I’ve stopped contributing to my daughters’ 529 plans

What kind of trouble are you referring to?

Thanks for the announcement. Please, tell us more about you.

I don't understand what your responsibility will be if your daughter gets in trouble..

Good for you. A realist parent putting family first. The way it should be.

I never even started contributing to your daughters’ 529.

When I read the subject of this thread I thought you were going to say that they could just take out a loan and have their debt removed. That would be a reason not to contribute. Why pay for college when the tax payers can pay for you?

Passage out of Gilead...

If you suspect you might have very smart children (as I did...I mean, that's obvious), then it is NOT a good idea to start a 529 plan or do ANY saving for college.

The reason is that there are about 60 elite colleges in the United States that give OUTRAGEOUS financial aid based on need. Oh...you also can't make more than about $150,000 per year before the financial aid drops significantly. I know that everyone here makes a million dollars a year, but if you happen to have a more normal household income, this advice is for you.

All of the Ivies plus Stanford and many others will give your kid a full ride if you have household income under about $80,000. If you are at about $130,000, your kid will still get full tuition (that was at about $125,000 when my kids were going to college).

What kills that aid is if you have savings of any kind outside of retirement plans, so you need to have NOTHING in a savings account, checking account (beyond basic amounts to pay bills), etc. For people who like to save or have a big cushion of cash available, this is a tough thing to do, but for full benefit of those more elite colleges that do this, it is well worth it.

My oldest went to an elite college that gave her full tuition all 4 years based on our household income and no savings during that time (outside of retirement accounts). Leading up to her going to college, we had to get rid of some cash reserves. In the couple years before she went, we paid cash for some home improvements and bought a car with cash.

If you make much more than $150,000 per year household income, then a 529 plan might be for you.

SIR, THIS IS A WENDYS

Whatever man, I suppose you think this is smart and strategic, but I call it unethical if you could otherwise afford it. But many people play the game. Like my unmarried, yoga teacher neighbor who practically got her kid a full ride even though he went to a private high school and lives in a million dollar house with her and her sugar daddy because of how she files her taxes.

My advice for parents with very smart kids (particularly girls) who are not members of a protected class (so anything but white) or misgendered is to do what we did… get them applying to second tier but still very good private schools that are generous with merit money. But the grades and tests scores will have to be almost perfect (top 1-2%), along with co-curricular activities and leadership (sports, choir, theatre, special Ed, tutor, and lots of meaningful community service). Our daughter got lots of significant merit offers. No need to go Ivy and pay sticker at $330,000 over four years. Or even a “top 30” school at $300,000. That’s silly.

Based on your wording, I’m assuming you are planning to help your daughter out if she should become unexpectedly knocked up. Si? No?

She's probably got a sugar daddy already who she also refers to as "daddy." You're easily replaceable.

This is great info. My daughter is exactly what your post refers to. She is going to be a junior in the fall. She scored 94 percentile on PSAT and has maybe a 3.9 unweighted. Do you think she will get merit aid at the schools you refer to? What are some examples of 2nd tier private schools in the west? She is interested in math / science. Would like to get her a degree as inexpensively as possible. She is doing Running Start so should graduate h.s. with a 2 year degree. She would like to run in college but her pr’s are: 1:06 400, 2:33 800. Thanks.

I can’t honestly answer your question as we did not look in the west at all. Mostly in the south, from VA through TN all the way down to TX. But there are others. I would think a Whitman College in WA would fit the bill or Loyola Marymount in CA? Maybe Trinity University in San Antonio?

Fwiw, our daughter was 4.0 unweighted (4.4 weighted) and 99% on SAT. Lots of co-curricular activities. I suspect if your daughter can improve her grades, test scores, and running a little, some of these schools would fund a lot. Mine decided not to run but got some half rides, one full tuition, and one full ride actually. But she picked a really good school that probably gave her 85% of tuition, which is 65% of total cost of attendance and less than our state school. She will get most of her classes with only 20 kids, only professors teaching (no TAs) and the opportunity to do research and get published as an underclassmen.

I will say this… what schools really want to see is uniqueness and leadership (passion). So is there something your daughter can be leading or establishing that’s different from anyone else? Like some sort of non-profit. Seems silly, but it’s so fricking competitive that they want to see something “different.” And a unique essay that only your daughter could write.

We make well over the income offered here as a foundation and have too much cash to qualify for financial aid, grants or loans. Didn’t even file a FAFSA, which isn’t recommended actually. But I think paying for any Ivy or top LAC is just dumb. Unless it’s a terminal degree in a highly marketable field like STEM.

I was trying to keep my post subtle so the mods wouldn’t delete it. I hadn’t counted on paying for college advice from Flagpole. You all really think women will be going to college in 5 to 10 years? Maybe there will be extended programs that you can drop in and out of between childbirths.

The way it should be. Get women out of the workforce and back into the kitchen raising kids. You know; how human civilization works for millions of years before wokeness screwed everything up.

Highly selective schools generally don't provide merit aid. Aid is based on income. And the schools admit only about 5% of applicants while declining thousands who have perfect test scores and GPAs. White or Asian kids are unlikely.to be admitted unless through athletics or legacy.

Yeah, that’s all true. But we aren’t talking about highly selective schools. We’re just talking about selective schools (think acceptance rate ~ 33%). No reason to pay sticker at a “highly selective” school when you can get a selective or very selective school for $50,000 per year less (all in).

Nothing wrong with state universities.