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Friends and coworkers scrimp and save to send their kids to private schools. Mostly Catholic schools since they are cheaper than private academies for the rich. Some families aren't even Catholic. Public schools are a disgrace, staffed by mostly incompetent teachers who have tenure and filled with children who don't speak English and whose parents for the most part don't care about education.
So these parents are paying taxes for bad schools and bad teachers IN ADDITION TO their own kids's schools.
Surely there would have been at least a few households in your neighborhood pulling 150k that would have benefited from this law. I mean if you guys were at 140k, chances are there were folks living nearby making a few grand more, right?
Shouldn’t we put a 50% tax on going to college? Not doing so takes away tax funds that can be used to help people.
I’m with Goodnight; we should place massive taxes on getting an education so the government has more money to spend.
Who said anything about college, this is elementary and high school.
If you choose to send you child to private school that is your choice, it doesn't need to be subsidized by tax payers. I guess this is the plan to address the problems we have in public education, more private school students and subsidies.
Surely there would have been at least a few households in your neighborhood pulling 150k that would have benefited from this law. I mean if you guys were at 140k, chances are there were folks living nearby making a few grand more, right?
I'm not sure what you are getting at. I don't ask my neighbors' salaries. Surely, you are correct and they may have benefitted. I can only speak to my very good friends that I happen to discuss money with and we were all in the same boat. Couldn't really start a 529 plan because we were paying for private school. I do have a coworker whose parents were funding the 529 for the grandkids so that was nice.
My point was that there are many working class people who won't ever be able to use this because they haven't been able to sufficiently fund a 529K when their kid starts elementary school. It will be a benefit, though, for those who make enough money to do that.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a 529 plan something that you invest in so that it has growth over 17 years while you are waiting for college. How can it work for K-12 if you are building it during those years? Would you fully fund it at the start?
Last edited by ChristineVA; 12-24-2017 at 01:11 PM..
Why should taxpayers be forced to subsidize those who choose to send their children to public schools? It's the same principle.
As I said earlier, I don't disagree with this 529 benefit thing. But as a society, we've decided that a public education is something that society as a whole pays for. So that's why taxpayers are forced to subsidize. Even people who never have children must pay for schools, and they don't use them. It's the way it is. And until that changes, it will continue to be that way.
You really think $10K/year is going to change the bracket of "the wealthy" ?
No, this benefits the middle class folks that send their kids to private school or considered doing it.
This actually makes sending their kids to private school more affordable.
The NYT article seems very biased..that only "the wealthy" send their kids to private school.
Here's some FACTS about the 529 plans:
Less than 3% of Americans have 529 plans for their kids.
The median income of these participants is $142K/year.
The average balance in these accounts is $19K.
The above FACTS are courtesy of the GAO office.
Did you read the example in the article of someone wealthy having the ability to fund $200,000 up front with money on hand. How many middle class families have the ability to do that. Even using your numbers the average balance is $19K and that is for people saving for college, they don't have the ability to save for high school to any degree. Sure a lot of middle and low income people use 529's but even before this expansion the largest beneficiaries are high income that can prefund with huge sums.
Good analysis by Brookings on the 529 college plan.
I'm not sure what you are getting at. I don't ask my neighbors salaries. Surely, you are correct and they may have benefitted. I can only speak to my very good friends that I happen to discuss money with and we were all in the same boat. Couldn't really start a 529 plan because we were paying for private school. I do have a coworker whose parents were funding the 529 for the grandkids so that was nice.
My point was that there are many working class people who won't ever be able to use this because they haven't been able to sufficiently fund a 529K when their kid starts elementary school. It will be a benefit, though, for those who make enough money to do that.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a 529 plan something that you invest in so that it has growth over 17 years while you are waiting for college. How can it work for K-12 if you are building it during those years? Would you fully fund it at the start?
I was only pointing out the obvious. Statistically, if you were anywhere near the median household income for your area, then quite a few families would have been able to benefit under this new law. Many couples are having kids later in life, meaning they are in good financial shape and may be able to afford front loading a 529 plan. That is the position that we are in. The idea is to invest early and pay for K-12 private school. Who knows, we may not need it for college if our kids earn scholarships.
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