What happens if the out of work parent needs to go back into the labor force a few years after being out? (stuff happens). If you think it’s hard getting a job with benefits at age 25, try looking for one at age 62.
I cannot imagine cutting back just as the heavy-duty/costly parenting years are coming up. Those are the years to gear up financially. Stuff happens. Kid could spend Freshman year at a generous college which meets full need (and your new and improved, lower EFC) and spend Sophomore year in a rehab center after getting into a car accident. Kid could spend Freshman AND sophomore years at that generous college which meets full need and end up needing a residential psych placement or substance abuse or eating disorder rehab only partially covered by insurance. Financial Aid don’t pay for PT, OT, speech, drug counseling, or any of the other complex things a late adolescent kid might need.
Think I’m being a Debbie Downer? Look at the statistics on people in their late 50’s and early 60’s who declare bankruptcy. It’s not because of spending too much at Best Buy.
This is a lousy plan on many counts. People in the OP’s situation who have to quit their jobs due to a disability or to take care of an elderly parent do so and then don’t sleep at night for years. To do so voluntarily?
Both spouses had better be at the tops of their fields so they can get back in at a moment’s notice. If I were out of work for two years, I’m pretty sure I’d be looking at a salary cut of 50%… who would hire me in my 60’s if I really needed the money AFTER retiring???
I worked full time…anyone who has read my posts knows that every DIME of my salary paid for college for our two kids.
I was pleased…and proud…that I could make this investment in their education…and their future.
It never dawned on me to quit my job so someone else could MAYBE (emphasis on MAYBE) pick up the tab.
And to emphasize what @Blossom wrote. My husband was laid off from a very lucrative job in November of our first kid’s freshman year of college. Boy was I happy I had a job…and the benefits. Luckily he found another job quickly.
If you quit your jobs, you are counting on others paying the cost of your kids attending college. If they don’t get accepted where the money is forthcoming…and you aren working…you won’t even have the money to send them to a community college.
One is strongly considering O.T. which is 4+1 to get masters and the other is strongly considering engineering which realistically is also 5 years. The third is also leaning O.T/P.T. so again at least 5 years and probably 6 for the third child
OT might be 4 Plus 2…because there are mandatory externships…unpaid.
PT is a doctoral program. 6-7 years.
If you are not working, you won’t be able to help these kids at all with the grad school portions of their studies.
For the grad part of OT and PT, YOUR income and assets won’t matter at all to the colleges when these kids apply for need based aid. And ther is not a lot of funding for these programs.
Also, if your kid is in a combined Bachelors masters OT program, once they hit the grad school part, they will no longer be eligible for things like the Pell Grant.
Honestly…how will you help these kids pay for college if you are NOT working??
Thanks to all for the responses and input, although the moralizing by some isn’t really welcome but will be taken into consideration. To address some concerns expressed by some posters: Wife’s pension is hazard duty and comes with COLA and lifetime health insurance. Yes, unexpected issues happen (ie: the rehab example) and yes, we could both go back to work fairly easily as evidenced by the online “help wanted” ads. This isn’t really worth is to us it seems financially, just looking for folks to poke mathematical holes in this idea rather than ethical gaps in the reasoning. Thanks.
thumper1 I agree with you quitting is not a good idea. But I think you are confusing apples and oranges. “Others” paying for college is not happening – particularly at a private school with a billion dollar endowment. Part of the payments would also be in student loans, paid off by the student. At public schools even a lot of the scholarship money is from private contributions. Student financial aid is not a handout. Relax, these are not people trying to screw others, they are simply trying to figure out a financial situation.
So few schools meet need that the calculation may not be what you think it is. Run net price calculators from actual realistic schools, not the FAFSA one. (And hey – I’ve donated to school’s endowments, so I still think I’m paying for some of that – and I agree that I’m hoping the money won’t go to someone gaming the system. It IS money that one way or another came to the school to help students with lower family incomes go to college.)
Real-life example: My then husband was fired two days after Mother’s Day in 2009, while our older daughter was a senior in high school. She had just accepted admission to a small private university out of state. She received reasonably good financial aid but it did not increase much, if any, despite our drop in income. I was working part time then and although I was able to eventually increase to full time, that was not possible at the time. Our younger daughter received extremely good need-based financial aid, but her accomplishments were such that she could have gotten great merit aid at many schools.
