Marta and Antoine also have something set aside in case they have their own kids one day. Just throwing that out there in case anyone wondered.
It sounds like a great gift until ten years pass and it's all blown in one semester because inflation.
That was always my favorite gift from grandma – CASH!
Yeah, one whole years tuition, room, and board, for me will not cover a simple meal plan today.
I love in nys and my current costs for next semester are going to be about 7,710 before books. So for a full year it’ll be over 15,000. It’s ridiculous
This is the primary reason I recommend trade school over college. You can learn something faster and cheaper with hands on experience without killing yourself later in loan costs and the whole thing. College makes me wince whenever someone mentions the costs.
Oh, denfinitely. I’m thinking kids need to get out and start working first with a trade skill as the experience they earn will hold them in good stead for later life; college isn’t going anywhere and there is no rule that they have attend right after graduation. If they get a few years under them and still want to, college can still be an option, especially if they find a trade they’re good at and want to expand it with a college degree that matches it. They could start in a CC (I honestly don’t know why more people do this for their first two years anyway as it’s the same courses, using the same books, usually taught by the same professors as the nearby 4 year school and it’s around a third of the cost). Heck, most trade certifications are counted as college credits anyway, so that’s a small leg up. 🙂
I got stuck in some local Community College classes when I was failing junior high-school chemistry. (I also got stuck in an alternate-days lunch-period Chem class…) So from doing badly… I got two Bs and an A. @_@
I then took summer classes at the CC to get a less-expensive leg up, and because FENCING CLASSES. It was useful, really. If you know the likely “general education requirements” and can get them at the community college, then you can transfer the credits and hopefully skip at least some of the “cattle classes” at a bigger university.
Assuming, here, that you mean F.I.E./NCAA style fencing, and not cedar, chain link or split rail, … Fencing rocks!
Yeah, getting more attention, in smaller classes, often with access to better profs, are all definite benefits to the Community/Junior College system. You called it, spot on.
Foil fencing! EN GARDE!
I really liked the history teacher at the community college — he was a veteran in a wheelchair, and gave really good lectures. (‘Specially, must admit, the war stuff.)
I wish I’d looked more into trade schools back when I was returning to college. I almost applied to a carpenter’s apprentice position, kind of wish I had in hindsight.
Oh I love reading all of these “My school costs so and so”
I live in Denmark, where every education, no matter what subject is 100% free.
Bless you America, you need it.
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/051/760/ade.jpg
Beat me to it, Sonny.
I paid $300-ish “administrative fees” per semester in Germany, for which I also got a free public transport ticket, which alone was worth more than that.
You pay for it, you just don’t know how much. Nothing is free. Yours is probably more expensive because on top of teachers and administrative you have to pay for bureaucrats to collect and distribute taxes. More people = more expensive.
Same where I’m from. The downside to that is too many college graduates because since everyone can go to college, everyone is expected to. So now there are so many most of them can’t get a job in their chosen field either way.
I didn’t go and instead landed a comfortable office job, the irony is that while all my colleagues are graduates, we all do the same work, and I’m actually paid more than average due to having started earlier.
The same thing happens in the USA, except people get to repay student loans while being unable to get a decent job after graduating.
in my country, there´s always a big debate whether or not there should be fees for attending university – right now studying is free on public ones, but you might end up waiting YEARS for your turn since they´re totally overrun – however the pro-fee faction that so happily points out how it works in the US always ‘forgets’ that we have no dorms or something like that, and with campus being in the middle of a big city, living expenses are positively NUTS. you´ll easily have to spend a grand on rent alone, even when sharing a flat, plus of course books, public transport,…and student loans are unheard of, so basically, unless your parents a *bleep*in millionairs you´ll be forced to get a job which means studying half time, which only draws out the costly time till you finally get your degree.
Not to mention the fact that saying “it works in the US” is rather generous – people can often still be dealing with the debt 20 years later (according to http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/10/07/student-loan-expectations-myth-vs-reality anyway), and it likely worsens the US’s already bad health care issues, as doctors can have immense loans to pay off and so might not be able to afford less profitable treatments (even if they may be better for the patient)…
With the living expenses you mentioned? I certainly hope your country doesn’t end up following the US method.
Once again,… Perfect Grandparents.
And not just inflation. COLLEGE inflation, which is about six times worse than normal inflation.
Man, all this talk about school costs, and despite the limit it put on my job choices, I’m really glad I’m not dealing with 6-digit debt like so many others I know (wife included, but college + grad school will do that)
That said, school being so bloody expensive might be just a tiny factor in the general education level of our populace here in the states (well, that & people who believe anything if it’s posted to Facebook without proper sources)
Anyway, yay grandparents looking out for the future!
That’s so sweet. I love the look on both their faces.
Something I just realized – this gesture doubles as an EXTREMELY tactful way to avoid giving Andi a proper gift. Even if they’re choosing to focus on the future, Andi still isn’t their favorite person, and everyone is still learning how to move forward and move on. This gift is a way to give her help and support, without having to take the step towards the emotional closeness that a proper gift involves.
(I’m also guessing that the college funds were both originally Todd’s gift, it was just super convenient that everything worked out this way)
That and they weren’t expecting her soon enough to get her a gift.
So, uh, how old are the grandparents? Or are you joking, Dave, about them having kids at their advanced age. Not that they’re gonna keel over but biology for humans only lets us have kids for a certain amount of time and all. I’d imagine “grandma” is over 45, maybe closer to 50? I am not saying it is impossible, but as logical humans, having kids later in life has the downside of not being able to be as active with a toddler, etc. Just some’m some’m to think about.
I guess you’re referring to the blog commentary? It’s not talking about the grandparents (Theo and Mari) having biological children; it’s saying that the “money squirreled away in case of grandkids” includes an allotment for Todd’s siblings, Marta and Antoine, in the event either of them elect to have children.
That’s why you’re supposed to put that money in the bank. The interest you collect on deposited funds is meant to keep up with inflation. Hell, you can even put the money in low-risk investments.
Stock has a better chance of keeping up with inflation (barring a crash just as you want to take it out), overall. Put it somewhere with a good track record and don’t play with it, basically. (Apple is nice; spouse retired early ’cause he bought Apple when it was cheap.) Interest in a bank doesn’t often keep up with inflation, last I looked. (This may have changed. Consult your local bank, Certificates of Deposit, etc., and compare with inflation rates before believing a stranger on the internetz. 😉 )
I’m a little curious on how the funds are set up. Selkie has no legal connections to Andi, but Amanda has the connections to both parents. I assume equal amounts set aside for the grandchildren, but was it that half of Amanda’s went to Andi and half of it went to Todd? Or is Amanda’s underneath a joint account? If it’s the latter then there’s going to have to be more getting along between Todd and Andi.
to deal with inflation just put the money in a fixed index annuity
Are these just straight up checks? Because when my grandma did this for me and my sister she bought this like, plan our state (and a couple of other states have similar programs) has, where if you buy however many years of tuition at the rate of that year, it will cover the equivalent amount when the student actually uses it, as long as it’s in state. (So my grandma bought a year in 2000, I didn’t use it until the 2015/2016 school year and basically got a year of college at the already paid 2000 price) seems like a smart way to use the money if they are straight up checks