You should be the grasshopper glatt.
College is fucking expensive, second only to ignorance. There are different degrees of ignorance, just as there are different degrees in college. Finding which degree suits you, or more importantly, suits your kid is kind of up to her. Spending money on her higher education is unavoidable, regardless of which degrees are pursued.
Having debt upon graduation is like starting a race with hobbles on, and there is a definite relationship between the amount of debt and the how hobbled your newly minted graduate is. I have read horror stories of new graduates starting their careers with many tens of thousands of dollars of debt--it's impossible. It is avoidable though, and every effort should be made to diminish the outstanding balance. Well, every effort within reason. Like... DO NOT raid, impoverish, reduce, fold, spindle or otherwise mutilate your retirement savings, not the capital nor the rate at which you're saving. I can't emphasize this enough. Better to pay in longer time in school than to pinch your retirement savings.
As for your questions about what's counted in the FAFSA and what comprises the (heart stopping) "Expected Family Contribution", I defer to those with greater knowledge. But like any other difficult program, losing weight, saving for retirement, maximizing your fuel economy, etc, etc, the goal won't be reached by a few JACKPOT actions. Count on success by the sum of many small actions. Economize where you can, over and over. The little actions can add up. Especially the part about starting as early as you are, thinking now about college in the coming years.
I suggest you look into college saving accounts, the particular numeric tax code escapes me at the moment (529??). In Washington, we have a program called GET, for Guaranteed Education Tuition. You buy a certain number of credits at current market price and they're good indefinitely. Compared to the rate of inflation for college tuition around here, it's like found money. But it is still expensive. They're transferrable so if your kid doesn't wind up going to school, they can be used by someone else.
Minimize your kid's debt, but not at the expense of your retirement. That's my main sermon.
|
