Our monetary system is debt based. By definition, we have to become more
indebted over time, either us as individuals, us as corporations, or us as
governments. Some times, some of the
groups look better than others, but overall someone has to be going into debt
to create the new money needed to pay off the interests on the older debts. Every generation will be more indebted than
the last. It is mathematically built
into the fractional reserve banking system.
The only way out of this predicament is to overhaul our
currency to eliminate charging interest on money-creation.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@ StickyBun said:
Best gift my wife and I could give our son was a debt-free college education: he won't have to deal with that financial anchor. Not everyone can do that, I know, and I do feel for these kids that are saddled with that kind of debt, specifically if they don't graduate into higher paying jobs.
we've done the same thing.. although I did tell my kids I wasnt paying for dreams. I offered them both a degree in a field that they were interested in as long as that field showed both need and decent compensation. My daughter chose health care and is an RN making over 50k a year less than 6 months out, and my son chose the trades and is working in the refrigeration and HVAC industry, neither of them will ever make 6 figures with these degrees, but they are both somewhat recession proof and not likely to be replaced by technology any time soon. I also told them both out of HS that they dont have to make a career out of the education that I pay for, but it will provide them a decent living while they work on what ever other degrees they may choose to pursue.
A college degree and a half a beef annually... what else could a kid want?
Good stuff. I explained a similar deal to our son: we'll pay, you'll need to study hard and we aren't talking 5.5 years to get a degree either. He got a bachelor of science in Physics in 4 years with a partial scholarship he maintained grade-wise that paid for a 1/4th of the costs each year. Did undergrad research that paid $10.50 an hour to pay for whatever he wanted outside school costs. He's a software engineer and has been making $100k since he's been 23 years old (25 now). Still drives the same car he had in high school at 17 years old. Good head on his shoulders, don't have to worry about that boy at all.
He's missing out on the half a beef annually deal however! He'd like that. =)
Quote: @AGRforever said:
@ StickyBun said:
Best gift my wife and I could give our son was a debt-free college education: he won't have to deal with that financial anchor. Not everyone can do that, I know, and I do feel for these kids that are saddled with that kind of debt, specifically if they don't graduate into higher paying jobs.
The reason college cost has exploded is because the government (not one party or the other) (high school admin) told everyone for the past +30 years they had to go to college or they were stupid. Then we gave these same students UNLIMITED access to funds guaranteed by none other then .gov. Of course the colleges are going to increase in cost when they have an endless increase in students with out a clue what they're actually paying for when they sign on the dotted line. Now days a 4 year degree is nothing more then a hunting licensee. You have a license to hunt for a job. Most wont land that big buck, they're going to get some one because the job market it flooded with a million other kids with the same BS business degree.
I'd love to give my kids debt free college and our career trajectory "probably" will allow us to do so but by the time my 8 year old is there what is it going to cost? Double? Triple? Quadruple today? When is enough enough when it comes to cost?
Out local D1 university can't stop buying land and building buildings because they're so flush with cash they don't care and we're a little school in TN tech. They're actually competing with the medical industry here because both have snatched up all the real estate between each other and they're now fighting for it.
You hit the nail squarely on the head there
Quote: @StickyBun said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@ StickyBun said:
Best gift my wife and I could give our son was a debt-free college education: he won't have to deal with that financial anchor. Not everyone can do that, I know, and I do feel for these kids that are saddled with that kind of debt, specifically if they don't graduate into higher paying jobs.
we've done the same thing.. although I did tell my kids I wasnt paying for dreams. I offered them both a degree in a field that they were interested in as long as that field showed both need and decent compensation. My daughter chose health care and is an RN making over 50k a year less than 6 months out, and my son chose the trades and is working in the refrigeration and HVAC industry, neither of them will ever make 6 figures with these degrees, but they are both somewhat recession proof and not likely to be replaced by technology any time soon. I also told them both out of HS that they dont have to make a career out of the education that I pay for, but it will provide them a decent living while they work on what ever other degrees they may choose to pursue.
A college degree and a half a beef annually... what else could a kid want?
