Well, the time is not immediately upon us, but it’s getting there. Natalie will likely be going to school in 10 years or so. Liam in 12. The little one to come soon after that.
It’s daunting for sure. The costs are completely ridiculous and they don’t seem to be abating. The lethal mix of more and more people going to college mixed with low-cost college loans, and a plethora of government grants is just making this an untenable situation for all. The next major debt bubble in the US is college loans…kids can’t get jobs and their debt has ballooned to over a TRILLION (yes, with a “T”) dollars in total.
What can you do? Sure, there’s the 529 plans, but that is reliant on the mixed bag that is the stock market. Surely not a guarantee any more. There’s state colleges, of which I am an alum of U at Albany SUNY, but even those are averaging close to $30K per year. Forget private schools, they’re hovering around $50K or more…and this with without room/board/books/food. It’s obscene.
And if you have a family or are thinking of starting one…do you not have as many kids because you can’t seem to fathom how to pay for all of this, maybe $400K per kid very soon? I definitely don’t agree with this…have your kids and build your family. Worry about this when you have to. But I digress…
Anyway, I think we all share this same trepidation and the prospects of this are really daunting, but this is life right now, until colleges and the government set it straight.
I would say, though, don’t dispair…just enjoy your lives and don’t let this consume you.
As luck would have it (and this is the truth, I was going to write about this with or without this info graphic) , Frugaldad.com sent this awesome piece along. Very well done, a real eye opener.
