or want to participate in extra cirricular activities beyond the ones I force him to do. It disturbs me because you are in AP classes and can get Bs and Cs without studying. So with a little more effort from you...your grades would be better. I have been telling him since middle school that he will have to do his part by making good grades and doing things that will set him apart from the other kids. Up until last summer, I would pay for him to attend special programs at local colleges like William and Mary and the College of Southern Maryland. But I stopped doing that because I felt like I was forcing these things on him...so he worked last summer. And I pray that his attitude changes quickly. I don't know how I am going to feel when he starts applying for college and he asks me to foot the entire bill for his education (when I know that he did not do his part to at least qualify for scholarships...espeicially when I know he is so taleneted.) Also, I am not going to attend college with him..I am not going to be able to make him do his homework, projects, and study for tests. Whew..that was a long rant..but Mr. Madison touched on something that I am struggling with right now. Thanks again Tara for motivating us to stay on the right track with our finances. I loved the post on your site regarding your four squares money plan. You listed all of things that I definitely need to focus on this year…especially staying out of Target sooooo much and tracking my spending at the grocery store.

Regarding education I love that Mr. Madison stresses the importance of student commitment. I am struggling in this area with my teenager now. He is very intelligent and talented (all AP and honors classes.) I believe he could litterally do anything that he wants to do!! But it is a tooth and nail fight to get him to maintain As and Bs. If it was up to him , Cs would be perfectly fine. And he does not study or want to participate in extra cirricular activities beyond the ones I force him to do. It disturbs me because you are in AP classes and can get Bs and Cs without studying. So with a little more effort from you…your grades would be better. I have been telling him since middle school that he will have to do his part by making good grades and doing things that will set him apart from the other kids. Up until last summer, I would pay for him to attend special programs at local colleges like William and Mary and the College of Southern Maryland. But I stopped doing that because I felt like I was forcing these things on him…so he worked last summer. And I pray that his attitude changes quickly. I don’t know how I am going to feel when he starts applying for college and he asks me to foot the entire bill for his education (when I know that he did not do his part to at least qualify for scholarships…espeicially when I know he is so taleneted.) Also, I am not going to attend college with him..I am not going to be able to make him do his homework, projects, and study for tests. Whew..that was a long rant..but Mr. Madison touched on something that I am struggling with right now.

]]> By: Tara @ The Young Mommy Life http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-21932 Tara @ The Young Mommy Life Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:21:03 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-21932 @Roger - Since my husband and I both work in fields that deal with education (his more directly as a higher ed administrator), the need for a solid education is well-known already to my kids. My daughter, who is 3 now, talks about college and I LOVE that. My 1-year-old son obviously isn't aware, but he loves reading and we have more books than we know what to do with. I want them surrounded by things that stimulate them intellectually. I don't necessarily just want to them to go to a great college, but I want them to love learning. :) .-= Tara @ The Young Mommy Life´s last blog ..<a href="http://www.theyoungmommylife.com/2010/01/07/and-now-a-word-from-the-dads/" rel="nofollow">and now a word from the dads…</a> =-. @Roger – Since my husband and I both work in fields that deal with education (his more directly as a higher ed administrator), the need for a solid education is well-known already to my kids. My daughter, who is 3 now, talks about college and I LOVE that. My 1-year-old son obviously isn’t aware, but he loves reading and we have more books than we know what to do with. I want them surrounded by things that stimulate them intellectually. I don’t necessarily just want to them to go to a great college, but I want them to love learning. :)
.-= Tara @ The Young Mommy Life´s last blog ..and now a word from the dads… =-.

]]> By: Roger Madison http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2010/01/07/can-you-afford-to-send-your-kids-to-college/comment-page-1#comment-21929 Roger Madison Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:20:05 +0000 http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/?p=7410#comment-21929 Tara, You are on the right track towards doing the right things. Look for any options that have pre-tax savings elements. However, there is a really important intangible element for everyone who is planning for college for their children. That element is "student commitment." I recently read a report about the "best values in Public Colleges." This report gives an overview of the factors to consider in getting the most for your money. You can see my post at http://bit.ly/FBRogerMadison. One of the key factors in student aid and palcement in the best schools is "student performance -- GPA and SAT/ACT scores." As you save and make early investments for the future of your child, you should also get them engaged in making early investments to prepare themselves with the best outcomes in high school. That is their commitment to getting the best value for the money. This becomes a joint project as you track your savings, and they track their performance. I lived in South Africa for 3 years and got to know families that sacrificed everything to get their children through college, because they saw this as an investment in a better future for their family. The students in these families were committed to not letting their family down by performing well. This used to be the attitude in Black families in the 40's and 50's and 60's when I grew up. My children knew when they were 3 years old that we were committed to them going to college. It was just a matter of where. Their role was to perform their best so that they had choices. Both of my children graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as out-of-state students. That is the No. 1 school on the Kiplinger list. Tara,
You are on the right track towards doing the right things. Look for any options that have pre-tax savings elements. However, there is a really important intangible element for everyone who is planning for college for their children. That element is “student commitment.”

I recently read a report about the “best values in Public Colleges.” This report gives an overview of the factors to consider in getting the most for your money. You can see my post at http://bit.ly/FBRogerMadison.

One of the key factors in student aid and palcement in the best schools is “student performance — GPA and SAT/ACT scores.” As you save and make early investments for the future of your child, you should also get them engaged in making early investments to prepare themselves with the best outcomes in high school. That is their commitment to getting the best value for the money. This becomes a joint project as you track your savings, and they track their performance.

I lived in South Africa for 3 years and got to know families that sacrificed everything to get their children through college, because they saw this as an investment in a better future for their family. The students in these families were committed to not letting their family down by performing well.

This used to be the attitude in Black families in the 40′s and 50′s and 60′s when I grew up. My children knew when they were 3 years old that we were committed to them going to college. It was just a matter of where. Their role was to perform their best so that they had choices. Both of my children graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as out-of-state students. That is the No. 1 school on the Kiplinger list.

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