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I think your last statement is a little ridiculous. The individual said "if" he/she has children. Meaning they are not certain. So why should they save money for a child's education that may or may not exist? If the individual is not a parent...how can they be a PPPPP as you like to say? You have 18 years to save for a child's college education. Putting away 200-300 a month into a 529 for 18 years would be more than enough to support the majority of a child's college education.
Did you read any of my last posts? We are in violent agreement.
I was an engineer. I took calculated risks. The potential for a child was not zero percent. (Well, when I got married I also got a vasectomy, so that eliminated the risk, as any smart person would do).
(As an aside, I never knew I would have a child (well not technically), and thus rule #1 is hedge your bets.)
Quote:"So why should they save money for a child's education that may or may not exist?"
Because if one ultimately does exist, without saving, I hope the parents are ashamed that either: 1). they put the child in so much in debt, or 2). they could not send their child to an institution where they could realize their utlimate potential, or 3). Geez, a few less vacations or expensive cars could have covered all of this.
So I played my cards correctly, though I hope I don't have to fork over the $500K for seven years at a good school (but at least I will be happy by contributing someone valuable to society... another MD/PhD). But, to each his own.
Did you read any of my last posts? We are in violent agreement.
I was an engineer. I took calculated risks. The potential for a child was not zero percent. (Well, when I got married I also got a vasectomy, so that eliminated the risk, as any smart person would do).
(As an aside, I never knew I would have a child (well not technically), and thus rule #1 is hedge your bets.)
Quote:"So why should they save money for a child's education that may or may not exist?"
Because if one ultimately does exist, without saving, I hope the parents are ashamed that either: 1). they put the child in so much in debt, or 2). they could not send their child to an institution where they could realize their utlimate potential, or 3). Geez, a few less vacations or expensive cars could have covered all of this.
So I played my cards correctly, though I hope I don't have to fork over the $500K for seven years at a good school (but at least I will be happy by contributing someone valuable to society... another MD/PhD). But, to each his own.
My point was you are calling the individual a p*ss poor planner for saving for a child that does not exist and may not ever exist. Once the child exists I agree with you saving becomes more important.
Also, PhDs are fully funded, so you shouldn't worry about that. If someone is paying for their PhD they are not in a good program. Any school that can't fund a PhD program probably shouldn't have one.
If the child decides to go on for an MD I have no issue with them paying for that themselves. I'll pay for my children's UG, if they choose to go to graduate school it is on them. I think that is a fair compromise and what my parent's did for me and my siblings.
Or financing a car means that you have great credit because of sound financial decisions and that your money is earning more in your investments then you are paying in interest on the car loan....
The car depreciates at the same rate whether you own it or lease it. So what you pay on your car loan is purely secondary.
Considering I am only on my 2nd car since graduating from college (which was a long time ago), and buying a hugely depreciated vehicle, I would like to see the numbers for your 'sound financial decisions', whatever that means. Then we can get into the more advanced things; did you buy gold at $193/oz, and sell it at $1571/oz? (I was too young to buy it any earlier, d*mn). Sort of makes the cost of a car irrelevant.
My point was you are calling the individual a p*ss poor planner for saving for a child that does not exist and may not ever exist. Once the child exists I agree with you saving becomes more important.
Also, PhDs are fully funded, so you shouldn't worry about that. If someone is paying for their PhD they are not in a good program. Any school that can't fund a PhD program probably shouldn't have one.
If the child decides to go on for an MD I have no issue with them paying for that themselves. I'll pay for my children's UG, if they choose to go to graduate school it is on them. I think that is a fair compromise and what my parent's did for me and my siblings.
Quote:"My point was you are calling the individual a p*ss poor planner for saving for a child that does not exist and may not ever exist."
Since you don't know the circumstances, always plan for the worst.
Quote:"Also, PhDs are fully funded, so you shouldn't worry about that. If someone is paying for their PhD they are not in a good program."
That is a knee-slapper... when was the last time you were enrolling someone in one of those programs? Explain that to three of my relatives (who have MD/PhD degrees). Straight med school at a mediocre place (like UMass Worcester) is about $52K a year, (they went to Ivy's, but about the same cost) and then the PhD stuff gets really expensive.
