Tuition vs Savings - How far do we have to go?

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Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

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amother

Turquoise

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 11:05 am

How far are we supposed to go to pay tuition for our children?

Are we supposed to go in debt?

Are we allowed to put aside savings for an emergency or Simchas?

Are we allowed to contribute to our retirement?

Are we supposed to pay as much as we can and then take Charity?

Sell our home and car?

Where are the limits? Is there a line that somone can explain?

These are just some of the questions.

asp40

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 11:15 am

Save for your retirement. Make it a priority. No one will fund your retirement.

amother

Black

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 11:15 am

I could tell you what I think - but what's the point. I don't decide these things for your school.

amother

Ginger

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 11:24 am

This is my problem exactly. The more money we earn, we would need to pay it all for tuition unless we had very high paying jobs. So, we are having a hard time putting away for savings bc then the schools will charge us more while others who own houses may be paying less tuition bc have less income now.

I told my brother who just got married to save for downpayment now(before having to pay tuition) bc unless you are earning very high salaries and have only 1 to 2 children, it is almost impossible to save for a house bc schools will "not let you save".

The schools charge an extra high fee so really the rich are "subsidizing" for those paying very little. I wish I would be able to see where all the money goes as one way to save is to make less copies as my kids come back with copies of coloring pages which is wasteful.

Anyway, really hashem decides who will have a lot and....so ....

amother

Cyan

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 11:27 am

Well, the school will let you know how much they expect you to pay. Then it's up to you to budget the remainder of your income..

amother

Wine

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 11:30 am

amother wrote:

I agree that tuition is a big issue, but you are not being fair and blowing this out of proportion with some of your inquiries.
Should you sell your house and car? Seriously, no yeshiva ever told anyone to sell their house or car so they can pay tuition. I'm obviously not talking about someone who lives in a mansion or drives a Mercedes. I'm talking about normal circumstances with normal people living normally. If you fit into that category then no yeshiva asks such things.
The simple answer to your question is to fill out an application with the yeshiva. I'm assuming you and dh work and do the best you can. I think overwhelmingly the yeshivos will be fair.
Just wondering where this question is coming from. The school year starts in 2 weeks and I'm assuming that the decision has been made with regard to your tuition discount. How did it go?

amother

Turquoise

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 1:19 pm

amother wrote:

I could tell you what I think - but what's the point. I don't decide these things for your school.

Obviously. Just asking what you all think.

amother

Turquoise

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 1:23 pm

They took into consideration how much we contributed to our 401k. Thats whats bothering me. Even though we do not have access to it they added it to our total income.

amother

Black

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 1:34 pm

amother wrote:

Obviously. Just asking what you all think.

I think that savings are a regular line on the family expense list - like food and shelter.... (ie its not an 'extra') except that to the extent its a 401K its paid with 'before tax' money - so it has less affect on the bottom line.

amother

Green

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 2:14 pm

amother wrote:

No one is going to tell you to sell your house, but if you have 100k in savings because you're trying to save up for a down payment that will be taken into consideration by many schools. You're better off if you own a house than if you're trying to save for one.

causemommysaid

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 5:53 pm

I think if you pay extra over the employer match they should count it as income.

The 3-5% that the employer matches should not be counted because anyone would be a fool not to take advantage of the free money they are giving you.

If there is no match from your employer I would say anything over 7-10% that you contribute to the 401k should be counted towards your income because that is roughly the same amount as you are saving with the employer match.

Just my opinion. I am not on a tuition committee

amother

Babyblue

Wed, Aug 16 2017, 10:54 pm

There is an amount that would reasonably pay for a child to be educated without extras in the category of schools you send to. If you are paying less than that and putting money in savings, you are asking a philanthropist to pay for your childs education so you can save your money for (however helpful) or not.

So imho, if you send to a school that charges 16k per child, you can sort of start asking the savings question at 9k and assume that the school can find efficiencies if necessary. If a donor wants to fund the extras (nicer buildings, playgrounds, more staff....) that is greatly appreciated and completely their choice. But its fair for me to say that I'd rather save.

The question is what is the magic number? That really depends on the school.

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