Good stuff. I explained a similar deal to our son: we'll pay, you'll need to study hard and we aren't talking 5.5 years to get a degree either. He got a bachelor of science in Physics in 4 years with a partial scholarship he maintained grade-wise that paid for a 1/4th of the costs each year. Did undergrad research that paid $10.50 an hour to pay for whatever he wanted outside school costs. He's a software engineer and has been making $100k since he's been 23 years old (25 now). Still drives the same car he had in high school at 17 years old. Good head on his shoulders, don't have to worry about that boy at all.
He's missing out on the half a beef annually deal however! He'd like that. =)
thats great! Its always good to hear of kids that dont fall into the traps that so many others do.
we didnt tell our kids our plans, they believed that they were having to pay us back, but we gave our daughter her debt forgiven as a wedding present this spring, but since she was thinking all through school that she was going to have debt she worked and saved all along and last I heard had a bank account built up over 35K to start her adult life with. Her and her husband are both starting debt free and with her savings and their combined income... they are decades ahead of any other 22/23 year olds that I can think of.... but shes a lot like her dad so there is always the chance the my SIL trys to bring her back.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
@ AGRforever said:
@ StickyBun said:
Best gift my wife and I could give our son was a debt-free college education: he won't have to deal with that financial anchor. Not everyone can do that, I know, and I do feel for these kids that are saddled with that kind of debt, specifically if they don't graduate into higher paying jobs.
The reason college cost has exploded is because the government (not one party or the other) (high school admin) told everyone for the past +30 years they had to go to college or they were stupid. Then we gave these same students UNLIMITED access to funds guaranteed by none other then .gov. Of course the colleges are going to increase in cost when they have an endless increase in students with out a clue what they're actually paying for when they sign on the dotted line. Now days a 4 year degree is nothing more then a hunting licensee. You have a license to hunt for a job. Most wont land that big buck, they're going to get some one because the job market it flooded with a million other kids with the same BS business degree.
I'd love to give my kids debt free college and our career trajectory "probably" will allow us to do so but by the time my 8 year old is there what is it going to cost? Double? Triple? Quadruple today? When is enough enough when it comes to cost?
Out local D1 university can't stop buying land and building buildings because they're so flush with cash they don't care and we're a little school in TN tech. They're actually competing with the medical industry here because both have snatched up all the real estate between each other and they're now fighting for it.
Do you live in Cookeville? Yes...well Baxter
Quote: @A1Janitor said:
Car prices are absurd.
People should boycott buying new until they fix the bullshit.
I am thankful that my daughter has relatively low debt finishing her bachelor degree and my son gets a free ride at USNA.
I used to be all for used cars and then cash for clunkers happened. We've actually bought new because when I look at the price drop from new to used and factor in a life expectancy in miles on the car itself by the time you account for mileage, tires, other maintenance items and mechanical things I'd rather not have someone else's problems. We had purchased a used van with 50K on it and that thing had so many mechanical issues that we could just never get right that its made me leery to purchase a used car again.
From a mathematical standpoint when we bought our new Sienna it was within $2500 on a $40k van that all we would be doing by buying a used one is deducting miles for dollars.
I bought a corolla before that and it was much closer. It was essentially the same price if you gave the car a 250k mile life expectancy. On top of that the IRS lets us deduct mileage for my work so if I can get it to 250K or more they're essentially buying my car for me.
Quote: @AGRforever said:
@ StickyBun said:
@ AGRforever said:
@ StickyBun said:
Best gift my wife and I could give our son was a debt-free college education: he won't have to deal with that financial anchor. Not everyone can do that, I know, and I do feel for these kids that are saddled with that kind of debt, specifically if they don't graduate into higher paying jobs.
The reason college cost has exploded is because the government (not one party or the other) (high school admin) told everyone for the past +30 years they had to go to college or they were stupid. Then we gave these same students UNLIMITED access to funds guaranteed by none other then .gov. Of course the colleges are going to increase in cost when they have an endless increase in students with out a clue what they're actually paying for when they sign on the dotted line. Now days a 4 year degree is nothing more then a hunting licensee. You have a license to hunt for a job. Most wont land that big buck, they're going to get some one because the job market it flooded with a million other kids with the same BS business degree.
