<p>Someone upthread asked if he was going to take any kind of vacation between graduation (mid-late May) and work beginning (early-mid June). That is a great question and it hasnt come up yet, but he’s worked non-stop with no real break (even took classes at local Flagship Tech school AND did an internship last summer) so if he wanted to take a vacation (he’s never been to Europe) we’d probably give it to him as a graduation/birthday present (or pay part of it, depending on cost). Of course, if we bring it up, he’ll probably jump on it. </p>
<p>We will be interested in seeing if he has truly run the numbers and sa set a reasonable budget for living expenses. He knows what it has cost to live in a rental house with 2 roommates in student housing, but I expect he’ll step it up a notch when he starts work.</p>
<p>Son’s state u had a young alumni tour that he went on with a friend - one of those day or two in each city tours. He loved it - he said it was an easy way to see a lot of places he might never get to go to again and also to give him an idea of where he wanted to go back and spend more time. D is planning to go on the same type of tour with the same tour agency this summer - they specialize in tours for ages 21-35.</p>
<p>True. There are lots of “educational” opportunities he can explore. We do want to give h a graduation/birthday gift. </p>
<p>I think some are over interpreting what I meant by my choice of the word “earmarked”. We set aside savings intended for education. That that was put in a 529 has been exhausted. The rest is just in savings.</p>
<p>I took a more expansive view of risk and LI. The cost was/is small as a hedge against something that might happen not only when he is a young adult but also as a future father and husband (pick your order of occurence).
I fixed the cost of his insurance while I still had the opportunity to do so. Once he is off to OOS/college/independence, takes a few tobacco products/gets with a bad scene/DUI/a dreaded STD, his insurability decreases-cost to buy increases. And you would be surprised on what will exclude or increase the insurance rate.
So what if the cost of a couple/few hundred thousand of LI costs $300/yr. We were a full pay family. The COA in 2002 was ~$35k/yr and he graduated with a COA ~42K. Today the COA is $55k. So 9 years later, DS has a BS Meche, a MS CompSci, making very nice money, saving a big chunk of money, and that LI policy still costs $300, about 1 day’s salary.</p>
<p>The second aspect is I get to protect my future DIL and Grandchildren at reasonable cost. In the event that he ever becomes uninsurable he will have the current insurance and still be prime husband material. [Although the current insurance is way too small for a family.]</p>
<p>The third aspect is that young people live forever. The idea of LI is foreign and they would have think in a new paradyne. Ever try talking death to a teenager?</p>
<p>The fourth aspect is for me to make someone’s life miserable, if they caused the unthinkable . [see thread on cell phone while driving, my comment.]</p>
<p>Many of us has saved since birth for a college education, knowing that college is only a possibility and at a unknown cost. Do you see the correlation?</p>
<p>Re: UGMA
I started to turn over the UGMA when he was 23. When he returned from Canada for MS, India for internship, and then luckily when he was in Seattle (near to OR) for just 4 months and before he took off for Germany. We are trying to finishup a DRIP stock transfer, a misery $250 worth and taking months.</p>
<p>You got sons. You should worry.
