WEBVTT - Listener Question: Saving for My Kid's College #025 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.520 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm at 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 and today we're answering a listener's question, is saving for 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:27.560 college worth it? Eduel? That's right, man, A listener wrote 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:30.720 in and ask the questions should I say within a 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.599 five plenty nine for my kids college? And yes, we're 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:35.519 gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about even if 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.000 it makes sense as a parent, should we be saving 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.839 for our children's college at all? And usually we like 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.360 to reply to listener emails with the one word response, right, 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:47.960 we just yes, no bye. I always just say maybe yeah. 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:50.000 But we figured, you know, Mark sounds like a good 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.240 guy in his email, and so we would dedicate probably 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:55.240 what's going to be a lengthy discussion about this topic 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:59.360 in order to hopefully bring up the nuances of what 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.280 you should canto it or when you're thinking about, you know, 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.440 if you have young kids, if you're thinking about having 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.680 kids someday, if you've got kids that are in middle 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:08.760 school or elementary school, like should you be saving for 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:10.800 their college? And and we hope to shed some light 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:12.520 on that today. Yeah, man, And this would be a 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.320 good time to to say, if any of your listeners 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:16.160 out there have questions. We're gonna hope to do more 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.760 of these here in the future. Man, email us. You 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:20.640 know you're You're welcome to comment and hit us up 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.440 in the messages on the socials, but the best way though, 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:26.679 email us. Yeah, and we're gonna read all those questions 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:28.600 that come in and hopefully we'll be able to respond 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:31.840 to some of those in an episode format. Most definitely. 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:34.600 So actually, real quick, before we launched the question, I 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.360 broke my phone. Have you seen my screen? Oh? Yeah, 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:39.760 I saw that. You shouted your screen quickly after my 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.000 wife shattered hers. Yeah, so you mentioned something. Have you 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.520 seen any deals out there on Uh? You know I 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:47.760 love the iPhone? Well, you know I'm a deal hunter, 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:49.840 so I will say, should I put you to work? 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:53.680 You should? I got really fortunate. My wife broke her 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.320 phone on the exact same day that there was a 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:59.720 twenty percent off coup on site wide on eBay. So 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.680 it's like literally you could buy anything that's nice all 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.000 over eBay, and eBay comes out with those coupons like 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.680 once a month, once every two months. Um, so you 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.400 know it doesn't look too bad. It looks Emily's. Emily 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:13.560 was like literally getting charge of glass in her finger. 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.280 It was pretty rough. It does keep the kids away now, though, 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.600 like they're like, oh, I don't want touch Ddy's phone anymore. Yeah, 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:20.840 I cut my fingers. But we ended up buying her 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.360 a refurbished iPhone six S and I think it costs 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.639 around hundred and seventy five dollars, not too shabby, but yeah, 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.000 I'll be on the lookout. Yeah, be on the lookout man. Seriously, 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.160 chunks of glass are also falling off mine a little bit, 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.359 and I can for the first time see like inside 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.880 the phone, which is like, oh, look at that. It's 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.280 less solid than I thought. That brings up one thought 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.000 for me for people who have smartphones out there, put 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:43.720 a case on it. Put a case on it. That's 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.240 actually the cheapest insurance that you can have. Uh. And 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.080 then but don't buy the actual insurance through your phone 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.400 carrier because it usually is very costly, between seven eleven 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:54.960 maybe even more dollars a month for the insurance, and 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:56.880 then you have a deductible on top of that. And 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.839 then in addition, you're probably gonna get a refurbished phone 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:03.960 when they replaced the phone that breaks, so it's usually 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.520 not worth it. Just self insure and save up your 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.200 money for wide Yeah, it does break, and then kind 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.640 of consider buying cheaper phones. I personally don't put a 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.120 case on my phone. I'm pretty careful with it, and 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:15.840 I just I don't know, I think it kind of 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:18.600 actually ruins it for me if you case on it 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:20.360 and it's all bulky and hard to get out of 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.359 your pocket. I kind of like rolling with a smartphone 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.200 with no case. So I used to be that way, 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:26.959 you know, like I was all about the form. I 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.080 mean that's a huge part of specifically the iPhones, right, 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:32.440 like the design and the lines and like the curves 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.760 and stuff. Except that this current phone that I got 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:37.440 it is like a little over. I think it's two 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:39.600 years ago. Maybe no, actually it's coming up on three. 