D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pm
My kids are currently in high school and I've been thinking about what level of financial support I will continue to give to them. I want them to learn to be financially responsible adults, but I also want to help them out financially to get them going in life. I'm wondering what others plan on doing (or have done) for their kids from a financial perspective.
You asked what others have done, so here goes...
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pmMy current plan includes:
- I will pay for the cost of tuition and room&board for four years at an in state public university. If they want to go to a more expensive school, they can pay the difference themselves or take out loans. I'm not sure if I would pay for grad school. I lean towards no, but not sure.
We paid for undergraduate and graduate schooling for our children - both state university and private universities. They had skin in the game with jobs during high school and college, paid internships, talent scholarships, etc... but there was still plenty of costs to cover that our plan paid for as we had saved in their college education accounts for 18-22 years. Everyone graduated debt free and are into their working careers in good financial order as a result of $0 debt. There was plenty of remaining funds in what was their college education accounts that morphed into being their own individual brokerage accounts.
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pm- I will continue to pay for an older but reliable used car, including insurance, through college. They can pay for gas, any traffic tickets, and the deductible if they get in an accident.
Ours both had older used SUV's that we paid cash for and also paid for all the insurance, registration/tax, repairs. Both kids actually ended up hitting a deer with their respective SUV's during their college years, but we paid the deductibles. Gas came out of their slush funds - whether that was from their education accounts or the income they were bringing in from paid internships and summer jobs - does it really matter?
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pm- I will continue to keep them on my cell phone plan through college.
We did this as well, and still do thanks to a perk at work that includes a heavily discounted plan for the entire family.
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pm
- I will continue to fund Roth IRAs for them through college.
They funded their own thanks to summer jobs and paid internships. I did and still do their taxes since I enjoy the process, so am able to talk them into sending any refunds right into their IRA accounts from the IRS. I've been involved in other threads here at BH on the pros and cons of kids working in high school and in college, but we pretty much demanded it from ours and in retrospect are glad that we used that approach.
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pm- After college, I don't plan on paying for much, but would allow them to live at home rent free as long as they are working and have a plan to move out. I might bend this a bit if they are still searching for a job.
Both of our kids remained on our health insurance plan (through our work place plans) until they hit age 26. As mentioned above, they both continue on our cell phone plan (due to my discount via work). They are now on their own health insurance and everything else is on their own. That being said, last year one did come home for 8 months during Covid due to shut down related job loss, but then went back after landing a great apartment deal and a new job. He had unemployment income during his stay with us and bought his own groceries, paid for his gas, etc... . He also took advantage of the time and picked up an additional certification for his career and paid for the training himself out of his unemployment and stimulus checks.
I wouldn't rule out us paying for an occasional airline ticket to fly home and see us from time to time in the future...
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pm
- I will contribute to the cost of a wedding. I haven't decided how much, and I haven't told them I will do this.
Certainly, we will pay for our daughter's wedding but no need to talk budget until we get news she is getting married. Rehearsal dinner for our son if and when that occurs as well. We're old school tradition like that.
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pm- I'm sure there will be unforeseen circumstances so I know I will have to be flexible.
Yes, life happens and being in a financial position to be flexible and help is key.
D-Dog wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:34 pmAny thoughts? What would you do (or did you do) differently? I'm also interested in whether you communicated your plan up front with your kids. Thanks.
Each family and household is different, so I wouldn't want to try and find any faults with your plans. In terms of communicating things to your kids, I think it came out in bits and pieces along the years. They were well aware of their college education funds and why we were saving for them. They were also well aware that going to college
was the plan. The discussion of tuition and costs probably began during their high school years and got more focused in their junior/senior years as we visited schools, talked careers, and discovered their passions.
In retrospect, it all goes by rather quickly, so try and enjoy it each and every day.
CyclingDuo
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