I love this approach. Not dramatic moves, just thoughtful adjustments when life shifts.
From my side, I paid for two private college educations. Same investment. Very different outcomes. That alone taught me something.
I have never believed college is the only way to earn a living. But I do believe it can be a powerful place to stretch your thinking, to sit in rooms with people who challenge your assumptions, to see the world differently. That part matters.
And I also believe expectations matter. Not pressure. But clarity. What are you going there to get? Growth? Skill? Discipline? Exposure? College should change how you think, not just hand you a diploma.
As an Indian woman, education was always framed as the foundational step to changing your life trajectory. It was never optional in mindset, even if the path looked different for each child.
So I agree with you. This is not about predicting the future. It is about building options, with values attached.
We're a little earlier in the journey with a 3 yo and infant, contributing $500/month each and grandparents contribute $50/month. The goal is to cover the full cost of an in-state (CA) 4 year public university. I check random online tools every 6 months or so to see if we're saving enough, and it definitely is a moving target.
This was really helpful. I appreciate the reminder that consistent saving is key. I recently felt worried about whether we’re saving enough for college or whatever the education future (our kiddos are also 10 and 7) so I bumped our contributions up a bit while but sticking to our same monthly schedule. Having observed my friends with older children, none of us could have predicted 10 years ago how options and circumstances for secondary education would have changed!
Also considering whether we should start Child IRAs as another investment vehicle. So much to think about!
Exactly - we only know what we know. But the fact that you're thinking about it - and doing something about it - is a big piece of this in itself. Thanks for reading, Mary!
This is such an interesting and unique question. I'm also a financial planner, and the "right amount" is so subjective. Especially with AI and technology advancing so quickly.
Something you wrote made me think for a bit. I'm curious to know whether activities like reading "The Classics" can help us remain more human and distinct in a world that will increasingly rely on technology. Having attended a liberal arts school, my jazz dance and African drumming classes definitely didn't help my job prospects. But they may have influenced my thinking beyond my accounting classes.
And please don't take that as a jab at what you said - I often wonder how much some of my "liberal arts coursework" helped me, and if just studying only accounting would have been better.
Trust me when I say, this is coming from someone (Heather) with a deep appreciation of art and literature, that there’s immense value in reading, in socializing, in life experiences that in their totality, shape who you are as a young adult. But as the costs of college have risen exponentially, I think we all need to critically examine the ROI on a degree and be able to draw a more concrete correlation between what you’re learning and how you can use that to earn money out in the world. There was a time when I think we could accept more fluidity in our analysis, but now and in the even more uncertain future, I’m not so sure. Thank you so much for reading!
With the growing movement of top-tier universities offering free tuition for families with incomes under a certain threshold, wouldn’t it make sense for many high achieving students to aim for one of those slots? Yale’s income threshold for free tuition is 200K now. Princeton University offers free education for students from families making under $150,000 a year. Harvard has just joined in with a free ride for families earning under 100K, tuition under 200. The approach would be on par with how things were for my peer group years ago - the goal was to do well enough in high school to land a solid academic scholarship (maybe on top of a need-based one) that meant you could go to the Ivy League or equivalent school. There wasn’t a lot of discussion about “if you don’t get it” because everyone did the work to make almost sure they’d get in, but applied to a couple safety choices which would give them merit-based scholarships.
I think it’s wonderful that top-tier universities are offering free tuition for qualifying students, and if you believe your child is competitive for one of those slots, it is certainly worth pursuing. But still, there’s a set of uncertainties for those of us with younger children. Will demand for those spots be so high that the merit qualifications keep rising? Will your income as parents still be below the threshold when your child applies to school a decade from now? We have to think with these variables in mind. Thanks for reading!
That’s so true and really interesting as it highlights a difference from when my peers and I were starting to think about college. Our parents were hardly involved in any discussion about where we might go and what it might cost until they had to fill out the financial forms, so we had to create the goals and be responsible for making them happen. None of us even went on a school tour before attending the schools we ended up at: Columbia, NYU, Brown, Middlebury, Harvard, Georgetown, Tufts, etc. My guess is that the majority of families hadn’t saved anything specifically for our higher education so it really was on us to make it financially feasible or to be willing to take out our own loans in addition to what our parents might consider taking on, but it was all very much a game day decision once your offers came in. If you knew you weren’t a candidate for a merit based scholarship to a top tier school and didn’t want to take on the loans, the expected rational path was to go to a state university. I wonder how much of this was a result of being pre-529 accounts?
So fun seeing you both. And the Theory looks are on point!
Great to see you, too! And thank you :)
It was so great seeing you both!! This also got me thinking that I need to up my game with a 529 Plan...
