So tax time is here. Anyone else get a surprise?

[Hussein19891]

Well I didn't make much last year, considering I didn't start my job until like middle of September. As of right now I m a student, so I won't have to worry about owing anything in taxes. But hopefully I get like $500~$600 back which will be more then enough for the X3 720.

 

[Hefemeister]

If you are a student and low income you should get back close to whatever you had withheld on your w2 form.

 

[Crysalis]

Once we found out we were pregnant, we started a savings account for her, and set it up to where there can only be deposits, until August 2025, that's only if she goes to college. If she decides to not go to college, we'll change it to where she can't withdraw until 2032. So far she has quite a bit, we deposit half of the 'left over' money after all the months bills, and groceries. She has close to $2,300. Once I get certified, we'll start putting in a little over double of what we put in now. Which will give her around $61k, when she tuens 18. I don't want her to blow all that money, which is why we will setup it up differently if she doesn't go to college. I think she'll be more mature at 25, more than she would be at 18. We'll probably withdraw money when she's 20-21 to purchase a small house for her. Anyway, the college fund is already set up, and will be quite hefty when she is/if she is ready to go to college.

Geesh...

Thats cool and all, but you gotta give the girl some kind of responsibility. Shes gonna lean on you guys for that money. She won't appreciate it as much as if it were her hard earned money. What's to care if she fails a class that cost $500/credit? She didn't pay for it! I'm all for supporting your kids, but there comes a point where they need to grow up and support themselves. I paid every dime of my college tuition and i'm thankful for it. After graduating, my parents gave me a small amount of money to help me out as a "reward". That really taught me to appreciate the education that I got because I paid for it.

Again... I think that its awesome for you to do that for your daughter, but holy wow. If it were me, I would never tell her about it.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that I am not one of those kids who "had nothing" growing up... I was pretty well off, but my parents were smart. I bought and paid for all of my cars, instruments.... everything from my own money. It taught me to respect and appreciate those things because it came from my pocket. Sometimes, at complete random, my parents would give me a bit of money just to "be nice", but most everything was out of my pocket from my hard work. My parents are pretty "well-off", so it's not like they couldn't, but values came first, then money.

 

[ricanflow]

Yeah thats a bit overboard i would say.

Especially for a daughter, who is most likely to marry and move out and be supported by her husband. I wouldint do all that for my kids, thats just too much. I would put aside a fund, but not $60K worth thats a lot of money.

Im one of those guys that believes that you should pay for college on your own, i wouldint take money from my parents and ive always bought all my own things as well.

 

[veedubfreak]

It's getting increasingly hard to pay for college yourself now though. When i graduated it was roughly 2000 a semester for books and tuition, which i was able to scrape up working summers and 2-3 days a week. These days, its closer to 3-4000 per semester at the same school i graduated from, and if you have to live in the dorm, god help you.

 

[Crysalis]

I paid ~$7,000 per semester. I took at minimum 16 credits and worked 40+ hours a week as manager of a restaurant and maintained a 4.0gpa.

No excuses.

Granted, I had SOME loans, but I was only given $4,000 per year because of my parents income. which covered just about nothing. I think my total school debt is about $13k... the rest was paid out of my pocket.

 

[veedubfreak]

I paid ~$7,000 per semester. I took at minimum 16 credits and worked 40+ hours a week as manager of a restaurant and maintained a 4.0gpa.

No excuses.

Granted, I had SOME loans, but I was only given $4,000 per year because of my parents income. which covered just about nothing. I think my total school debt is about $13k... the rest was paid out of my pocket.

Oh i didnt say its not possible, but i went to school in a podunk town so it was hard enough to find a job, much less a GOOD job. Luckily i had a nice garage apartment on my parents property to live rent free

 

[KSoD]

While i can understand all of this. Cause i have always worked for my stuff as well which is why i didnt go to college. Cause after paying Rent, Car Payment, Insurance and bills for the place i lived there wasnt enough left to go toward college. I barely had enough saved up for when the car needed repairs.

Loans were not a option as I made to much money. I was out on my own by the time i started College so i had no other option but try for it myself and there was no way i could get any grants, loans (Student or otherwise) or just about every other option. I tried TAP and PEL and neither gave me squat.

So i can understand where he is coming from. But just because you may be able to do the 40 hour work week and school doesnt mean that everyone can. I did that thru 3 of my 4 years in high school. I worked 70+ hours a week my senior year and still maintained a 3.5+ GPA. But i would not ask my daughter to have to do that if I dont have to.

Every person is different. Not everyone can face the challenges the same. I am and have been able to survive on 3 hours of sleep a day. My wife can not. You cant ask someone to go beyond their capabilities to do something. Being as they are so young we can not begin to know what they are at this time.

So yeah i will have money set aside for when she goes to school. It will be what it can be. IF i can pay for her schooling so be it. She will buy her own stuff and i will teach her to be responsilbe as well. But paying for her schooling is something extra.

You can teach your kids to be responsilbe and money smart with still paying for their college. Just like you can teach them money smarts if you buy them their first car. Just because you help them along with big things like that doesnt mean that they are going to be dependent on others all of their life.

 

[Crysalis]

Eh... to each his own. Setting aside some money is cool... mine did (all of $2,000), but paying for everything is, IMHO, crazy.

All of my friends that have had college paid for are still at home, no job, still in college because they fail and/or skip every class. They don't realize the importance of showing up to a math class that you paid $2k for and instead.

Again... to each his own and just MHO. I wouldn't trade the things I've learned from my parents for anything.

 

[KSoD]

Yes well that is a different issue altogether with that. Cause their parents let them do that stuff. I would not let my daughter waste the money if she wasnt going to go to class. I wouldnt let her live in my house if she was not going to attend class.

There is things that i would do differently than what your friends parents have done. I will flat out tell her, if she goes to class and gets teh grades then she is welcome to stay. But if she fails to go to class and doesnt show the grades then she will have to fend for herself.

Plus there is nothing saying that i wouldnt charge her, albeit a small amount, for rent or something like that as well. There are hundreds of different options that can be taken.

So yeah there are always lessons to be taught and things to be learned. The way it is done is going to be different for each person. IF i have the means to pay for her schooling i will. But there is no guarantee that i will. She may decide that she wants to use part of hte money for a car and pay part of the tution herself.

Who is to say? She is 2. There is atleast 16 years between now and when the decision has to be made. Who is to say what the economy will be like in 16 years? Who is to say if it will even be the USA. We dont know. To speculate now as to what i will do 16 years from now is obsurd.

I do know that there are things that i will do for her and things that she will learn to do herself. But each parent has their own way to raise their kids. You say now that you wouldnt do that for yoru child. But once you have a child, your thought process changes faster than you know.

So yeah you say it is crazy, but at the same time I have a rough outline in my head as to what i will do. But then again 16 years is a long time. So who knows what will happen between now and then.