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Saving for College

C

Cheryl Tarin

New member
Hi. I have a 9-year-old and I just thought of saving for her college now. I don't really know if I should invest on something. If I should, where? I don't really want to waste my time investing on unworthy stuff, well, I know everybody don't want it. What do you suggest?
 
Welcome to the forum.

I'd look into a 529 plan. They're created for this purpose.

Otherwise, I'd look into mutual funds. Being 9-years-old, you can get into aggressive funds now then get more conservative as you get closer to her needing the money.
 
Move to New York.
Buffalo is nice in the summer..........
I hear it's free if the graduate stays in state for x amount of time after graduation.
 
No one wants to invest in a loser, and safe semi sure thing investments cost more since they've earned that rep.
No matter, savings is the key. You can invest in bonds, little return but safe, or if you know what school she will go to you can buy college credits at todays prices that will be good and already paid for when the time comes for her to enroll. As far as I know these are not transferable (unless things have changed). So if she changed her mind as teens will do and you bought credits at college xyz and she attends a different one, you lose all the way around.
The 10 years will fly by. Most important is starting the savings plan. Just do it. You will be glad you did.
 
No clue how much you can afford to save each paycheck but I started saving for my daughter's college when she was about a month old. Used simple payroll deduction and had money build up until I had enough to invest in a mutual fund.

Transferred the money to the mutual fund and continued to save every week just as I had been doing before with simple payroll deduction.

Built up a little more cash in the savings account and started doing automatic transfers into the mutual fund from her bank savings account. Kept doing this for years. Eventually ended up with a couple mutual funds.

Also invested some in a 529 account too.

Ended up sending her to a very expensive private university (she graduates in less than 30 days) and was able to pay cash for her entire education, no loans needed.
 
Everyone else's suggestions are good, especially Melensdad's so I won't try to add anything else to the money part. However, with so many post-secondary schools having abandoned teaching in order to become Progressive Indoctrination Centers, you might want to consider steering your daughter toward a career in the trades instead. At least for now, these institutions are still turning out first rate gradates with real skills that are in demand and command top dollar wages.

:my2cents:
 
Melensdad's recommendations for the financial aspect.

Danang Sailor's for the school type. I can also speak for my situation. I went into the military, then used the GI bill to pay for a Technical College, Vermont Tech to be exact. The remainder of the $$$ came from working part time, joining the National Guard and my Dad contributed from time to time because I was his favorite son. I was his only son, but that's beside the point.:biggrin:
 
Cheryl Tarin said:
Thank you, everyone! This is really a big help considering you all care about saving for college. I will also start now.
Click to expand...

Cheryl, I can't offer any advice on saving for college as I went through a whole different system in the UK. But it's all based on the time value of money. The sooner you start and the the more you can salt away, the more you end up with. It sounds simple but so few people do it.

Wishing you luck in life and your investments but Danang Sailor's point is valid. Many parents waste hundreds of thousands of dollars and many kids get burdened with huge college loans to get a degree that will never repay their investment.

Many, if not most, colleges are profit centers in existence to generate wealth and jobs for the lecturers, administrative staff and the institution. Providing an education for their students and preparing them for life after college is secondary.
 
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