Three cheers for college applications. My wife and I are parents of college-bound twins. We want them to graduate debt free. We believe college is a really good investment (my spouse is a prof at a selective college). But if education cannot be provided without crippling compound interest, it can be DIY (do it yourself). My great grandfather became an expert in Roman history, among other things, by reading books.
Our twins will be in good colleges for under $10K next year (including living expenses, on average). They ate almost that much at home, so the effective cost is better yet. They could work side jobs and earn their way out if they have to.
If I'd been debt free from my own two degrees, and I could have been saving money for my own kids college. But I'm from the class of 1984.
- President Ronald Reagan turned the Pell Grants into Pell Loans
- Inflation fell to 4%
- Colleges continued to increase tuition by 10-16% per year (!)
My generation was told that debt was rational. That the interest rates were "lower than inflation" and that that was somehow an equivalent of earning money. The result was the first generation to think you could actually make a living off of inflation in the housing market... which led to the 2008 mortgage crisis.
As many in my liberal arts college railed against Reagan and the Pell Grant cuts, I could see that we were just drinking straws, from the federal cup into the colleges' mouths. As long as the government kept filling the punch bowl based on "need" - set by what the colleges charged - it was clear the colleges had little incentive to stop raising fees.
So no big tuition savings for our kids. Instead, they get plenty of advice.
My parents and grandparents advice, as I recall, was all about money more than love, spirit and friendship... at least that's what if felt like listening to their advice, as an 18 year old. What I now know is that loved ones will someday call needing help, and you'll wish you had savings. If you can't help them and wish you could, it's usually due to past decisions about compound interest.
If our kids are the products of our marriage, this is about product stewardship.
6 Pieces of Fatherly Advice About College
 |
| Fill out CommonAp to receive this Paper back |
If I'd been debt free from my own two degrees, and I could have been saving money for my own kids college. But I'm from the class of 1984.
- President Ronald Reagan turned the Pell Grants into Pell Loans
- Inflation fell to 4%
- Colleges continued to increase tuition by 10-16% per year (!)
My generation was told that debt was rational. That the interest rates were "lower than inflation" and that that was somehow an equivalent of earning money. The result was the first generation to think you could actually make a living off of inflation in the housing market... which led to the 2008 mortgage crisis.
As many in my liberal arts college railed against Reagan and the Pell Grant cuts, I could see that we were just drinking straws, from the federal cup into the colleges' mouths. As long as the government kept filling the punch bowl based on "need" - set by what the colleges charged - it was clear the colleges had little incentive to stop raising fees.
So no big tuition savings for our kids. Instead, they get plenty of advice.
My parents and grandparents advice, as I recall, was all about money more than love, spirit and friendship... at least that's what if felt like listening to their advice, as an 18 year old. What I now know is that loved ones will someday call needing help, and you'll wish you had savings. If you can't help them and wish you could, it's usually due to past decisions about compound interest.
If our kids are the products of our marriage, this is about product stewardship.
6 Pieces of Fatherly Advice About College