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.040 I think literally the week I had it, I went 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:44.720 to put it back in my pocket, uh and missed 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:47.800 me and I was I was out for a walk 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.600 at night, and I'm like no, And I checked the 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.240 glass and it didn't break. But then when I got home, 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.040 it had landed directly on the edge, like on the 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:01.000 bezel and dented the metal like there's a huge, huge gash, 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.680 but it did not crack the glass. But literally after 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:05.280 that was like, seriously, I've had this for a week. 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.000 I've got to get a case now, for the first 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.119 time ever, I'm gonna put a case in my iPhone. 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.480 And I had a case on here except that I've 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:14.000 been running. You know, I've been running lately, and I 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.080 use this arm band and I have to take the 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:17.800 case off when I put the phone in the arm band. 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:21.600 So when I took the phone out, as all was cool, 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:22.960 you know, a cool down, and my hands are all 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:26.320 sweaty and slippery because it's freaking thousand degrees in Atlanta. 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.000 It's slipped out of my hand and freaking landed on 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:30.839 the street. Then I've been meaning to ask you, what 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.160 are you running from? By the way, like, are you tormented? 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:38.920 Is there something my fears? Imaginary animals? Dude, I just 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.760 you couldn't pay me to run like that. Biking, I'm 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:43.720 all about it. Bike, It's fun. I don't know something 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.280 about running, man, It's just so simple. So, I mean, 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:47.680 I have my phone with me, but I use it 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.039 to just track my speed right, to track my distance 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:52.120 and all that kind of stuff. I don't like. I 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:53.839 don't listen to stuff. I don't listen to music. I 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.440 just like to zone out and just kind of clear 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.680 my head and start my mornings off that way where 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:02.039 I'm able to just get the it flowing. And well, specifically, 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.240 I signed up for a race. I'm training for that. 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.320 It's just my excuse to once a year start running 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:09.200 a few months out of the year and to run 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.120 in a hundred degree heat in July, massive humidity. The 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.159 humidity is terrible. It doesn't get that hot that early, 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.680 but I try to run early anyway, That's how I 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:21.320 cracked my phone. Well, I will be looking around the 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.320 interwebs because you know that is one of my gifts, 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:24.880 finding a deal. So I'll see what I can do 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.200 for you. Yeah, maybe you'll convert me over and see 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:29.080 if you can try to get me on the Android. 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:31.760 I've been trying. I've been trying. You know what, if 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.360 the deal is good enough, you might make it happen. 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:36.720 It's true, you know, because I because I haven't been 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.400 self insuring and I don't have the money set aside already. Like, yeah, 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:42.120 I could go buy a phone, you know, a decent phone. Now, 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:43.880 maybe not the new one like the X or whatever. 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.000 I don't want to drop a thousand freaking thousand bucks 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:48.880 on a new phone, but it's got that kind of money. Also, 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.480 don't lease a phone. That's a terrible paying monthly payments 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:54.120 and then not keeping it at the end. That's like 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.520 leasing a car. Don't leave a phone. Yeah, that's I 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.440 guess the most expensive way to own a fancy new phone. 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.960 That's gonna well, you need to put owning clothes to 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:07.240 have a fusee utilized for a while. Um yeah, I 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.760 wanted two matches. We're talking about saving for college tonight. 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:12.919 I wanted to quickly, uh tell our tell listeners about 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.840 our college experience. So how many keg stands did you 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:18.880 do in college? Is my first question? Zero? Man? Oh good? 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.800 Oh me too. Actually, yeah, we're both straight edges, so 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.760 tame college. Yeah man, But even still, we had had 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.600 an amazing time in college. I went to school Georgia 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.360 u g A, which everyone knows is a fantastic school. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:34.280 I could probably name both the colleges I went to 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.200 and no one would know the mascot. So our college 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.159 experience is probably couldn't be any more different, I'm going 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.279 to guess. So I went to a small private school 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.159 for the first two years, and everybody knew everybody, and 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.120 we would have like foot races, like like we just 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.760 did the weirdest things for fun. We would uh we 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.080 would like play poker or a lot of video games, 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.600 you know, stuff like that. Yeah. Like, to be honest, dude, 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:57.599 that was the majority of like what happened at Georgia 0:06:57.720 --> 0:06:59.760 from me as well. But but specifically I wanted to 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:02.440 ask you too, like sort of what was your parents 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.120 like expectation for you, like to go to college. Was 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:06.920 it a big deal? You know, like was it expected? 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:08.600 Did you come from like a long line of like 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.200 college professors or graduates sort of thing where it was 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:13.960 just like, oh, yeah, you better go to school, or 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.720 was it sort of like, uh yeah, do your own thing, dude? 