Saving for college

gr8fl4porsche · gr8fl4porsche's Garage

Everyone worries about saving for their childrens college education. We are working on budgeting for our daughters daycare-preschool-elementary and high school. I am a firm believer in private schooling. Education is our top priority.

Montessori Daycare which she currently attends - $12k/year
Preschool at age 3 - $10k/year plus afterschool care.
Elementary school - $10k/year
High School - minimum $10k/year
College - counting on full ride scholarships or serious appreciation of the 87 Targa.

Minimum cost for education/care from age 1 to 18 - $192k

She will attend the same school from age 3 to 18.
Last year 100% of the graduating class enrolled in a 4 year University with over 5 Million in scholarships.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

I would suggest that early schooling is at least as important as later schooling. Setting the groundwork for a young mind will pay benefits for the rest of their life.

Jims5543 · 08-20-2005, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
Why do you have to pay for afterschool care?

That jumped out at me too. I hope they are spending time with the little tyke.

It is amazing how far a couple of hours a day doing homeowrk with your child will go.

I am doing the public school thing with our kids and have set up college tuition accounts for both of them.

My financial advisor gave me a really cool idea.

When my son goes to college. I can buy a condo or small house in the town. I can rent it back to my kid and use the money in the college account to pay the rent. This assures you use all the money coming to you in the account. Plus now you own a rental property that can be sold 4 years later. Hopefully for a tidy profit. Then you could give your kid a great headstart in life. Worry about his career rather than where he/she will live.

Quote:

I would suggest that early schooling is at least as important as later schooling. Setting the groundwork for a young mind will pay benefits for the rest of their life.

Yes it is, most schools today do not bother teaching cognitive skills. Developing a good relationship with your child is important too. Throwing them in daycare and not seeing them 12+ hours a day is not healthy.

gr8fl4porsche · gr8fl4porsche's Garage

Right now she goes to daycare from 9am to 5:30 pm. This works out well as I spend 2 hours with her in the morning and 2.5 hours in the evening plus the weekend. This is how most working parents raise children in the modern world. Preschool will be 8am to 3:15pm - afterschool care will be needed. We are trying to adjust our schedules but its difficult to get out of the office by 2:45.

pwd72s · 08-20-2005, 07:39 AM

But it's all worth it, right? Especially around age 15 or so, when she's screaming that she hates you because you said "no" to her attendance at an all night party that has no adult supervision...

gassy · 08-20-2005, 08:46 AM

In two months we're sending our 2 1/2 year old to Japanese immersion Montessori.

My 7 yr old boy will be getting a baseball scholarship for college.

My 9 yr old daughter will be getting a full ride to college on scholarships.

The first one is true, the last two, well, we'll see. Saving for college is scary.

HardDrive · 08-20-2005, 10:41 AM

Geez....we have gotten started early...

My daughter is 22 months, and we pay her nanny $24,000

I think you might want to consider a good public school for grade school. There a some excellent public schools out there.

But I agree with you about middle and upper grades. We are planning of private schools as well...

Dixie · Dixie's Garage

Y'all are not discussing private vs. public schools. You're simply bragging about how much money you have.

Fwiw, my wife went to a private school from kindergarten to high school. She is dead set against sending our kids to anything other than good public schools. There so much more to learn in school than just academics...

Moses · 08-20-2005, 04:15 PM

Public school then 15 years of college.

Along the way I've been lucky to know many truly brilliant and successful people. Some went to private schools, most went to public schools. What they did have in common, however was a passion for learning and achievement that was instilled by their parents.

So my question is; Who is fanning the flames of your childs imagination while you are at work? If you really want to give your child a "leg up" in life, spend as much time with them as you can. If you can afford to have one parent at home when the kids get home from school, that would likely have a longer lasting impact than private schooling.

Caveat; My three kids attend public schools. If we lived in an area with bad public schools, they would get a private education.

Jims5543 · 08-20-2005, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gr8fl4porsche
This is how most working parents raise children in the modern world.

You are 100% correct this is indeed how they are raising them. It does not make it right.

When my first son was born my wife quit her job and raised him. This meant driving older plainer cars. Living in a smaller house and not taking elaborate vacations.

We made sacrifices to make sure our son was raised in a good enviorment.

My wife worked in a day care when she was in high school. She swore she would never put our kid in one when the time came. Too many of those poor kids were throw away kids. They were obviously in the parents way of their carrers and social life.

pwd72s · 08-20-2005, 05:48 PM

"Minimum cost for education/care from age 1 to 18 - $192k"

East coast wanna be upper society thinking. Having been there, done that, these figures don't jive with me. How'd our kid turn out? Now married twice, an RN, living in the central part of the USA. Maybe that's not high enough in society, but the nation needs worker bees more than it needs another Paris Hilton.

If it had cost $192K? I'd have rather had a Ferrari...

campbellcj · 08-20-2005, 08:58 PM

Damn...we pay $400-500/mo for preschool in a pretty darn high-end area (Pacific Palisades, CA) and I thought THAT was borderline outrageous!

I agree about the importance of education, though. What scares me the most is that I figure I should be putting away $500-1000+ a month over the next 15 or so years for my son's education (mainly college). And he's only 4!

We have in-home full-time care, which IMO was one of the best things we ever did for our son as well as ourselves.

Fortunately our area is reported to have excellent public schools (Las Virgenes district) so we may be able to utilize the system for grade school. I suspect HS will be private and college will hopefully be a U.C. or otherwise a top-notch Calif. private institution.

M.D. Holloway · 08-20-2005, 09:17 PM

I think I spent that on child support for my 18 yr old over the past 17 years! She has just started college so the number will go up.

As for the two we have, Roth IRA and also gearing up for a post at a University by the time they are ready. Profs kids go free to most all schools they teach at. If they don't want that ride, there is always the mil acads - about the best education available.