'splain that Lucy, to my parents. Whacked them fairly good. Though to be fair, I whacked them fairly good as well, until I got employers that would keep sending me to graduate schools, but I digress).
Bottom line is that school is NOT cheap, but to give an individual the best opportunities in life, (as a personal opinion), I think it is mandatory.
The car depreciates at the same rate whether you own it or lease it. So what you pay on your car loan is purely secondary.
Considering I am only on my 2nd car since graduating from college (which was a long time ago), and buying a hugely depreciated vehicle, I would like to see the numbers for your 'sound financial decisions', whatever that means. Then we can get into the more advanced things; did you buy gold at $193/oz, and sell it at $1571/oz? (I was too young to buy it any earlier, d*mn). Sort of makes the cost of a car irrelevant.
Financing a car (or house) in this economy makes complete sense. The price of gold has nothing to do with it.
Quote:"My point was you are calling the individual a p*ss poor planner for saving for a child that does not exist and may not ever exist."
Since you don't know the circumstances, always plan for the worst.
Quote:"Also, PhDs are fully funded, so you shouldn't worry about that. If someone is paying for their PhD they are not in a good program."
That is a knee-slapper... when was the last time you were enrolling someone in one of those programs? Explain that to three of my relatives (who have MD/PhD degrees). Straight med school at a mediocre place (like UMass Worcester) is about $52K a year, (they went to Ivy's, but about the same cost) and then the PhD stuff gets really expensive.
'splain that Lucy, to my parents. Whacked them fairly good. Though to be fair, I whacked them fairly good as well, until I got employers that would keep sending me to graduate schools, but I digress).
Bottom line is that school is NOT cheap, but to give an individual the best opportunities in life, (as a personal opinion), I think it is mandatory.
Phd programs are funded plus stipend. Professional degrees (MD, JD, MBA, etc) are generally not (but can be).
Quote:"My point was you are calling the individual a p*ss poor planner for saving for a child that does not exist and may not ever exist."
Since you don't know the circumstances, always plan for the worst.
Quote:"Also, PhDs are fully funded, so you shouldn't worry about that. If someone is paying for their PhD they are not in a good program."
That is a knee-slapper... when was the last time you were enrolling someone in one of those programs? Explain that to three of my relatives (who have MD/PhD degrees). Straight med school at a mediocre place (like UMass Worcester) is about $52K a year, (they went to Ivy's, but about the same cost) and then the PhD stuff gets really expensive.
'splain that Lucy, to my parents. Whacked them fairly good. Though to be fair, I whacked them fairly good as well, until I got employers that would keep sending me to graduate schools, but I digress).
Bottom line is that school is NOT cheap, but to give an individual the best opportunities in life, (as a personal opinion), I think it is mandatory.
Last time I enrolled in a PhD program was 2007. Mine was fully funded plus a 13.5k/yr stipend as NJBest just mentioned. If you are in the hard sciences or Management PhD program that stipend can actually approach 30k/yr.
My brother chose to pursue an MS in Computer Science from a top 3 program and my sister a JD from a top 20 program.
Parents did not pay for any of it. I don't see any reason why any parents should pay for their children's graduate degrees. They are adults at that point in time.
Last time I enrolled in a PhD program was 2007. Mine was fully funded.
My brother chose to pursue an MS in Computer Science from a top 3 program and my sister a JD from a top 20 program.
Parents did not pay for any of it. I don't see any reason why any parents should pay for their children's graduate degrees. They are adults at that point in time.
Yes, I was simply letting him know that it was very recently. I'm actually still working on my dissertation, but am working full time, so it does cost me 700 dollars a year now (350/semester). But yes, for those that are still fulltime students they are still funded with a stipend, if it is a reputable program.
Financing a car (or house) in this economy makes complete sense. The price of gold has nothing to do with it.
Sure does. Buy a (mostly) depreciated vehicle, and then get 8 times your investment with gold (well, and a zillion times that from startups) obviates the cost of virtually any car. More millionaires (back then, accounting for inflation) were made during the depression than any other time in US history.
The title of this thread is about student loans. If parents took their responsibilities and would pay for schooling, this thread would not even exist.
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