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.600 You know, I think it was always assumed, but there 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:22.560 was this never this overbearing expectation put on it either. 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:26.040 I think if I had whatever I did, if it 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.600 was if they thought that it was well thought out 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.040 and then I really felt compelled to do something, I 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.680 think they would have supported me. And so if that 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.600 was to go be an underwater welder or whatever that 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:39.280 might be, I think my parents would have said, go 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:41.240 for it. That's great. I thought you're gonna say, like 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:45.120 the classic underwater basket weaving. They might not have supported 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.800 that because there's probably not much direction in that. But um, 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.680 both of my parents graduated from college and education is 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.920 important to us. Yeah, but also it wasn't this big 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:56.040 built up thing where, um, you know you have to 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.560 achieve this certain level of education or in our eyes 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.040 you're a failure. There was there was no that, right. Yeah, 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.280 I'm with you, dude. My parents are are very Yeah, 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.240 we had we had similar parents. I guess in their regard, 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:09.240 there's definitely an expectation and with that expectation came money 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:10.880 as well, and so like there's a big chunk of 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.200 money set aside for me to go to college, and 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:14.880 like my mom and my like my dad. I remember 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:18.320 my dad specifically like talking to me and just really, look, 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.560 you don't have to go to college, but just know 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:25.240 that this would probably make break your mom's heart because 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.960 she's Korean, and I think the Asian sort of culture 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:33.800 and and mindset of higher education. It's very esteemed, right, 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:35.679 It's it's sort of like, well, that's what you do. 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.680 There's like no questions asked. Certainly, I know she would 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:40.720 have loved me like it had I not gone to 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.040 college and taking that money and you know, maybe either 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.360 invested or started a business. But fact is I didn't 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.800 have any sort of direction. And you know, so I 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.360 was like, Okay, college, that sounds great, let's do it. Well. 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:52.920 I think that's actually probably one of the biggest things 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:56.560 in the plus column for going to college is that 0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:59.560 you get that direction. You get that direction, and especially 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.520 in this day age when you're you know, seventeen or 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.160 eighteen and you're applying to go to college, most kids 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.080 at that age have zero idea what they want to 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.080 do and and really like don't have any of the 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:10.960 life skills even in order to pursue something that they 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:12.760 might even have an inkling they want to do. And 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.240 I know that those are total genius like Elon Musk 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.000 or something like that, and you just know exactly what 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:18.800 you want to do, right or that Bill Gates type 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.040 or Steve or whatever. But so I think that four 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:26.320 years for me was really formative, like relationally, culturally, the 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.520 things that I know you learned a lot the things 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.440 that I learned just outside the classroom. I think we're 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:33.240 equally as important, if not more important to me. But 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.880 when I learned inside the classroom going to college, so 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.520 that might not be what college is for. But that 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.240 was so I mean, I just remember looking back, those 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:44.480 are the things that were formative for me. No, no, 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.080 I think it's good that we actually talk about that 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.440 because we're gonna spend the rest of the podcast probably 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.880 talking about why you shouldn't go together or not, maybe 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:53.720 not why you shouldn't, but we're I mean, we're gonna 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:56.760 have more or ultimately not why you shouldn't, but like 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:00.480 why you shouldn't maybe not be saving for your kids college, right, 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:02.880 So uh yeah, I feel like we're gonna highlight more 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:05.679 of the reasons why, and just in general, we're kind 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:07.320 of knocking it down a few spots on the tone 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:09.000 and pole, right, Like, you know, it's not like this 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:10.760 be all end all thing that you put all your 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:12.920 money towards. I think that's kind of how we're gonna 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.920 end up walking away from this episode. But they're, like 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.160 you said, there's a lot of intangible things that you 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.640 learn in college that that's really hard to quantify. The 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:23.880 relationships the people that you meet, and all the sort 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.280 of personal things that you mentioned too. But it's so 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.480 funny how like we both love beer so much, but 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.720 neither of us have these amazing kig stand beer stories. 