college vs retirement (was: Character of a growing girl (middle school question))

Richard wrote:

Bear in mind that there are alternatives for financing education, loans
and work-study, for example, that do not exist for retirement.

Also bear in mind that if you sock money aside for retirement, your child may
not be able to qualify for needs-based aid or work study or a needs-based loan.

beeswing

Richard wrote:

Bear in mind that there are alternatives for financing education, loans
and work-study, for example, that do not exist for retirement.

Also bear in mind that if you sock money aside for retirement, your child may
not be able to qualify for needs-based aid or work study or a needs-based
loan.

My impression is that you can almost *always* borrow money for education
expenses. You can't always get it at absolutely rock-bottom interest levels,
but there are many, many ways to finance a college loan without it being at
ridiculously high levels, either. And just because you're not on work-study
doesn't mean you can't get a job on campus. When I was in college, the only
benefit to being on work-study was that you got first pick of cushy jobs like
checking out library books. But if you were willing to wash dishes and such,
you could get all the hours you wanted, at the exact same rate of pay.

--Helen

H Schinske wrote:

Richard wrote:

Bear in mind that there are alternatives for financing education, loans
and work-study, for example, that do not exist for retirement.

Also bear in mind that if you sock money aside for retirement, your child may
not be able to qualify for needs-based aid or work study or a needs-based
loan.

And just because you're not on work-study
doesn't mean you can't get a job on campus. When I was in college, the only
benefit to being on work-study was that you got first pick of cushy jobs like
checking out library books. But if you were willing to wash dishes and such,
you could get all the hours you wanted, at the exact same rate of pay.

--Helen


This is my experience as well. I didn't qualify for work-study (I
already got free tuition because my father was a faculty member) but
there were plenty of non-work-study jobs on and off campus. I worked
both on- and off-campus jobs and picked up extra spending money.

As in real life, the more skills you have the better the pay. My
brother got a very lucrative student job as a computer programmer (in
the 1970's!) while I was less well-paid as an ice-cream scooper.

Jeanne

Helen wrote:

When I was in college, the only
benefit to being on work-study was that you got first pick of cushy jobs like
checking out library books.

Cushy? I don't know about THAT!

I worked at the library for a couple of my college years, till I lost the job
because -- you guessed it -- I was not work-study.

beeswing

In article , beeswing says...

Helen wrote:

When I was in college, the only
benefit to being on work-study was that you got first pick of cushy jobs like
checking out library books.

Cushy? I don't know about THAT!

I worked at the library for a couple of my college years, till I lost the job
because -- you guessed it -- I was not work-study.

beeswing


OK - you lost *that* job, but there are non work-study jobs.

I did two work-study jobs, but they were not so cushy - bussing tables at the
cafeteria. I did better on the outside, working as a truck-stop waitress,
taking seasonal work at the mall, summer jobs doing kitchen work at a resort
town. Eventually, I had both part-time and summer jobs which were resume-worthy
jobs pertaining to my major (physics).

The only real advantage I found to work-study was that when a severe recession
dried up the outside jobs, at least a certain number of campus jobs had to be
set aside for work-study.

Banty

In article ,
beeswing wrote:
Richard wrote:

Bear in mind that there are alternatives for financing education, loans
and work-study, for example, that do not exist for retirement.

Also bear in mind that if you sock money aside for retirement, your child may
not be able to qualify for needs-based aid or work study or a needs-based loan.


I believe it's usually possible to borrow from your retirement funds
for education expenses, if necessary.

--Robyn

In article , Richard wrote:
Robyn Kozierok wrote:
: I believe it's usually possible to borrow from your retirement funds
: for education expenses, if necessary.

Yes, it is, though I would consider that close to a last resort.

I'm curious as to why you would consider it a last resort?

--Robyn

In article ,
(Robyn Kozierok) wrote:

In article , Richard wrote:
Robyn Kozierok wrote:
: I believe it's usually possible to borrow from your retirement funds
: for education expenses, if necessary.

Yes, it is, though I would consider that close to a last resort.

I'm curious as to why you would consider it a last resort?


Can't speak for Richard, but I'd consider it a last resort for the
reasons previously mentioned--that you can always borrow for education,
but you can't borrow for your living expenses in retirement.

That said, if you put all your resources into retirement savings (up to
whatever your contribution limits are, of course) with the express
intention of taking them back out again for education if necessary, I
don't see why that wouldn't work on some level. That way, you've got
the tax-free compounding and if another source of money crops up (say
today's active toddler turns into an athletically inclined 18-year-old
who gets a four-year free ride on the football team), you aren't stuck
with a large amount of savings earmarked for education and nothing else.

We'll be old enough to be making withdrawals from our retirement fund by
the time our daughter hits college age, so we've considered this
possibility. Here's a link that lays out the pros and cons:

http://www.finaid.org/savings/retirementplans.phtml

There's evidently a difference between withdrawing the money and
borrowing the money. Either way, the folks who put together this page
also deem it a last resort.

I found the following article in my Sunday paper and thought it was
interesting. One of the things it covers is why setting aside money in
your IRA for college financing can be a good thing. It also discusses
the guidelines used regarding kid/parent income in determining financial
aid.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsourc...i/web/vortex/d
isplay?slug=pfcollegeplans30&date=20031130&query=c ollege+financing

You probably will have to register to read this. If the link doesn't
work, search the archive for "college financing" under yesterday or
Sunday, November 30. I think the article is well worth reading.

beeswing

In article , Elizabeth Gardner
says...

In article ,
(Robyn Kozierok) wrote:

In article , Richard wrote:
Robyn Kozierok wrote:
: I believe it's usually possible to borrow from your retirement funds
: for education expenses, if necessary.

Yes, it is, though I would consider that close to a last resort.

I'm curious as to why you would consider it a last resort?


Can't speak for Richard, but I'd consider it a last resort for the
reasons previously mentioned--that you can always borrow for education,
but you can't borrow for your living expenses in retirement.

That said, if you put all your resources into retirement savings (up to
whatever your contribution limits are, of course) with the express
intention of taking them back out again for education if necessary, I
don't see why that wouldn't work on some level. That way, you've got
the tax-free compounding and if another source of money crops up (say
today's active toddler turns into an athletically inclined 18-year-old
who gets a four-year free ride on the football team), you aren't stuck
with a large amount of savings earmarked for education and nothing else.

That may be true with good planning.

What needs to be accounted for, though (and one that many frankly wouldn't well
account for) is that one subsequently needs to maintain enough income to pay
this loan back. And one's plans concerning maintaining this income won't
necessarily come to pass. For employment reasons, for health reasons. So
there's a significant risk against what is one's own sustenance the remainder of
one's years on this planet. I'm not saying therefore it's wrong, but one
*really * has to have eyes open.

The thing is - education is an investment in the future of the grown child.
Which may for that reason be best financed from the income which comes from that
investment - future income of said grown child. Continuing income and health is
a much much surer bet for a 22 year old than it is for a 52 year old.

Banty