My College Fund is Gone (Parents invested everything in the stock market)

Paying for College
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<p>Yes, and many are buying stock right now at low prices. My h just called and said that he bought $40k of stock this morning. It's transactions like this that will help the rally.</p>

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<p>GCHornet: I was just going to suggest that the Guard is an excellent way to pay for college expenses. Especially for those at state schools, the costs are significantly reduced and the job market can look pretty rosy for some upon graduation. </p>

<p>Another path to consider: some states have programs where the state or county or town will pay your tuition if you agree to work in the town for (usually) five years. Granted, most of these jobs are for technical areas and medical concerns, but it could be a viable option for you. Many of these jobs are in depressed areas, or rural (Appalachia comes to mind) locales. Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska and other states have programs such as these. It is not an immediate fix for you, but may be a doorway to a debt-free future.</p>

<p>Good luck to you and your parents. While I know you are in shock regarding your situation, have you inquired about whether they have lost their retirement funds? If so, you may be supporting THEM before you know it.</p>

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<p>What about student loans?? Are they outta the question?</p>

<p>P.S. The stock market rebounded almost 1000 points today.</p>

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<p>As big as your problem may be, your parents problem may be worse. Their retirement/savings could have been wiped out as well. They don't have the years left to recover like you do. </p>

<p>Consider an ROTC scholarship.</p>

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<p>As others have mentioned the market was up today. Perhaps you could ask your parents what specific funds or stocks they are invested in and then you could look up the values and monitor your college funds directly.</p>

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<p>Hopefully, they did not pull out. The market went up today (I think the radio said +900), so there was a comeback. That may be enough to save next semester and have stuff left over for future gains. It will likely pop back and forth, for awhile, but you may be able with a careful strategy to limp along till it gets back some more. It is not ideal, but it will save your education. Meanwhile look to save money in other ways, cheaper this and that as suggested above.</p>

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<p>I'm sorry, I will clarify: What I meant was maybe not all of the money should have been in stocks at that point, no matter the need for growth, if the parents won't have time to recoup possible losses and they are relying on those funds. I certainly know not everyone has enough funds by the time their child goes to college, and don't need that pointed out to me. I also know that lots of people have taken losses, lots of people were totally in stocks and hindsight is still 2020, and I hope things work out for this student as I would for any other family. Lucky for us JL, we have your husband to help with the rebound!</p>

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<p>Good thought. It's so easy to view your specific problems as the biggest problem on the horizon, but they often are not.</p>

<p>I think a calm talk with parents about the actual state of the college fund is in order. Unless you were invested in specific banks, investment banks, and companies like GM that went down huge, your fund is not down to zero. </p>

<p>Also, it would be a good time to figure out exactly what can be done to finance at least another year of college...out of their income flow, your getting a part time job, your loans, their loans, etc. </p>

<p>And learn a lesson for your future--if you need the money in 2-3 years, that money needs to be in cash or CDs. We're not talking just about college tuition, but also a down payment on a house, car, etc.</p>

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<p>Apply for scholorships, student loans, and work study. Also check with FASA.</p>

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<p>Agreed with previous posters. I understand why you would be disappointed, but i don't think "betrayed" is the appropriate word to use. Coming from a low income family, i do not expect my parents to contribute to my college education, I'm just going to do what i can and what's practical to realize my goals. You should be grateful that your parents even have a college fund for you, and I'm sure they're just as, if not more hurt than you are. Suck it up.</p>

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<p>If your parents' income is high, then likely FAFSA isn't going to do much for you at your state school (because likely their EFC is the same or more than your COA). Therefore, work-study, low-interest student loans, and such are probably not going to be available for you. Scholarships may also not be that readily available at this point, since the substantial ones are usually only given to incoming freshmen.</p>

<p>You need to talk to your parents about what your college fund looks like today (after the bounce back). </p>

<p>You also need to discuss how much they can contribute this year and later years out of their current earnings. </p>

<p>You need to commit to how much you can contribute from a part-time job and/or summer job.</p>

<p>You also need to listen to them to hear if they have any ideas of how to remedy the solution. (that doesn't mean that you have to agree with their suggestion(s), but do politely listen, and politely offer other ideas if you have any.</p>

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<p>Stay out of college, get a job and mture some. Then apologize to your parents for being selfish.</p>

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<p>OK, first, ignore the preceding post (tomslawsky).</p>

<p>I second the idea that you (and your parents) shouldn't do anything rash at this point. The market is VERY volatile, and things might not look so dire even as soon as next month.</p>

<p>I normally argue against students taking on too much debt. But I think you should do whatever you need to do to stay at your current school through the end of the year. Then you can work and think about your options this summer. If you decide that you need to go to your local cc or take a year off to work, so be it. But you're definitely not at that point yet.</p>