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.160 I know you think we would, right, feel kind of 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:36.320 lame to be honest. Speaking of beer, though, let's pop 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:38.760 this one. Uh. It's toime to make up for lost 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.000 lost time all the last years, so we have to 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:42.959 drink at least once a week on the podcast. Now 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:46.480 I'll pop this beer right now from Firestone Walker. It's 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:51.360 a wild ale fermented with strawberries. Yeah, as you could hear, 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:53.120 this is another cork and cage. What do we what 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:54.520 do we have? Last week? Is this two beers in 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:55.920 a row, two weeks in a row that we've had 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.840 fancy beers? It sure is. Yeah, the RuSHA River Consecration. Yeah, 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.080 so this is to California beers back to back. Uh, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.760 two donated beers from friends back to back. So last 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.240 week our friend Carl donated the beer and then this week. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.240 That's right, my friend Josh, who I don't think he 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.800 has any Twitter handle or blog that he wants repped, 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.280 but just a really good friend for a long time. 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:19.840 And uh, he lives out in California and has access 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:22.360 to these amazing beers. And he went to the Firestone 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:26.080 Walker Brewery and this is a big name out West 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:27.720 out in California right, well there, I think there are 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.079 in a lot of states too overall. I mean I 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.239 think they're probably more than half of the states distributing 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.920 now and so, but he went to the actual brewery 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:39.760 and got this beer. It is called schumps. The phrase 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.760 I shouldn't even do it, I shouldn't even try it. 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.920 So I mean I'm thinking of like in like in Paris, 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.960 the sham, the sham sham shamps de liz is how 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:55.000 I think. So, Josh, thank you for providing this beer. 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.800 Super pumped to dip into it. Yeah, tell us about 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.000 this beer, Joel. This is is so wild ale for 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:05.000 a minute, was with strawberries. It's hung out in French 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:09.200 choked barrels for fifteen months. So I think people that 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:11.520 listen to the podcast, no, I think we're both kind 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.760 of obsessed with sour beers with fruit in them, and 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.280 this is one of those. Well, in fact is too man. 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.360 It's summertime, and so you know we we can have 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:24.560 an occasional stout here and there, but you know, these bright, tart, 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.600 refreshing sours with a little bit of fruit added are 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.800 especially delicious in the summer. But a sund like this, yeah, 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:37.280 particularly refreshing. Dude, I just stuck my nose and crap, 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:40.319 that is like it smells like beer concentrate. Man, I 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.240 think this thing is about to knock us back. Cheers. 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.600 Oh wow. That beer is like really tart in the 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.080 perfect way. It's more tart than consecration. It's more tartly 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.760 than most of the beers we've had. But on this podcast, man, 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.559 that strawberry has almost like this nice sort of funky 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.240 edge to it. The oak and the strawberries really come 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:02.320 through nicely. Um, and then that really nice tart finish. 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.559 That's delicious. That's really great. Thank you Josh for sending 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:08.640 this over. I mean, my goodness, that's delicious. Thanks Josh. 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:12.160 All right, enough about beer, onto our listener marks question. 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.360 Here's what he said. He said, I was wondering about 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.000 your thoughts on saving for a child's education. My wife 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.760 and I both work at colleges. She's a professor, I'm 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.720 a counselor, and we're actually not sure what college will 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.959 look like in fifteen years and what the value proposition 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:28.200 will be. Also, will our kids even want to go 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.320 to college. We haven't made decisions on a nine or 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:35.160 other account, but starting to have the discussion. Thanks fellas, Mark, 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.040 awesome question. And I say that because this is a 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.560 discussion that my wife and I started having several years 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:44.640 ago too. Being self employed, we quickly realized that we 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.240 didn't need to go to school to do what it 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:48.880 was at the time. We were both working in the 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.520 business and so we were both photographers and neither of 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.720 us went to school for that, and neither of us 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.760 have taken a formal class. But that being said, we 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.600 both went to date college for four years and got 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.600 our got our undergrads. So there's a period there where 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.360 we're both like, God, sucks, Like, what's the point, you know, 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:10.400 it's not practical at all. And he kind of went 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:13.920 through this whole phase where we're like, nobody should ever 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:17.599 go to school. Certainly that's advice that isn't for everyone, right, Like, 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:19.240 if you want to be a doctor, you've got to 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:21.080 be a science major. You have to those the stuff 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:22.560 you know you need to take. But yeah, it's good 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:24.640 to kind of revisit this, uh, this discussion and kind 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:26.600 of cover some of these topics. Yeah, I think even 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.560 from the beginning, Mark is kind of thinking about it properly. 