Stop telling parents to save for college, stop the madness
Recently I posted a rant about the ridiculousness of making paying for college a parental responsibility: http://colabopad.blogspot.com/2010/09/who-should-pay-for-college.html
Anyway I was just reading slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2267997/) and here's an exchange between the columnist and a reader. Notice how the college fund comment is plugged into the response as if it is a given! What is the HN opinion on paying for college?
Q. Biological Clock vs. Financial Reality: My husband and I have very different views on when we should start trying to conceive. My feeling is there's no time like the present, while he feels that we're not ready yet. We both feel ready emotionally, but we both feel, quite frankly, poor. (We're both graduate students—we make less than 20,000 and after this May have no guaranteed income.) But I'm of the "simple life" mind-set anyway. Infants don't need much beyond onesies and diapers; no matter how well-off we are, we wouldn't be doing diaper genies and such. And mostly, I feel, we can always get money, but we can't get these years back. (We're fairly young—in our late 20s—but we want to have lots of kids.) I'm having a really hard time waiting; I break into tears every time I see a baby. We've discussed this ad nauseam. He says it's not just up to me, so we should wait. But it's not just up to him, either. I guess my question comes down to this: Who's the default decider?
A: Among the devastation this bad economy is bringing is the situation you are in: People who would otherwise be starting their families are too financially afraid to do so. There's no default decider here—this has to be a decision the two of you make. Your husband is right that having a baby requires more than onesies and love. But you're also right that you can't put this off indefinitely while you wait for the economy to improve. In any case, however bad the economy is now, eventually it will recover—<b>perhaps in time for you to make a dent in a college fund.</b> I think you two should talk to some trusted outsiders about this. Not necessarily a marriage counselor, but maybe some older relatives who started families in the late 1970s or early '80s, when the economy was also in the dumper. Or perhaps you should consult with someone who does long-term financial planning, so that your husband can feel more confident about making the decision that now is the time for you both to start adding future wage earners to the workforce.
People needs concrete goals to set themselves. Given that the couple are both graduate students, it would seem likely that they would, by default, instill in their children the urge to go to college.
I think (no proof or statistics to back this up) that the majority of wage-earners hold a college or university degree. Social proof is a strong motivator when people are in uncertain situations. Education seems to be one of the most widely held beliefs that has a high probability of leading to better economic conditions. From there, the leap is that most people are better off paying to attend a post-secondary institution.
If you have the money to pay for college, and if it could benefit you in the future, why not?
If, on the other hand, the person in question believes they can strike out on their own and start a startup, then that would probably be the preferred HN opinion, given the audience that frequent the site.
I made it through college on my own and had no expectation that my parents would or could pay for it. I do not understand how it is the parents' responsibility, and having done it myself, I know it is not necessary. I had to find my own grants, scholarships, and loans, and I had to find jobs. I went to a college that was nowhere near where my folks or family lived, so I was quite alone.
Was I envious of others? Sure. Did I wish I had money? You bet. Parents would have been a wonderfully convenient source of money. But they were never my crutch, my expectation. I learned self-discipline, independence, responsibility, and money management. I also kept up with my classwork and never failed a class.