Sure your son will make you proud.

He already has! Thanks

No, those are people who live within their means. Typically very intelligent too, I'll agree with ya.

It's the ones that live within their means, come on the internet and thump their chest, act holier than thou and are condescending as hell to others that are the one uppers....y'all completely misunderstood what a one upper was

Everytime I buy a used truck Judd buys a new one. = One upper.

I don’t think we qualify for Roth IRA, according to our finance lady.

He makes poor decisions. His history of trucks proves that

There's a loophole for the income limits...contribute to a regular IRA and do an immediate conversion to a Roth. You can't take advantage of the tax discount, but you get tax free growth. It's called a "backdoor Roth". Some financial advisors don't know this.

Also, unfortunately you can't contribute to a Roth for your kid unless they have earned income.

Just start your own roth or add to it. That way if the child has other intentions you control your money and dole it out as you please. What I'm gonna do with my Granddaughter.

Issue is if you make over $193K AGI together you start getting phased out. Over $203K can't contribute to a Roth.

The conversion is a good way to go. Way back when right out of college I put some money in a traditional IRA. When Roth came about they had me convert it to a Roth so I paid a little tax. It has grown 4 times since and no taxes ever due now..

Wife thinks we should buy land instead. While I don’t disagree that they aren’t making anymore, I don’t know that it’s the best investment for his college funds. But, I could get down with having 40 acres to hunt close to home.

Then dump it to pay for college? Buy it and still invest!

You can still contribute every year to a traditional IRA and do an immediate conversion to a Roth, no matter what your income level is. No tax due at time of conversion...you just can't take the traditional IRA contribution as a deduction off your taxes. You can't contribute "directly" to a Roth if your income is too high, but there's a way around it with the backdoor contribution. It's a great way to keep contributing to your Roth even if you exceed the income limits.

I’m probably in the minority here, but this needs to be said. Sending your kid to college debt free sends the wrong message. Debt never killed anyone. Yes, my parents helped me. I still took loans to avoid putting them in a ridiculous amount of debt. I’m at approximately 29K with two loans. Does it suck paying them every month? YES! But life isn’t all sunshine and roses. One post on here talked basically buying your kid’s morally in exchange for a free education? Pathetically sad if you ask me.

Good luck! Not sure what post you mention but don't sound jealous though. It will eat you up in life being that person.... Good friend paid off $100K in law school and never sounded like that. Pay it off and don't worry about others.

Not many better ways to give your child a leg-up financially and in life than to help pay for their college. Student debt can be a killer. I'd rather my child have an opportunity to get a head start on buying a house, investing, saving for retirement, buying a business, etc. than paying back student loans. Making a kid pay for their own college teaches them very little, except that student loans suck (as you mention yourself), and many who start college on their own dime never finish. Plenty of other ways to teach your child the value of hard work, sacrifice, and sound financial management than saddling them with college debt, IMO. To each their own....more than one way to do it.

I'll join you in the minority...sort of. Earlier, I said we set up 529 plans for all our grandkids. We have no intention of paying for all their college expenses; the 529's are to get the ball rolling, set expectations, give them a head start. What their parents (our kids) do is up to them. We helped our kids with college to varying degrees, but they all worked while in college to pay for some of the costs. None had student debt when they finished. I don't believe in handing young adults everything for free. They need to have some skin in the game to appreciate what they are working for and to stay focused.

Actually, I see this as a terrible investment. Purchase price of $125,000, $25,000 down payment, 15 years at 4.99% equals a total investment of $167,000, not including taxes and upkeep. Do you think that land will be worth
$225-$250,000 in 18 years? I don’t.

I’d rather take that $25,000, invest it for 18 years, contribute $1,000 annually, 7% interest compounded annually for 18 years. That should net around $115-$120,000 for college and a jump start into life.

Yes, bad investment for college but of course depends on location. Any downturn and land can sit for years unless you fire sale it. We have one down the road been for sale for 8 now. And they keep raising the price. I assume the realtor bought it since they have to chop everything up to sell as most don't want $1 million pastures of grass and some trees with no improvements.

Well. Had a little bit of a shock to the system today. Went to setup a 529 for my son. We picked UT as a college just for the cost to get a starting point. Currently $22,000 a year for tuition and boarding. So $88,000 for a 4 year degree. 18 years from now that’s expected to be $229,000 for 4 years. What a [censored] ripoff.

So, to fund that, $25,000 initial investment requires $356 monthly for 22 years.

Those numbers are inflated IMO. Also, I am using the 529 to supplement, not cover all the costs.

Just enroll him in the tennis program.


I have connections...

We just started a savings account and actively looking for real estate to make money from around the time they need it. Regardless of what they decide the money will be there and can figure out taxes. But, long term projection is my son will want the college funds, my daughter will have likely already used it as her bail money.

The wife and I put our three girls through college for the most part on a single income and academic scholarships which I attribute to my wife making them excellent readers and writers. Strong writing skills are especially important because they'll need them to write essays that stand out when applying for scholarships. She began reading to them as soon as they could pay attention and eventually had them viewing trips to the library in much the same way as kids view going to a toy store. They also played a musical instrument, which in my opinion helps young minds develop better learning methods.

They never applied for government aid or loans but focused on academic scholarships being given out directly by the school within the university that focused on their field of study. That's the secret when it comes to academic scholarships. Only those with a financial hardship will be considered if you apply through the university's front door. Each school within the university (Engineering, Nursing, Accounting, etc.) has scholarship money given to them through private donors that is later dished out based on academic performance and a kid's potential to become successful student and alumni.

Our middle daughter was offered a full ride to an out-of-state college (School of Engineering at Mississippi State) and I feel certain it was funded by donations from MSU Engineering alumni who live in Texas and who stipulated the money go to kids from Texas. She turned it down to attend SFA where she received scholarships from the School of Nursing.

It's true that a lot of scholarship money never gets used every year simply because kids don't know how to find it or are too lazy to do what it takes to apply for it. My oldest received two scholarships one year simply because she was the only applicant. Yes, there are A LOT of scholarships that schools don't advertise so they can give them to kids who work hard at finding them, which is more likely to make them better students and more successful alumni.

Not to offend anyone, but you might say Uncle Sam uses tax money to help those who want to take a stab at college while the schools use alumni donations to help the ones who are sure to study and graduate.