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.640 I like the way that even as a husband and 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.600 wife that both work out of college. He's still saying, Yeah, 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.000 I what is this? What's the value proposition? What are 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.080 things gonna look like in fifteen years? Will our kids 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:41.480 even want to go to college? Like? Those are the 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.560 right questions, awesome questions, Mark, because usually people are like, 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.080 how much should I be putting in? Yeah, the assumption is, 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.320 of course we're gonna save, and this is just what 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.360 you do. Of course, right, that's just the right thing 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.400 to do, right, And so I like the questions that 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.360 he's asking, and I think there are obviously a bunch 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.520 of things to go into this. The first thing is 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.520 it kind of depends on how your family views college. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:04.520 So you know, Matt and I were just talking about 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.720 kind of the expectation for our families, and you know, 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.280 they were similar but a little different. Mark, with both 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.840 you and your wife working out of college, the likelihood 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.760 of your children wanting to go to college is higher. 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.760 I mean, the statistics will bear out too, that your 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:22.800 parents go to college. It's assumed sort of basically, there's 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:24.640 a there's a much greater chance that you will, and 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.040 especially working in a college, so for them, a plan 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.600 that's like one check in that in that box, there's 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.880 just a greater likelihood that it's going to happen. And 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:34.480 you know, I think we'll give you kind of a 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.080 lot of unchecked boxes that you need to think through. 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.280 But that's just kind of one thing. Okay, there's a 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.600 good likelihood that your kids, all things being equal, based 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.960 on statistics, are they're much more likely than a lot 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:49.560 of other children tend up pursuing higher education. And so, Mark, 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:51.720 you specifically asked about the five twenty nine and so 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.120 for you, unless there's something that you didn't share, Like, 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:56.640 I think there's a good chance that your your kids 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.200 or your kid would be going to college, and in 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.120 which case it might makes sense for you to to 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.720 be setting aside money in a plan. You didn't mention 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.000 whether or not you guys are you know, are are 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:09.120 kind of maxing out your retirement savings. I think that's 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:10.840 something that we would want to see in a in 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.320 a particular order. But yeah, so let's talk about specifically. 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.560 Let's a lot of your listeners out there probably have 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.960 heard maybe the term plan, but you may not exactly 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.080 know what that is. Let's dive into that right after 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:33.280 this break. Yeah, I think Matt, like we talked about 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.040 in our Investment Basics episodes, like there's like a lot 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.560 of different numbers and letters and all these things put 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.120 together for all these different retirement accounts, and most people 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.760 probably have heard nine. But then you know, well what 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.520 is it? Uh? And so it is an investment accounts 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.880 specifically designed to help you save for college. Uh. And 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:53.640 it's got great benefits. The investments are allowed to grow 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.280 on a tax deferd basis, and your withdrawals will be 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.160 a percent tax free no matter how much profit you've 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.400 seen from those in vestments, as long as those proceeds 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:06.920 are used for qualifying education expenses. Uh. And you can 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:08.919 kind of look to see what those things are like 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.960 that computers and room and board and things like that 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:13.879 also count. You can use five pollion nine money for 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.480 those things, not just for the tuition bill. But the 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.320 other thing about five nine plans is that many states 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:23.240 offer a tax deduction or credit on your contributions into 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.240 a five plan. So a lot of people think, boom, 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:27.600 I want to do this, so I can you know, 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:30.320 avoid paying state taxes on that income. And so that 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:33.199 can be you know, a really good way to to 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.439 use a plan to kind of lessen your tax burden, um, 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:38.000 and say for your kids college in the in the 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.720 same way. Nice. Yeah, And another huge benefit to man 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.320 is that it's transferable and so even And it's good 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.520 to mention this too, because Markey's like the way you 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.720 wrote kids in your question, you kind of put the 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.159 s in parentheses, which tells me, I guess that you 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.480 maybe have one child and that you might have multiple 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.280 so down the road. And that's me that's a huge 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.800 distinction to make there because with a single kid, it's like, well, 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:02.760 we're gonna set all this money aside, and there's a 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.560 chance that you know that that kid may not go 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.240 to college. Well, if you have two or more, there's 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.240 a much greater chance that one of those kids will 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.840 go to college. Right, And so you know, say your 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.480 first kid doesn't end up going to college, well you 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.880 still have kid number two and maybe even kid number three, 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:21.160 plus that you can transfer the benefits of the five 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.520 to Yeah, and you can even transfer it to you 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.160 or your wife or or a nephew or a niece 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:29.280 or something like that. And so if you are just 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.000