If you had $5,000 floating around in your budget, what would you do with it?
A. Spend it on a family vacation to Hawaii or
B. Put it in your child’s college savings account
The responsible response would appear to be putting it in a 529 fund, but it seems a lot of parents are doing the opposite. A new survey from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and the Consumer Federation of America finds that more Americans save for big purchases, like cars and vacations, than for their children’s college education.
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We all know that the cost of college is rising (to the tune of 15 percent between 2008 and 2010 for the average four-year university, actually), so we were left wondering–what’s up with that? Have parents just stopped bothering to save?
And if so … is that smart?
Studies Show Saving for College Isn’t a Priority
If we’re to believe the stats, college just doesn’t appear to be a top saving priority for Americans, anymore. Another study, this time from Country Financial Security Index, reported that only 57 percent of Americans believe that college merits the price tag—down from 81 percent in 2008.
Meanwhile, only 48 percent of respondents in the CFP® Board of Standards survey who said they have the goal of sending a child to college have actually saved money or invested for college, down from 56 percent in 1997, and half of the survey respondents who plan to send their kids to college admit to feeling behind in their effort to save.
The numbers all point to the fact that parents don’t seem to be socking away money like they’d need to … but why?
To Save or Not to Save?
To get to the bottom of this trend, we spoke to a few parents who admit to not saving for their kids’ college educations.
For dad Leighton Campbell it’s not a matter of not getting around to saving. It’s not even about not knowing how to do it. On the contrary, he and his wife have actually made a conscious decision not to save for college for their three children. “An expensive college education isn’t a good investment,” says Campbell. “Going to college is a requirement—it’s what opens doors—but getting a diploma from a good school no longer assures you will land a decent job. A student’s goal should be to get the cheapest accredited degree he can find.”
So what’s the plan for the Campbells? Mr. Campbell says that when his kids, who are currently under the age of five, enter high school, he will encourage them to get good grades in the hopes they can receive scholarships. They will also be responsible for getting jobs to cover college expenses.
Whether C. Lee Reed and her husband think college is worth it is besides the point: They’re putting any extra money they have towards their retirement funds in lieu of college saving. “There simply won’t be anyone around to help us out, unlike the opportunities for college-bound kids,” said Reed.
The Reed’s daughter intends to go to a four-year college, and they’re fully aware that the costs will be great. “There are many funds available for children,” Reed added. “We fully believe she will appreciate [college] more having to earn or locate her own funds.”
Other parents who aren’t saving pointed to circumstances out of their control: Layoffs and mortgage payments put college saving on the backburner, and the combination of having large families and the rising costs of living make college saving a low priority for others.
If parents aren’t chipping in for college as much anymore, then who is? A lot of the burden of paying seems to be falling to the students themselves. In May, The New York Times reported that about two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients in 2007-2008 borrowed money to attend college, compared to 45 percent in 1992-1993.
Is Not Saving a Bad Choice?
So, is it really all that bad that parents aren’t saving for college?
The short answer: Yes, if your plan is to help them.
LearnVest Financial Planner Sophia Bera, CFP® weighed in on the new trend: “I think that a college degree is even more important now because it’s the baseline for most jobs,” she said.
According to Bera, a lot of parents are behind on their own financial goals, so when it comes to college, they may be thinking, “I don’t have anything saved now, so what’s the point?” But that isn’t the right attitude. “Save for college like you would for retirement,” says Bera, “As soon as you have a kid, put in as much money as you can, and increase the contribution each year.”
Starting a 529 when your child is born means you won’t feel as strapped to save for it 10 or 15 years down the road. One final question we had was, with the rising costs of college, will a 529 plan be enough to pay for your child’s education in 15 years? “It can be, depending on how you fund it and what college your kid goes to,” Bera said.
More from LearnVest:
The Biggest Financial Mistake Parents Make
2 in 5 American Households Live Paycheck to Paycheck
