Using MEC to shelter assets, pay for college

blossom
Wed, 21 Jul 2021 15:53:53 +0000

OP- before you even think about the refi- take an evening to get a full picture of your finances.

Do you have life insurance for this and any other minor children? Do you have disability insurance from your jobs? Do you have an IRA or 401K, or anything at all put away for retirement?

Cashing out on the house to pay off your education loans may be a great idea. But if at the end of the day, you then go ahead and take out MORE loans- either consumer loans, or ed loans for your kid, then where are you going to live if (god forbid) you lose your job, have to sell the house and find something less expensive? How many years of work left until retirement- and how are you going to live with no income coming in (check out your social security benefits before answering this question- it’s often less than people think).

So get a full picture before doing anything. And if it means your kid has to find an affordable, no-parent loan option for college- well, isn’t that better than dragging the college loans into the NEXT generation, whereby your grandkids have to worry about your kid paying off his loans before they get to college???