Ok, I know nobody wants to think about this right now especially with the economy the way it is. But, as good parents we need to be thinking about this, even if your kids are only 5 years old. Mark and I started saving for Jack before he was born. We started a jug with change and whenever we had spare change we put it in Jacks' jug. Every now and then my folks would come by to visit and they would add their change and sometimes some dollars. Well, spare change is not going to be enough so we started both of our kids a 529 plan. If you do not know what this is I recommend you talk with someone that does. There are several financial people out there that are good people and will help you find your way in all the lingo.
Mark and I started with a Columbia 529 and as you can guess with the economy the way it is that has lost a significant amount of money. I told you about finding help through Dave Ramsey. Well, his financial people helped us get that straight. The person I spoke with is Paul Brewer of Brewer and Associates in Greensboro, NC. Mr. Brewer asked why we had two 529 plans. I simply replied because we have two kids. He said you do not have to have two. The plans can be passed down from one child to the other. That saves on service charges. Say Jack gets a scholarship and only needs a portion of the money we saved then the other money can be passed to Thomas. Mr. Brewer moved us from a Columbia 529 to a different one that lets us choose where our money is invested. I am hoping since our move that our money will grow. And since we only have one now our money should grow faster because it is not separated.
I went to one site and figured up how much college is going to cost for my kids. Get a chair you will need it.
Jack; let's say he goes to NC State. Nice state supported school. $200,291 that is for four years of school.
Thomas; I added his up with him going to UNC $283,767
Here are some helpful sites to figure your heart attack: www.vanguard.com, www.cfnc.org/nc529 , www.hartford.com
I used the Vanguard site to figure the numbers the other sites have good info on how to save for all of this. The Vanguard site is very informative.
And no I am not being paid to say any of this. I just thought that today should be a public service blog.
I hope I have not given anybody a headache today.
2 comments:
Both our kids have 529s but it sounds like I should consolidate them in to one. I guess I better look into that.
I don't even want to think about the cost of college. At that price and when the way the stock market is going, they aren't even going to have enough to go to community college!
I am hoping against hope that mine have their Daddys' brains and get a scholarship.
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