Should you pay for your kids' college?

Posted Oct 16th 2007 7:06PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Personal Finance

The idea that parents should pay for their children's college education is widely seen as conventional wisdom -- after all, isn't that what those 529 plans are for? And Upromise, the program where buying groceries helps you put money away for your children's future?

I was a believer too until I read Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth's book Yes You Can Get a Financial Life! There, the authors argue that a college education is a capital asset and that it makes the most sense for the beneficiary of that asset to foot the bill. Stein and DeMuth believe that kids who pay for college may value it more, and that student loans and work-study programs are available to make it possible for kids to go to college without parental support.

And as they wrote, "If Mom and Dad really believe they are doing something noble by depriving themselves so their kids can stay out all night drinking in Nassau during spring vacation, that has little do with rational thought."

But do Americans really want to do that?

A recent study found that Americans are evenly split on which is more important: saving for college or saving for your own retirement.

The Wall Street Journal's Jared Sandberg takes a different view of the issue (subscription required). Sandberg looks at research suggesting that parents really wouldn't live fabulous lifestyles if they didn't have to take care of their kids -- the whining about the trips to the Caribbean that they could take is little more than harmless kvetching.

But too many workers have inadequate savings to live even a moderately comfortable retirement. For them, the decision should be clear: Let your kids pay for college themselves.

If you're slightly better-off, it's your choice: Give your kids the gift of education, or live out your golden years in luxury as a reward for taking care of them for the first 18 years of their lives.

I don't think there's any right answer.

Tags: 529, college, education, school, tuition, university, Upromise, work-study

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-22-2007 @ 4:34PM

Tom Mueller said...

The information provided in the text seemed very acurate to me in the sence that my parents would rather save for there future than to help me with mine. This is an ongoing struggle with me cause i am just graduating high school and i have no money saved up to assist me in my future at college. I believe that there should be some sence of priority when it comes to a parents responsibilities to its children. As a college bound student my self i know the stress that is surrounding kids when it comes to how am i going to pay for something that is so necessary for me to achieve. Not every college students priorities are drinking and parties, personally if i am going to go to a 4 year college myself and spend at least 4 years in lecture halls i am going to get the most out of it as i can. Im not saying that i will not attend events that may involve alcohol but that is not my priority nor will my morals change as i attend college. So for someone to post a page that persuades parents to not pay for college is not only offinsive but also demonstrates the fact that this person believes every kid attending college is way better off struggling than to receive help. For college students paying for there own tuition and board, my hat is off to you for the struggle and beating the odds that are surrounding your lives every day.