I'd love to give my kids debt free college and our career trajectory "probably" will allow us to do so but by the time my 8 year old is there what is it going to cost? Double? Triple? Quadruple today? When is enough enough when it comes to cost?
Out local D1 university can't stop buying land and building buildings because they're so flush with cash they don't care and we're a little school in TN tech. They're actually competing with the medical industry here because both have snatched up all the real estate between each other and they're now fighting for it.
Do you live in Cookeville? Yes...well Baxter
My sister and brother in law live in Cookeville.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@ StickyBun said:
Best gift my wife and I could give our son was a debt-free college education: he won't have to deal with that financial anchor. Not everyone can do that, I know, and I do feel for these kids that are saddled with that kind of debt, specifically if they don't graduate into higher paying jobs.
we've done the same thing.. although I did tell my kids I wasnt paying for dreams. I offered them both a degree in a field that they were interested in as long as that field showed both need and decent compensation. My daughter chose health care and is an RN making over 50k a year less than 6 months out, and my son chose the trades and is working in the refrigeration and HVAC industry, neither of them will ever make 6 figures with these degrees, but they are both somewhat recession proof and not likely to be replaced by technology any time soon. I also told them both out of HS that they dont have to make a career out of the education that I pay for, but it will provide them a decent living while they work on what ever other degrees they may choose to pursue.
A college degree and a half a beef annually... what else could a kid want?
Good stuff. I explained a similar deal to our son: we'll pay, you'll need to study hard and we aren't talking 5.5 years to get a degree either. He got a bachelor of science in Physics in 4 years with a partial scholarship he maintained grade-wise that paid for a 1/4th of the costs each year. Did undergrad research that paid $10.50 an hour to pay for whatever he wanted outside school costs. He's a software engineer and has been making $100k since he's been 23 years old (25 now). Still drives the same car he had in high school at 17 years old. Good head on his shoulders, don't have to worry about that boy at all.
He's missing out on the half a beef annually deal however! He'd like that. =)
The University of WI would let you take I think 18 credits for the same price as 12. I always took the max and ended up graduating with bachelors and two minors in 3.5 years. I know prices have gone up since then but I was able to work like a dog Friday night through Sunday night and every waking hour during the summer and ended up without debt from college.
Had I curbed beer consumption I probably could have even graduated with a little money left over but you know......you gotta live life some times!!
Quote: @mjollnir_k said:
Really though full size Pickup Trucks and SUV's are a luxury for well over 75% of the population. Very few actually need them in there family but a Suburban is the ultimate Soccer Mom status symbol and the 3/4 Crew Cabs are the ultimate compensation tool. And before you say anything I have both.
What is truly interesting is if you want a new Pickup you can configure one for about $35,000. It has no comfort features but nobody seems to want to give up those comforts. Also while not as prevalent after the housing crash how many late 20's early 30 years olds did you see newly married with a new house, 2 new cars, new camper, boat and a was making interest only payments. That screwed a lot of people. But most came out of college expecting that stuff.
You want to really see how screwed up things are look at the farmer and his plight. Buys retail sells whole sale pays taxes both ways and has not really seen a increase in crop prices while inputs have gone wild.
and if you want a shitty education I am sure you can get one of those for $99 online, or if you want to live in a shit neighborhood in a cracker jack box house those are really affordable as well. things like AC and an adjustable seat just make life a little more worth living. like I said above, the same truck jumped about $30k in less than 15 years.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
Best gift my wife and I could give our son was a debt-free college education: he won't have to deal with that financial anchor. Not everyone can do that, I know, and I do feel for these kids that are saddled with that kind of debt, specifically if they don't graduate into higher paying jobs.
We did the next best thing. Private school K-12. First two years, $3500. Next 9, $7000, last 2, $14000. They got tons of scholarship money, and debt they paid off in 4 years.
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