Despite the increased financial aid that our younger daughter received because of our low family income, her father’s firing and continued unemployment were disasters for us financially. And we were relatively well situated otherwise: we had savings and investments and our house was paid for. But my ex and I weren’t putting any money into retirement plans, we weren’t able to keep up maintenance on the house, I didn’t see a dentist for many years, and so on. I strongly discourage voluntary unemployment for the purpose of trying to get more aid.
Edited to add: Age discrimination is alive and well. Don’t assume that a plethora of help-wanted ads means you would be offered one of those jobs.
I don’t know if you considered my post as moralizing, but to some extent, what else would you expect from anyone paying full price for 3 kids now? Yes, we can afford it. So what? It is still a lot of money, which we gladly spend, but I will appreciate next year when one launches and we’re down to 2 in college.
You know the old saw about “man plans and God laughs?” I hope you’re not expecting an extra sharp pencil to help you paddle through the rapids of college tuition; extra income trumps being extra clever.
Net price calculators come in lower than our EFC did. EFC was 32k, net cost at say Duke was 29k, MIT was 22k, Northeastern was 26k. Those numbers are before any loans or work-study. That happen to anyone else?
Also, just for hard number’s sake, if we needed to pay full EFC for 8 years=$256,000. Quit most work and pay lower EFC, the total cost for 8 years=$84,500. Total savings=$171,500, post-tax money, so we are talking about $220,000 earnings for work over 8 years or about $27,000 per year for 8 years and have to give up most part-time jobs (would still both keep one each, so all those moralizers can relax; still working) an cut out about $90,000 in earnings to get that lower EFC number. So the question becomes is it worth giving up $90,000 per year to get $27,000 per year, or a net loss of $63,000/year in gross income to gain about 30 hours per week of free time each year for 8 years. Another way to look at it, would you pay $31.50 per hour for 30 hours of free time for both you and your spouse? Please check my math and consider. At our age, in our 50’s, time is more important to us than money. Thoughtful responses welcomed. Thanks
Hi. These are for the senior and do not include work study or loans. I don’t consider those in my comparisons. He is a high achiever (3.98 GPA and ACT of 35 and lots of AP and a couple college classes in high school), so schools that ask for that info tend to give us a lower Net Cost number.
I’m reminded of an anonymous donation we made to a travel hockey team years ago, to pay for a scholarship; ice hockey can be an expensive sport. The father of the player wh benefited bragged to me, unaware that it was our scholarship, that he was making money off the books, and that his financial need and unemployment was a fiction. I stopped the scholarship and won’t donate any more to organizations that allow themselves to be gamed.
The term “gamed” has been used a bit here and seems to be done so in a derogatory manner. The rules of the"game" are what they are. If you could purchase a large ticket item, a car lets say. Dealership #1 offers you a certain year, make and model for $32,000. You go to Dealership #2 and they offer you the same car for $10,500 but you and your spouse need to work 30 fewer hours per week each to get that car for $10,500. Are you saying you would purchase the car from Dealership #1?
I don’t make the rules and those who think that I am somehow tricking an entire system developed by individuals much smarter than I, need to complain to those who make the rules, not to the guy who figured out a better way to play the game.
Things you might need to give up in exchange for those extra 30 hours per week (again, some real-life examples): vacations; going to see the children at college; new roof for the house; car repair or replacement; going out to eat; children’s expenses at college that aren’t covered by financial aid; root canals.
I saw my older daughter’s college twice: when we moved her in before the first year started and at graduation. I couldn’t justify the expense other than for those occasions.
Examples from friend’s life: Child is hit by a bus while riding her bicycle at college and ends up dropping out. Second child gets nearly full need met but goes to college in an expensive city and can’t afford to go out with friends, do unpaid internships, or divide her time as she would prefer between classes, music practice, and work-study jobs.
Yup, we would need to give up some experiences I would consider a luxury to gain those 60 man hours per week off (30 hours each for spouse and me). Medical expenses covered by lifetime health insurance as mentioned in a prior post, but I take your point about unexpected house repairs.
I’d love those hours, too. I can’t afford to quit my job.
Are your children okay with this plan to give up everything that costs money? Things like family trips, college visits, driver’s licenses, for example. I’m not being snarky. Having a low income stinks.
@chipperd, one last thing, and then I guess I’m done offering unwanted advice to “the guy who figured out a better way to play the game,” but objects to the use of the term “gamed.” (#35)
Don’t be surprised if your kids learn more from observing you than by internalizing what you say. I’ve seen some surprised parents.