Friday, October 10, 2008

Not having any fun yet - a thought on how to battle back

Like many of us I have good friends and close business associates that have recently their jobs. And since the end does not seem to be in sight we all have to get up every day and trudge back to work and watch the bad news come and go hour by hour.

Sure we can get leaner (and definitely meaner) and cut back. But my sense is that people have been doing that for the better part of six months anyway. One area I think can be looked at is your child's college education. I have a son in college and daughter in high school so the subject is close to my heart - and wallet! Our son did a year at a university and did not care for the school that much. Consequently he has returned home (very common these days) and is working full time and taking courses at a local community college. He seems much happier and will likely take a full course load come January while continuing to work. The benefits are many. Let's start with the difference of about $ 18,000 per semester! I cannot believe how we parents have bought into the fact that college can cost families upwards of $ 160,000 for four years. What made us sign on to this??? Is the education one gets at a community college decidedly worse than a 4 year university? The professors and teachers at community colleges often have credentials just as impressive as those in universities.

Even getting a 2 year associates degree could save a family more than $ 75,000 prior to a student deciding what he really wants to do and where he wants to go. And by the way college age kids get their information and learning from so many sources that they are informed in ways I could never imagine working.

So hang in there and think about how you could roar back at that declining 401K and college fund. What was does not have to be what will be.