Future College Costs

clones1980

Hi everyone.

I am the single parent of a 5 year old son. I really need to start thinking about saving for his college education now and have no idea what would be a realistic figure to try save weekly.

I haven't been able to save towards college before now as I bought a house two years ago and have just completed the bulk of the work on it. But I am in a good position in that my house was a cash purchase and the loan I took out for the work on it will be payed for in another three years.

Is anyone else saving for one childs education and approx how much do I need to be saving.

Orion

How long is a piece of string? How much depends on a lot of factors - what he wants to do, where he wants to do it, uni or private college, Ireland, UK or elsewhere. You may need to pay for accommodation if not local or public transport if feasible. Books are not cheap. He may want to do a Masters after the degree - more money.

My advice is save what you can afford right now without sacrificing essentials. When he hits his teens you may have an idea of what and where he wants to study and a more realistic idea of the cost then too as it's increasing every year. You can up the amount to save then.

mitresize5

If you can put his children's allowance into a secured fund via monthly direct debit.

You'll be astounded what compound interest can do over time.

You'll have the bulk of the money needed saved by the time he gets around to college

mitresize5

http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/finance/calculators/compoundinterestcalculator.php

This will give you a good idea of your returns.

4% per annum will give you a fund of close to 50k.

Even with inflation that should be enough to finance 4 years

5starpool

Essentially save whatever you can afford with just the future in general in mind, not just college education. If you start on a reasonable sum (200 per month) and then increase or decrease it as you can afford whenever you need to.

bp

If you do €100 a month from birth you will have circa €20k by 18, so if you start it now you will have approximately €16k saved by then

pwurple

I've got about 7k put away at the moment in the college fund, per child, and I'm going to hold it at that for the moment. Still monthly saving, but it's earmarked for something else for us at the moment. FYI, the link for the current years fees are here. It's eye-watering. My 7k will go nowhere.  https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/support/financeoffice/UGFeeScchedule2016-2017.pdf


I've no idea how much they will end up needing, or even if they will need to go to college at all. The older I get, the more cynical I am about 3rd level in general. I've seen people getting stuck on the university merry-go-round for decades, with degrees coming out their ears, but ending up completely unemployable.  For a usable qualification like a science degree, a teaching dip, or a nursing qualification, yes, I'll fund that. Something that is more for personal or academic development (hullo gender studies), I'm afraid not kids, do that from your own back pocket. 
And I will be heartily endorsing apprenticeships, learning a trade, starting their own business, etc if they prefer. The future of employment looks a little woolly to me to be honest. A lot of disruption business models are out there undermining traditional employers (I'm thinking of Air B&B and pop-up restaurants in the hospitality industry, Uber etc.) , who's to say where that will go. Pop up hospitals? 

We'll also be strongly encouraging a local college.

That being said, some kind of cushion is a good idea and gives peace of mind. Yes to putting away a monthly fund. I started with the state savings for child benefit, but after serious incompetence on their part (that's a whole other post), I'd advise staying away from the post office, and going with any other regular savings plan instead.