My husband and I both put ourselves through college and want to help our kids out more than our parents could (or did) for us. (We aren't going to pay for everything - we know plenty of people who have parent-funded educations )
What we are doing is putting away a set amount for each child at birth so that it can grow interest for 18 years (just like retirement - saving early can be more important than saving more). We can add birthday and Christmas money from relatives, but we don't have any plans to add to it ourselves for a while. We're still saving up so we can have another kid...

This is how we are too. My MIL actually opens a 529 for each of her grandkids when they are born and then she deposits money in them for Christmas and Birthdays every year, that's her present (there are pros and cons to this system, we'll see how all the grandkids feel when they get older). We aren't putting money in, we're still paying off our educations! Retirement and general family expenses need to come first right now.

We are definitely saving for retirement first. We put a little back for her sometimes but it is not something of priority for us. We both went to college and paid for it ourselves and I think that you do appreciate it more. I do wonder though when it became expected for parents to pay for college. Someone said on this site somewhere and I agree, they can get a loan for college but we can't get a loan for retirement.

my take on it is this... if you have credit card debt, no retirement savings no savings at all then your financials are not in order you have no business saving for kids college... jmo

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.

I totally agree with this, except I have 6 kiddos to send!!! If they want to go, they will!!! We will find a way, you just have to use your head and work for what you need.

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~Happiness is a large family~

We are saving for college for our girls; however, we're also saving for retirement. So, hopefully, it will all work out in the end! My Dad told me and my brother our college was paid for, all we had to go was go if we chose to (and I did not come from a family with a lot of money-we ate government cheese and peanut butter for some time-, so that was a HUGE deal for him). We both went and got our degrees and honestly, I'm not sure if either of us would have gone if it wasn't for my Dad.

I want to give my girls the same opportunity my Dad gave me. I will; however, make sure they understand what a gift it is and to not waste it if they choose to go!!!!

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Shara
Mommy to Haleigh 1/8/03 & Hannah 2/12/04

I agree with the article. We aren't saving for college because we just can't. We do save for retirement and we can't do both. College isn't the answer for every child all of the time. If they want it they will get it.

Our retirement comes first. They kids will be getting their own savings accounts this year (hopefully, this month), so I can take the several hundreds of dollars in each of their piggy banks, and deposit it!! Anytime they've gotten money for birthdays or Christmas, or if they've earned money (usually at my parent's house doing light yard work, etc) we let them spend a little of it, but the rest is to be saved. Brian grew up with parents who taught him the importance of saving early; I grew up with a single working mother, who often had to rob Peter to pay Paul, so I learned the importance of saving very late in life (after I racked up over 10k in cc debt, that I tried to hide from Brian-not a good move on my part, but I learned from it). Anyway, my parents have vowed to ensure that each of their 4 grandkids have money to go to college on, but I'm not going to rely on that, nor do I want the kids to either. We want them to work for it, appreciate it, and not take it for granted at all. We'll help when/if we can with some of their expenses, but they won't be getting a free ride from us at all! I would rather them resent us for making them work for their education, than resent us for having to take care of us when we're old. Does that make sense?

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~*~ Angie~*~
Wife to Brian
SAHM to Sarah & Andy 2/11/2000

It makes perfect sense!

I must be the exception and not the rule apparently. My parents paid for my college, and I did NOT take it for granted nor abuse it. Yes, i did get some scholarships, but not enough to cover years of school. I am nothing but grateful that my parents were able to do so, and NO they were not rich. We were very very poor growing up, and my parents worked really hard to better THEMSELVES, to help us. Therefore, they helped us learn valuable money lessons in the process. They couldn't stand the thought that we would NOT be educated after high school, so it was no question whether we would go to college or not...we were going.
I am more than grateful for my "parent-funded" education, and I know my sisters (who are still in school, one who had to take out a loan for her specialized photography education, even with the allotted money from mom and dad) are too.
And here I am, with a degree and an AWESOME job to show for it....surprisingly, it's not THAT bad an idea to pay for your kids' schooling if you can afford it. If you raise your kids to not be responsible in the first place, of course they'll abuse it....but we learned financial lessons early on in life, and are very responsible and understanding adults. Amazing how that works.

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Chopey