How much (monetarily) will you help your kids?

[cracher]

My parents' policy was that I must want the education more than they did. They were willing to pay for 49% of tuition and living expenses, no matter how far I wanted to go. They pretty much were not expecting me to rack up a 600k CAD tab for my US education. It took me 8 years, but I've since paid them the entire sum back (they fronted the entire amount). I will do the same for my 5 year old. The ex is a low income earner so I'll make sure I'm ready to step up in 13 years.

[fulham]

My Parents were both retired in their 30's and were very well off , They Covered all of my "living" expenses, even thru university(Room/Board/Books/Food/Cars/Gas). Any Discretionary Spending was funded by Chores, and then when i turned 13 work. Where i

Where I Grew up(British Properties, West Vancouver) working at any age during HS was Rare and I'm glad i did, as you learn about workplace politics and how to mange work relationships.

They Helped Me with my Wedding, and First Mortgage.

I'll do the Same for my Kids

[Sylvanfan]

I will educate my kids by paying tuition and books. I will also make sure I live in a larger city so they have access to a number of options for post secondary so they can still live at home while going to school if they really want.

Unless I die before that happens. My will explicitly states that all family finances will be exhausted in an attempt to shoot my corpse into the center of the sun.

[Tyler]

Unpopular opinions here:

I believe you are a bad parent if you don't pay for your kids education..

You have 18 years to save, government contributions to add to your total and compound interest to accrue money. Have too many kids to pay for college education? Your own fault.

Your kids should also go away for school. Every kid I knew who went to U of C out of high school and lived with their parents for the next four years ended up socially ######ed. Go be an adult and live by yourself. Going away to university was the best thing that ever happened to me.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Unpopular opinions here:

I believe you are a bad parent if you don't pay for your kids education..

You have 18 years to save, government contributions to add to your total and compound interest to accrue money. Have too many kids to pay for college education? Your own fault.

Your kids should also go away for school. Every kid I knew who went to U of C out of high school and lived with their parents for the next four years ended up socially ######ed. Go be an adult and live by yourself. Going away to university was the best thing that ever happened to me.

You're looking at around $200k to send two kids born today away to university when they grow up. Sounds like you think only the wealthiest Canadians should have kids.

[Flamenspiel]

nm

[Russic]

To me the key point here that's been brought up a couple times is that kids can be wildly different, and one method probably won't work across the board. There's a lot of factors that can contribute to every path ending in failure here. Work ethic, drive, financial understanding, financial goals, time management, mental health, risk aversion... all these things (plus countless more) factor in to what kind of citizen we become.

As Polak said, parenting has shifted some of my ideas about kids. I used to think the whole process was a bit more scientific. Do X, get Y. Now I think every solution posed in this thread would work for a segment of the population but not all.

I recently had this very conversation with some family members. All 3 of us disagreed, and all 3 of us chose a method that was counter to how we grew up in some way. Probably a coincidence, but interesting nonetheless.

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

You're looking at around $200k to send two kids born today away to university when they grow up. Sounds like you think only the wealthiest Canadians should have kids.

Tuition is not that expensive. The typical undergraduate degree runs $25-30,000 factoring books and fees. So perhaps it will run you $100,000 for 2 students in 18 years factoring an aggressive 3% inflation rate.

To save that amount in 18 years would require the parents to save approximately $3,000 per annum assuming 7% return. Seems fairly reasonable.

Not to say I agree with parents paying for the entirety of a child's degree. It's important for the student to have a financial stake in their success at university - I would say a cost sharing model is the best route.

[polak]

Having a stake in it is pretty easy. My parents paid for it all but if I failed or withdrew from a class I had to pay it myself. Finding 500-600 bucks to pull out of your ass at 19 while working at the mall is harder than it sounds.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Tuition is not that expensive. The typical undergraduate degree runs $25-30,000 factoring books and fees. So perhaps it will run you $100,000 for 2 students in 18 years factoring an aggressive 3% inflation rate.

To save that amount in 18 years would require the parents to save approximately $3,000 per annum assuming 7% return. Seems fairly reasonable.

Not to say I agree with parents paying for the entirety of a child's degree. It's important for the student to have a financial stake in their success at university - I would say a cost sharing model is the best route.

You missed the part where he says students should go out of province for university. A friend has a kid going to U of Vic right now, and all-in (including flights back home) it's running 20K a year. Given the inflation rate of post-secondary education (and rent), it's likely that will be more like 25K a year in today's dollars by the time a child born today goes.

[Ashartus]

My parents gave me free room and board so long as I was in school, which I expect I'll do for my kids. I paid basically everything else (tuition, expenses, wedding, vehicles, etc.) though they did loan me $5000 to help with a down-payment on my first condo. Tuition was cheaper back then though.

I've set up RESPs for my kids and if needed would help a bit more with education costs, though I expect them to contribute as well. They also have an inheritance from a grandparent that is intended to be a down-payment on their first home.

[MoneyGuy]

We paid for first degrees for two kids and cash for weddings and a house each. We normally pay for a week in the Okanagan. We're setting up an RESP for our grandchild. We want to help our kids but I want them to be independent. Neither has ever asked for money. My friend is overly generous to their second child and he lives at home at age 27 and has no interest in getting a job. I don't see him ever leaving the house. But he's a great cook and does a lot of meals and who knows what else he does all day.

[Husky]

My parents had very little to help me out. Things have changed greatly. As long as my kids work hard and show good work ethic and drive, i will pay for it all. School, house etc. No point in wasting cash on debt interest if the family money has the potential to pay certain costs.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

We're setting up an RESP for our grandchild.

I forget how this works, can anyone set up an RESP for a child, or is it limited to only one registered account per child regardless of who owns and contributes to the account?

[snootchiebootchies]

My understanding is that the RESP is like any other registered account so you can open more than one account for a child -- just make sure the maximum contribution limits are observed. Also, in order to maximize the CESG grants, you should probably coordinate contributions with the other accounts.

[Locke]

My kids are going to be living off the NDP. Why should they be my responsibility? The State should step in and take care of this.

Pay for Education? Laughable!

Personal and Private housing? Incredulous inefficiency! They shall live on a kibbutz with their brethren gathering more wheat for the Motherland while being educated by Mother Gaia in the ways of the World Force and weaving cloth for the exalted animals.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

I forget how this works, can anyone set up an RESP for a child, or is it limited to only one registered account per child regardless of who owns and contributes to the account?

There can be multiple RESPs as you want as long as the child's contribution limit isn't exceeded.

Edit: This is correct.

Originally Posted by snootchiebootchies

My understanding is that the RESP is like any other registered account so you can open more than one account for a child -- just make sure the maximum contribution limits are observed. Also, in order to maximize the CESG grants, you should probably coordinate contributions with the other accounts.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Locke

My kids are going to be living off the NDP. Why should they be my responsibility? The State should step in and take care of this.

Pay for Education? Laughable!

Personal and Private housing? Incredulous inefficiency! They shall live on a kibbutz with their brethren gathering more wheat for the Motherland while being educated by Mother Gaia in the ways of the World Force and weaving cloth for the exalted animals.

This shtick hasn't gotten old in the least.

[Schraderbrau]

I was very lucky to have parents who helped me along the way and I will do e erything I can to provide the same for my kids. We have RESPs set up to help with their educations and I would someday hope to provided them with their first vehicles and some money for a home down payment.

It is amazing what coming out of school debt free or almost debt free and having some money for a home can do for a person. Not everyone has that advantage but I hope to be able to give it to my children.

[Reaper]

I'll spend money on tissues that I'll use to clean up and flush. I'm not having kids.