The new trend of galactically stupid parents crippling their retirement for their kids' worthless degrees is getting mightily tiring. I try in this video to spread a warning to the mindless sheep who think they can save up $500,000 in 5 years so they can retire at 65, but would appreciate you sharing it with AARP forums and any baby boomers stupid enough to finance their kids' educations.
Worthless can be found here.
Poor Richards Retirement can be found here.
And you can pay for a swift kick in the ass you desperately need here.
8 comments:
Paying for your kids' college is actually just a part of a much bigger overall mistake parents make, which was dubbed "Economic Outpatient Care" by economists Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko in their 1996 clasic tome The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy
You can spend hours reading about this so I'll just give you a quick link to get you started =>
https://tinyurl.com/y74rmscj
I'm not making the "outpatient care" mistake outlined above. I did tell my kids we were "in state" parents. One got a full scholarship and the others got at least some partials. I didn't save up but did it as a (holy cow) pay as you go. All three got technical degrees and full, well paying jobs. They also don't have student debt to deal with. One has bought a house and the others are now shopping for houses. They recognize I did them a favor, and since I put money into retirement accounts early, there is no problem with retirement savings.
It helps the kids out and you get to say things like "I'm not paying for any of those worthless degrees Cappy told us about".
It can be done as a non mistake, just takes some planning.
I don't have kids. If I did AND I had the spare money to send them to college, these would be the ground rules:
1) They are attending a local accredited in-state college. Not some out of state school or private college where the tuition is going to be at least 4 times more expensive.
2) They are living at home. Not at the dorms. If they want to live elsewhere, THEY are going to have to pay for it themselves.
3) They are not going to major in bullshit. If it isn't STEM or a reputable trade school, then they better find some other sucker to pay for their tuition.
4) After the end of each semester, I am going to want to see their report cards and grades. Me paying for next semester's tuition is going to hinge on whether they take their grades seriously.
5) If they end up in academic probation, then daddy's funding is cut off and THEY will have to find somebody else to fund their tuition.
If they don't like these rules, then tough shit. They would be reminded that it isn't their money.
Divorced parent of four. Independently put all four kids through private school education with the understanding that it is up to them to use this costly alternative to their advantage in leveraging college opportunities. Daughter prefers social arena over maintaining honor society AP classes -- which she is fully capable of. Son offered numerous college sports opportunities but declined because his father did not think it was a good idea (same father who refused to pay a penny for private HS education). Eldest daughter is the eternal student with huge college debt and no degree because she wants to make her own decisions. First son achieved college scholarship and graduates this year with chemical engineering degree. Now I am being told that I am obligated (by family courts) to pay for my kids college expenses because it is in their best interest. Whats is in their best interest is to grow up and have some sense of responsibility. I am still paying off the expensive HS educations. When is my best interest a consideration? These family courts are exacerbating the entitlement and crippling our kids. What can a parent do when it is court mandated?
Two of my 3-children spent 2-Years attending (boo hoo) ... Junior College where they took STEM courses (and the bullshitty required liberal arts courses) in the “transfer to a 4-year State University” track. Their typical STEM course started with 120 kids crowding into a classroom ... but by the time the first assignment was due ... the class size shrunk to about 22. My kids didn’t get 4.6GPA’s in HS (and they’re lillywhite) so they weren’t getting into top tier schools in CA. After much arguing with the wife, I convinced her that a degree from Humbolt State wasn’t worth the “shame” of attending a JC. You see, in my upper, upper, middle class community ... attending a JC is like a scarlet letter tattooed on your neck ... like the gardeners kid. But my two kids found Jr. College much EASIER than their rigorous public HS (upper, upper, middle class parents demand it). So they both got straight-A’s and transferred straight to UCLA. I paid for BOTH their Jr College “careers” from the spare change I vacuumed out of the sofa cushions. UCLA ... ugggh ... University of Caucasians Lost among Asians ... Yeah ... I know ... but my son received a Math degree in two more (escalatingly $$ expensive) years, and my daughter a degree in History (yeah ... I know). But she is a highly creative (takes after her father) hard worker (takes after her mother) ... and has progressed through the corporate and fashion world of NYC - now settled in Orange Co. (a conservative, like her dad). My son works for a $Billion dollar Silicon Valley Real Estate Developer ... running numbers for their $$$ massive multi-family portfolio. My other son managed to get accepted to Cal Poly SLO (my wife’s alma mater) where he promptly flunked out as we received his diagnosis of severe bi-Polar disorder.
I managed to pay ... out of my middle class (read: poor) pockets (while living in my upper, upper, middle class community) for most of their college expenses ... and the balance, I put on Student Loans that I agreed to pay-off on their behalf (jump starting their positive credit ratings). I finished paying-off my daughter’s paltry student loans long ago. I am still paying for the Math degree ... because the University raised tuition literally every quarter he attended UCLA (thanks Obama ... for nationalizing college debt ... idiot!). But it is a paltry monthly payment. And I am still paying for my other son ... in many ways.
Yep. My kids were told that 100% of their entertainment allowance was on them ... summer jobs. So there were no Spring Break Trips to Florida or Mexico (boo hoo ... they were “deprived” of the debauched American college “experience”).
Yeah, it would be nice to NOT have to divert a couple hundred/month from my Vanguard Index Funds ... but it was a trade I was willing to make. My wife and I are both “low maintenance” ... so we are still sitting pretty damn comfortable for our retirement. Now ... to just get OUT of CA ... before it IMPLODES under the SUPERmajority Leftist (Sanctuary State, Mexifornia) governance
Oh Karen, poor you! You have the distinct privilege of being of being one of the few women that our misandrist court system actually requires to pay following a divorce. Good! There should be more of you. Equality and all that...
@Karen Casile
Welcome to the World of Men.
https://iman.infusionsoft.com/app/hostedEmail/342188889/ef6e115ced5e5e21
you'll find this an interesting read along with all of his other economic insights
David
Post a Comment