I saw on CNBC that more people would rather save for their vacation than for the kid’s college fund:
“We have seen this in recession eras before,” says Larry Hugick, chairman of Princeton Survey Research Associates, which conducted the interviews with 1,508 financial decision makers over two weeks in May. “People want to give themselves some sort of treat. They want their vacation.”
Hugick also speculated that short-term goals, like a new car or vacation may seem attainable by comparison to college expenses. The rapid rise in tuition in recent years has seemed to dwarf the most conscientious saver’s account balance, and Americans wouldn’t be blamed for feeling hopelessness toward covering their children’s college expenses.
Who can blame them? A fun vacation might be worth more today than a college education tomorrow. At least the family will have the fun memories vs. the potential debt of college and no certainty about a job from all that money for the kid. Another reason for the reluctance to save is that the less parents have in their bank accounts or savings by college time, the more financial aid junior might receive. Savings in this country often makes one a sucker, so why scrimp and save to pay full freight when your neighbor gets aid or financial help for making more impulsive decisions?
What is this thing called “vacation”? Aside from a single day I took off seven years ago (to move), the last time I had anything resembling a vacation was in 1987.
Vacation?
Oh yeah: 1996. Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. It was nice. Am I due for another one?
I will only support my children in pursuit of a trade or career based credential. There is nothing wrong with pursuing studies in liberal arts, but doing so in a university setting is really a luxury for the wealthy. I will teach my children that there are many ways to satisfy a thirst for knowledge without paying $50K per year. For example you can buy collections of literature for less than $3 in digital format. Also, I don’t really see the possibility of retiring permanently, so instead I choose to live my life one moment, one day, one year, one vacation at a time. Why sprint through life when there is nothing to sprint towards? Just take it step by step, changing pace as life changes.
I wish I had followed my own advice. I would have been much better off if I had pursued a two year RN degree.
Another propaganda spin:
1. People do not know how to take care of their own money
–Translation of Dim: you are stupid
2. People cannot afford college because they spent on frivolous things college
–Translation: you can’t afford college because your stupid parents didn’t save money
3. The government needs to take care of it for you. “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.” Obama.
–Translation: we need more funding for student loans because we took the money out to pay for Obamacare and had counted on the interst rates going up to balance the books.
Predictable, everytime a ‘study’ comes out (especially a weak study that has selective data sets) within 5 days, the admin ponies out its follow-on story, claiming the ‘study’ as the basis for its , ah, activities.
My bet is the Admin will claim the need for more student funding.
Besides, why save when Obama takes?