I’m reduced to looking at Craigslist, personals. I am worried. </p>
<p>DS lives in shared housing with mid-20’ers, 4 females + him. Either he is “safe” or the housemates are not helping DS look. Suggest that your DS explore shared-housing. Less expenses, no contracts, close to work, more people to hang out with.</p>
<p>Yes, LP. As I indicated above, he plans to get an apartment or rental house (nicer than the current student housing junker) with a rroommate. Currently he has 2 roommates.</p>
<p>I feel that, UGMA or not, it’s the parents’ money. It was earmarked for education. He got an education. If it doesn’t all get used it should go back to the parents, to supplement their own retirement accounts or whatever.</p>
<p>I feel no need and see no reason to “even out” what has been spent on college educations for each of my kids, especially to the point of handing one of them a big pile of money.</p>
<p>Tell him you want the money back. You can always give it back later for grad school, or at least wait until his brain matures at age 25 when he will be more responsible with it.</p>
<p>I totally see the need to “even out” the post high school educations of two sons. I have two sons also: one went to Harvard and one went to State U. Big difference in cost! Both are bright and accomplished. They both knew I would take out parent loans (or pay up front) for the same amount for each kid, no matter where they went. That didn’t cover anywhere near Harvard’s tuition but made State U fairly affordable for S2 (who chose State U while watching S1 choose Harvard and said NO WAY that tuition is worth it). The tuition difference was made up in scholarships and for Harvard son, student loans.</p>
<p>Never would I want S2 to feel disadvantaged for his less “important school” choice. He was already making financial decisions when he chose State U. He worked a good job while at State U and this actually might have put him at an advantage career wise.</p>
<p>Both kids also had education funds saved for them from the time they were babies. The funds were “given” to them at about 18 and totally by age 21. They can spend them on cars (and they have each bought cheap used cars for job transport) or paying their student loans or whatever they desire. The Harvard son has student loans but you know what? I advised him to keep some of his kitty and not pay off his student loan. Money is really hard to amass. State U son has no student loan.</p>
<p>Both kids work, have credit cards (paid off each month electronically), pay rent and buy groceries, spend on girlfriends. I don’t watch it. I tried to teach them early about money: they have Roths and are likely as worried about the economy as most of us parents. </p>
<p>Probably depends on the kids, but for mine: Let them go, be gentle, be supportive, know they make mistakes just like we did (that purple sweater!), be happy they have grown into adults. I am sure Jym is doing the right thing.</p>
<p>I had company-provided insurance til S1 was born. As my leave was ending there (and since we had moved, I wasn’t returning to the same company), I got a term life policy with COL rider. Doubled it when I was pregnant with S2. I was an at-home mom at the time – but it would have cost DH a lot of $$$ to pay for day care and household support without me around. </p>
<p>Ten years later I became uninsurable, but if I did not survive my illness, that policy would have paid full freight at current prices for both kids at the school of their choice.</p>
<p>Other financial advice I’ve given to my kids:<br>
they need to have their own insurance policies as soon as they have an insurable interest – a spouse, a mortgage, before starting to try to have children.<br>
get the best health insurance they can – medical bills will wipe out even solvent and frugal families.
put enough $$ in the 401(k) to get the maximum employer match – it’s free, automatic return on investment.
use reimbursement accounts for medical and day care expenses.
direct deposit to a savings account is a painless way to save.</p>
<p>Kinda depends on what is called fixed, variable expenses and if either could be changed.
Kinda depends on what is the gross.
When DS was working on halftime with the university, his expenditures was ~75% of gross. When DS was on Temp/contract, those same expenditures was maybe 25%. Now that he’s fulltime, its now about 33%. Getting a big raise and company will pickup smartphone costs (he works on phone apps) in Jan, and expenditures will drop to 20%. Confused, depends on definitions. </p>
<p>Here is DS formula: Shared housing, shared common expenses. Bikes to work. Old but reliable, maintained car with low insurance costs. Electric heating is kept low. Carefully use Water. Restaurant lunches minimized. Use the free public transport pass for some point-point trips. No TV but internet service. Buy durable goods used. No suits, no dry cleaning. Have lots of pot-lucks and have a housemate who is a professional urban farmer.</p>
<p>We bought savings bonds and put $ in savings every month from the time our two sons were babies. Our goal was to save enough for each to grad. from an instate public univ. debt free. Most of the savings were in the kids’ names. DH was the “administrator of funds” while they were in college. We told them all along whatever was left of the funds after they graduated would be theirs.</p>
<p>S1 ended up with a full ride to state u. Midway through college some of his fund was spent to buy a much needed used truck. Other than that, the fund remained intact. After S1’s graduation, DH handed over the savings bonds(a sizeable amt) to him.<br>
S1 (with a job/benefits providing plenty of $ to support himself) declared he would save the $ for something big. That was May 2009. He never touched it until last week. S1 bought his first house and is using part of the college savings money to upgrade the HVAC system to make the house more energy efficient. So far he has been a really good steward of the $ we saved for him. </p>
<p>S2, full pay at state u, will grad. in May. Since he was full pay,almost all of his fund has been spent on what it was originally earmarked for…his education. He will have a very small amt. left in his acct upon graduation. He does not have a job lined up and will move back in with us to do an unpaid internship this summer. Hopefully a paying job will soon follow. Like S1, S2 will receive whatever is left in his acct. and use it toward starting life as an independent young adult. </p>
<p>We would never have given either of them access to the funds until they actually graduated from college. That was the deal from the beginning.</p>
