Comments on: 4 Ways to Save For Your Kids College Education

By: Chet Scott

Chet Scott — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:47:24 +0000

Great information.

My wife and I invest in the Iowa 529 plan because they offer the low fee Vanguard funds. We also do monthly dollar cost averaging 529 investing.

For budgeting purposing, we are planning our child’s first two years to be at a lower cost community college. It is not just about the money, we also believe that students receive a superior education in the first two years from instructors with real life experience (vs. grad students0.
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By: Saving for Cost of Higher Education | Barbara J Payton

Saving for Cost of Higher Education | Barbara J Payton — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:27:53 +0000

[...] 4 Ways to Save For Your Kids College Education [...]

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:21:21 +0000

One thing I would add on the 529 plans is that you aren’t limited to your own state. If you happen to live in a state where there is no income tax you have little to no incentive to use the plan offered by your state. On the other hand states with an income tax usually offer incentives to those residents investing in their 529 plans.

Really anyone could invest in the Illinois plan, or the Tennessee plan, or the Georgia plan, you get the idea.
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By: Saturday Staples: Personal Finance Reading : Yielding Wealth - Personal Finance Tips – Money Management Advice

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:52:35 +0000

[...] 4 Ways to Save For Your Kids College Education from Good Financial Cents [...]

By: Friday Linkfest: Busy Week Edition

Friday Linkfest: Busy Week Edition — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:02:29 +0000

[...] Ways to Save for Your Kids College Education – Good Financial [...]

By: Britt (Your Roth IRA)

Britt (Your Roth IRA) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:29:12 +0000

Another excellent article. But there’s one I’d like to add:

Buy a piece of rental property.

Find a good piece of rental property, hire a property manager, and hold on.

If you do it right, it’ll generate tax-free positive cashflow (your earnings are offset by depreciation) on a monthly basis, and someone else will pay down the mortgage while your child grows up. By the time your child is in college, assuming a 15-year fixed mortgage, you’re left with a property you own free and clear. The monthly cash flow should be able to pay for your child’s college expenses.

And here’s the kicker…

Once they graduate, you still have the property (asset)!

It’s still spinning off positive cash flow long after they graduate.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case with most college savings programs, which focus on saving and saving and saving, so that one day you can sell off all of your assets and have nothing left over.

In this market, finding a positive cash flow property should NOT be difficult, and even if you lost $200 per month for the first few years, doesn’ t that beat hundreds of dollars per month for years only to use ALL of what you’ve saved to pay for college?

Just an idea…