<p>Gotcha. So sell the house in Florida, keep the Lloyd’s policy to cover the two of you, put most of the proceeds in some sort of index fund or a balanced equity/bond fund to throw off cash plus provide some growth, and use a portion of the proceeds to fund your son’s college education at a college which is not Pomona.</p>
<p>I get that your situation is complicated. And I have tons of compassion for a college kid fighting the demons of depression. But some piece of the complexity reflects choices that you guys have made which are in no way irrevocable, and in fact, represent tons more flexibility than the typical Questbridge family has. Owning an asset like a vacation home is a choice- you could sell it and walk away with the proceeds. (most Q families don’t have assets like that). Opting for life in Mexico is a choice. Moving (or not moving) and opting for part time retail work vs. full time work in your field is a choice.</p>
<p>you write beautifully. I presume your professional success as an accountant was well deserved. If what is keeping you from going back to that life is your decision to stay in Mexico because you want to stay there for another 30 years then- hey- do that.</p>
<p>But on some level you do need to concede that you are putting an awful lot of stuff on your kid. If he internalized the message back when it was 17 that it was “Pomona or bust” since you couldn’t figure out to finance anything else, it isn’t a surprise that he’s been frozen in time.</p>
<p>Thanks - you should see what I can do on a real keyboard. I think I’ve edited every one of my posts here due to typos. </p>
<p>We had a Florida prepaid tuition plan, so UF was definitely an option. (The plan was later assigned to his sister when her education went into overtime, so is no longer available.) He truly wanted Pomona, or as a second choice, another small LAC. </p>
<p>We didn’t have the vacation home at the time. We sold the nursery when money was very tight in 2009 at bottom of market and bought the vacation house, which we lived in till coming here, for cash, so we didn’t have a mortgage. We were REALLY lucky to have sold the nursery. If we hadn’t, in retrospect, I think we would have had to declare bankruptcy and would have lost the property to the bank - the reason I was so desperately searching for work. Selling the property and moving to a mortgage free place was a lifesaver. That we now can rent it and afford the life we currently have is close to miracle status.</p>
<p>We actually have the house up for sale currently. It does have a great return, the reason I’ve been reluctant to sell it before now. But the market is back, I believe climate change is unavoidable, and it’s time to cut the cord to South Florida. It also gives us more options for our son, as you suggest. There’s just no way to predict when it will sell and I’ve never been one to count my chickens before they hatch. </p>
<p>QB was there for us during a very difficult time, when it seemed like our whole world, and the world at large, was falling apart. We were super fortunate the program existed, and I’m forever grateful that I learned about it on this forum!</p>
<p>Oh and one aside, the Lloyd’s policy is only good if we reside out of the US for the vast majority of the year. It covers only 6 weeks in the US. </p>
<p>And yes, I believe the frozen state of fear I carried around at that time had to have affected him in profound ways. Maybe that he’s considering returning to school is in large part thanks to our new relaxed states of mind. </p>
<p>I just read through the entire thread with great interest. Not long into it I began to suspect Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. I was very glad to read in post #261 that you’re now aware of this. It runs in my family too. My father suffered from it but back then it wasn’t a syndrome, it was just laziness or a character flaw. I suffered from it too, coincidentally including while I was a student at one of the Claremont Colleges. Looking back, my time at college would have been much better if I’d been diagnosed.</p>
<p>My son has DSPS too. Light therapy has been very helpful for him. I’d recommend two things in particular, 1) a light visor to wear upon waking and 2) a timer/reverse dimmer device that turns on lights over his bed and gradually increases the light intensity over a 30 minute or so period.</p>
<p>I’m traveling so I can’t give you more product information now, but PM me if you like and I’ll follow up with more specifics.</p>
<p>I believe returning to the Claremont Colleges will provide the best outcome for your son. I expect Pomona will be very accommodating. Living on a different campus would be a great start. A few relatively easy classes (the consortium offers plenty; trust me, I know) would help ease the transition too.</p>
<p>One last thing: I don’t understand why people here are getting their panties in a wad about your situation, suspecting you’re committing tax and residence fraud, etc. You said from the outset it’s “really complicated” and you’ve been very straightforward.</p>
<p>Catastrophic only insurance is no longer available under the requirements of ACA. EVERY policy must cover certain wellness costs, annual physical (not coverage for any illnesses though), pre-exising conditions. There really are no cheapo policies anymore.</p>
<p>OP is talking about moving back to the US. Insurance is something she needs to consider, and although California costs more than Florida in some things (state taxes) it is much better in other areas. I moved from California to Florida in 2012. Florida is much more expensive in some areas - car insurance, food (really a lot more expensive), health insurance, all kinds of fees like car registrations, taxes on entertainment and services (dry cleaning!) It seems like she’s thinking of choosing between FL and CA. If it were me, I’d go for California because of the health insurance situation alone. She also wants to be close to Mexico, and from southern Cal Mexico is easy.</p>
<p>You have the FL home up for sale? I thought you needed that rent-income-stream to live on? If you sell it, won’t you have to live on the proceeds??? or will you buy another rental elsewhere?</p>
<p>I’m really not sure what we’ll do if it sells. Probably a combination of buy a rental house here (between that and husband’s income we should be good), perhaps help son with finishing college and put the rest in the market. Not a bad problem to have. </p>
<p>I only got through about page 5, so perhaps this won’t work,
but have you considered an online degree? NOT University of Phoenix, but
some place like UF Online or ASU? </p>
<p>(And I strongly suggest checking the FL residency requirements yourself rather than relying on people in this thread.)</p>