mortgage or college?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
mortgage or college?
24
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 1:28pm

I have a dilema and I'm not sure what to do about it.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 1:54pm

Stacy,


You have mentioned this a few times in the past and your message has been pretty consistent that it is important to you to assist with college.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 2:31pm

Stacy -


My daughter is 17, a junior and headed to college in just a year and a half.




iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-1998
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 2:42pm
So to my WWYD question:



Would you put what little extra you have towards paying down the principal of your mortage? or put it aside to assist your son with paying for college so that he's not burdened with an excessive amount of debt when he finishes school?



We are not looking to pay for his entire education, just lessen the burden a bit.



I would put the extra money aside for his education, also has he checked into scholarships and bursaries that may be available?


Sharon




iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 2:50pm

I don't know if this will help you at all. There was this show on Saturday about money This new guy was on there talking about a new program Where a child can borrow a student loan but it must be a government backed loan After the child is out of school if that person goes to work for some non profit or something of that sort and pays on his student loan with out being late for a total of 10 years What ever is left to pay at the end of the 10 years is forgiven.


This I would look into A school councilor should know about this. I would start there. I wish I could remember the Website the man told about where they gave all the details. But my son is 40 and an engineer so there is no need for me to know these things really.


You could pay the payments for your child if they could get in that program That would be one way of getting him or her a free education.


When my son went to school He got state backed pell grants because we made little money Those are forgivable And he went to the local collage while living at home. The other night Old Dave was telling this guy I went to the local collage instead of the one in Nashville. The difference a year was like 3,000 for the local collage and 10,000 for the one in Nashville Same education. Same state.


Like I said Michael got a pell grant for the first two years Then in his internship he got a job with the Navy part time making around 25.00 an hour. Made more in 20 hours then his dad did in 40. That of course paid the last two years. He came out of 6 years education with owing only about 8,000 which his first sign up bonus paid when he got his first job with Texas Instrument.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 3:23pm

Please note that some scholarships can be based upon need.




Avatar for mahopac
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-24-1997
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 3:28pm

If I recall correctly, your son wants to go to a Bible college which is non-accredited and doesn't qualify for federal financial aid - is that right? I just want to be sure I'm remembering this right, that he would have to pay for the entire thing himself if you don't help?

He won't make much money as a worship arts pastor, but forgiveness of loans might be part of his pay when he gets out of school. Has he looked into that? If he doesn't qualify for financial aid, how will he pay for school other than loans, and what kind of loans can he get without going through FAFSA?

I guess it all depends on what you want to do to help him, and what your life goals are. I've always chosen parenting over financial fitness, and sometimes it's backfired, but most of the time I'd say I felt I did the right thing. My inclination is always to help. It's not like you're going to hand him his entire education on a platter.

Kelly

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-17-2003
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 4:05pm

Help with the expenses you can.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-22-2008
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 9:14pm
I believe you can suck out your contributions (not the earnings) of your Roth to help with college.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2009
Tue, 02-10-2009 - 11:45pm
If I were you I would definitely help your son in whatever ways your could as long as it does not jeopardize your own finances (and it looks like you are way ahead of many people). Yes, we heard all these stories about people working their way through college, but what happened is the ratio between average state college tuition (just using that as an example, some private schools are way more) and minimum wage has increased greatly. So say twenty years ago, I could work 20 hours a week and that would cover 50% of the tuition, these days someone needs to work 40 hours, or even more, to cover the the same percentage of tuition. My own parents helped me with my undergraduate degree saying that they would rather give me money when I needed most then have me wait to inherit.
Avatar for sullengurl
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2004
Wed, 02-11-2009 - 7:06am

okay, I didn't get a chance to read through all the responses so please forgive me if I am repeating things here:)


I think it would be in your son's best interest, if you haven't already, to have him do informational interviews/job shadowing of a few people in the career position he is hoping to pursue. This way, he can see them on the job and also talk to them about how they got into the position. I know this can be a little uncomfortable for some, but it sure beats getting into debt and then finding out it was unneccessary or that you don't like that field of work in the end.


How much money will he need for college? Does he need a four year degree? I would find out these things if you haven't already. Then plan accordingly.


It is a tough call about college savings

 


 



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