Early College Financing

EJ's school PTA hosted a workshop this past Wednesday night to talk about planning for your child's college education even at this young (elementary school) age. The workshop was very helpful...for example, I found out that our state offers wonderful resources for assisting with the college application and financing/financial aid process.

The numbers, however, are staggering. I mean, a state school costs $20k a year NOW. Imagine what it will be in 10 years when EJ is ready to go or in 17 when Sophie is ready. And sheesh, I'll be about ready for retirement by then!

There were very convincing arguments for saving NOW if you haven't started, and for saving what you can. The one slide that I completely disagreed with was the one that listed "dipping into your retirement savings" as an option for paying for college. I don't think so. And although I'm just CERTAIN that both girls will receive FULL scholarships to the schools of their choice, I suppose my Plan B (yes, there already is a college savings account) should be getting a little more action.

The woman who ran the seminar talked about how she has a fund set up that does not require regular contributions, but she makes them whenever she can. Like, she'll be considering buying her daughter a pair of $20 shoes and then think...this $20 would be better served in her education account. You can look at a website like WealthBlocks to calculate what the difference in savings is to you. If you put that $20 into an account every month for 18 years, there's $7k to start with. Not much for college, but hey...it's something.

Gee, I just used the WealthBlocks CALC-U-LATER to determine that if I cut back on my weekly lunch budget from $25/week to $10/week, and invest the extra money in stocks averaging 10% return, I'll have another $13k by the time EJ starts school. Hmmm...I don't think I'll start this week. Maybe next?