<p>One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the possibility of applying for an RA position. These usually provide you with all (or a substantial part) of room & board. Of course, at a large state U, getting one of these positions may be very competitive; and they may mostly go to upperclassmen. But it would be worth looking into for next year or further down the road.</p>

<p>Hang in there!</p>

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<p>the market just surged. maybe your parents should cash out soon? unless they got out when the market crashed last week...</p>

<p>good luck.</p>

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<p>OP, you have every right to feel what you're feeling. Keep in mind that the folks here are parents and are putting themselves in your parents' shoes-- who wants their kids to feel angry and betrayed by them? These are perfectly valid emotions, though... Parents like to reassure their kids that everything's going to be okay, and if your parents had planned to pay for college, they probably reassured you about that and you probably believed them. Nobody could've predicted this, though, not even the professionals that I'm sure gave your parents perfectly good advice when they told your parents to do what they did with your college funds. So while you feel hurt and angry and betrayed, try also to understand that they're hurt and angry and betrayed, and that they likely feel incredibly guilty for "letting you down"... though they had no control over this turn of events.</p>

<p>Likewise, you had no control over these events, either, so even keeping a closer eye on what was happening with your funds wouldn't have prevented this from happening. While you're working on not beating up your parents for this, don't beat yourself up, either.</p>

<p>I'm heartened by the number of really good suggestions that people have given here... None of them is an easy path, but I don't think any of us have really easy paths right now, financially.</p>

<p>I'm not sure if anybody has suggested taking a break from school for a while and (hopefully your parents didn't sell...) letting the market recover some. Look at programs like CityTerm. Take a belated gap year. Set up something extraordinary. Volunteer in a hospital or at a non-profit organization. Talk to your financial aid office first, by all means, but you have a ton of tough-but-viable options.</p>

<p>Best of luck. The thing about things that feel like the end of the world is that they rarely actually herald the end of the world. Stay tough; you'll get through this.</p>

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<p>Has anyone seen the OP return? It's interesting how much traffic this thread has generated while the OP has disappeared.</p>

<p>I found MSUDad's post acutely unhelpful and snide: The parents should have taken the money out of the market (at the latest) when he went off to college. Well, thanks. That's great advice. MSUDad, if you can hand out "do-overs" for those of us parents who don't share your prescience, send me one too.</p>

<p>I had the value of nearly 4 years' tuition in the market for my 12th and 10th grader. I didn't pull it because with college's raising costs at a 10% clip per year, I hoped that modest market growth would at least keep that gap from growing too much larger. Now, today, I have value for 2-3 years each. It sucks, and like other posters, my stomach hurts when I think about it. </p>

<p>I am choosing to ride it out, because I am not willing to cash in my chips and say the US is done as an economy.</p>

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<p>I find it interesting reading the posts here. I dont want to insult anyone, but I can't fathom playing blackjack with my kids college savings. Parents that leave a senior in highschools funds in the stock market are gambling. Would you have done that with your retirement funds if you were going to retire next year? Any financial planner, and even the 529 plans have a very solid strategy for making sure you don't gamble and lose everything in the stock market when you are nearing the age to go to college. I have watched my kids 529 plans over the years, and watched my younger son's plan grow faster than my senior in high schools account, but this last week, my daughter can still go to college because her 529 plan is 80% fixed funds. My son's account got hit a bit, but still has 3 years to go.</p>

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<p>It is very possible to continue your education at your current school, and without giving up campus housing. You could take out loans to pay for what is left after scholarships/financial aid. If your parents can't afford to pay out of pocket for CC, I would assume you EFC is low and you are getting a decent amount of financial aid where you are now. Wouldn't a few thousand per year in loans be enough to pay the balance on your own?</p>

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<p>Actually, this is very good advice, although unhelpful to OP at this time. But then CC is not only to help the OPs, but also to help all others who may also read the thread. For those readers, MSUDad has a point.</p>

<p>I don't think when to cash out the college fund is an All-Or-Nothing situation. I'm a 2 by 2 person, myself. At the end of high school, I like to have 2 years of college money in cash with the rest in the market. At the end of sophomore year of college, I like to have the next 2 years in cash.</p>

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<p>laxtaxi....>>>Has anyone seen the OP return? It's interesting how much traffic this thread has generated while the OP has disappeared.<<<</p>

<p>I sent him a PM yesterday to let him know that many have provided some good ideas. I wonder if his school fund recovered, so he hasn't bothered to return here.</p>

<p>aibar has a good idea.... taking a "gap year" now. (I would say 18mons). That gives his college fund 3 semesters to possibly recover somewhat from this hit. It would also give him an opportunity to work full-time and earn some money to make up for what the fund doesn't recover.</p>