SO great seeing you!!! Thanks for reading, too 🙃
I love this approach. Not dramatic moves, just thoughtful adjustments when life shifts.
From my side, I paid for two private college educations. Same investment. Very different outcomes. That alone taught me something.
I have never believed college is the only way to earn a living. But I do believe it can be a powerful place to stretch your thinking, to sit in rooms with people who challenge your assumptions, to see the world differently. That part matters.
And I also believe expectations matter. Not pressure. But clarity. What are you going there to get? Growth? Skill? Discipline? Exposure? College should change how you think, not just hand you a diploma.
As an Indian woman, education was always framed as the foundational step to changing your life trajectory. It was never optional in mindset, even if the path looked different for each child.
So I agree with you. This is not about predicting the future. It is about building options, with values attached.
Love this. Thank you for sharing!
We're a little earlier in the journey with a 3 yo and infant, contributing $500/month each and grandparents contribute $50/month. The goal is to cover the full cost of an in-state (CA) 4 year public university. I check random online tools every 6 months or so to see if we're saving enough, and it definitely is a moving target.
You should be so proud of what you are doing already. Really. It's awesome.
This was really helpful. I appreciate the reminder that consistent saving is key. I recently felt worried about whether we’re saving enough for college or whatever the education future (our kiddos are also 10 and 7) so I bumped our contributions up a bit while but sticking to our same monthly schedule. Having observed my friends with older children, none of us could have predicted 10 years ago how options and circumstances for secondary education would have changed!
Also considering whether we should start Child IRAs as another investment vehicle. So much to think about!
Exactly - we only know what we know. But the fact that you're thinking about it - and doing something about it - is a big piece of this in itself. Thanks for reading, Mary!
This is such an interesting and unique question. I'm also a financial planner, and the "right amount" is so subjective. Especially with AI and technology advancing so quickly.
Something you wrote made me think for a bit. I'm curious to know whether activities like reading "The Classics" can help us remain more human and distinct in a world that will increasingly rely on technology. Having attended a liberal arts school, my jazz dance and African drumming classes definitely didn't help my job prospects. But they may have influenced my thinking beyond my accounting classes.
And please don't take that as a jab at what you said - I often wonder how much some of my "liberal arts coursework" helped me, and if just studying only accounting would have been better.
Trust me when I say, this is coming from someone (Heather) with a deep appreciation of art and literature, that there’s immense value in reading, in socializing, in life experiences that in their totality, shape who you are as a young adult. But as the costs of college have risen exponentially, I think we all need to critically examine the ROI on a degree and be able to draw a more concrete correlation between what you’re learning and how you can use that to earn money out in the world. There was a time when I think we could accept more fluidity in our analysis, but now and in the even more uncertain future, I’m not so sure. Thank you so much for reading!
With the growing movement of top-tier universities offering free tuition for families with incomes under a certain threshold, wouldn’t it make sense for many high achieving students to aim for one of those slots? Yale’s income threshold for free tuition is 200K now. Princeton University offers free education for students from families making under $150,000 a year. Harvard has just joined in with a free ride for families earning under 100K, tuition under 200. The approach would be on par with how things were for my peer group years ago - the goal was to do well enough in high school to land a solid academic scholarship (maybe on top of a need-based one) that meant you could go to the Ivy League or equivalent school. There wasn’t a lot of discussion about “if you don’t get it” because everyone did the work to make almost sure they’d get in, but applied to a couple safety choices which would give them merit-based scholarships.
I think it’s wonderful that top-tier universities are offering free tuition for qualifying students, and if you believe your child is competitive for one of those slots, it is certainly worth pursuing. But still, there’s a set of uncertainties for those of us with younger children. Will demand for those spots be so high that the merit qualifications keep rising? Will your income as parents still be below the threshold when your child applies to school a decade from now? We have to think with these variables in mind. Thanks for reading!
That’s so true and really interesting as it highlights a difference from when my peers and I were starting to think about college. Our parents were hardly involved in any discussion about where we might go and what it might cost until they had to fill out the financial forms, so we had to create the goals and be responsible for making them happen. None of us even went on a school tour before attending the schools we ended up at: Columbia, NYU, Brown, Middlebury, Harvard, Georgetown, Tufts, etc. My guess is that the majority of families hadn’t saved anything specifically for our higher education so it really was on us to make it financially feasible or to be willing to take out our own loans in addition to what our parents might consider taking on, but it was all very much a game day decision once your offers came in. If you knew you weren’t a candidate for a merit based scholarship to a top tier school and didn’t want to take on the loans, the expected rational path was to go to a state university. I wonder how much of this was a result of being pre-529 accounts?
It was so great to catch up with you both!!
Thanks for sharing all the details on the 529 plan. I dared to look up the projected cost of college in 16 years and it wasn't pretty....