April 23th, 2005
RAISE YOUR KIDS THE RIGHT WAY; DON'T SAVE FOR THEIR COLLEGE EDUCATION
If we can agree that a parent's job is to prepare their kids for life, than I have a radical idea for you: Stop saving money for your children's college educations.
Those of you who believe that a parent's job is to be their child's friend and protector should stop reading immediately and go back to preparing breakfast for your 33 year old live at home son.
First of all, the necessity of a college education is one of the greatest lies ever perpetrated upon the American public. While college is a wonderful learning tool for some people, and a necessity to certain careers, it is not necessary for all people in order to mature, nor is it a guarantee of career success. When the dream of college came along in the early 20th century the story was that sending your child to college would be the greatest gift you could give. It would teach him how to succeed in life and be better prepared to rise above the rest of society and outperform. We now know that simply isn't true.
Plenty of people make millions without the benefit of college. Bill Gates and Michael Dell, the kings of the computer world both dropped out of college and make millions. I dropped out of college and make more money annually than 95% of the civilized world. Conversely, plenty of college graduates are making at or less than the average annual salary in America of around $30,000. What good is that college education if you're just going to wind up average?
The average cost of a four-year degree right now is $77,600 if you factor in housing, materials and the cost of tuition. Obviously, for an Ivy League education that number skyrockets. If you have a baby tomorrow, you can expect the average cost of his four-year degree to be $223,800 by the time he's ready to go.
I believe it's time to alleviate parents of this burden. First of all, I think that parents who tell their kids that they will go to college set their children up for failure. Saving for school quietly is one thing, insisting that your child goes to college is completely different. I am a perfect example of someone who would have been ruined by a four or five year stint in college. I didn’t need the maturing or the education and all that time would have done to me would have been stymied my career and personal growth. By the time I was 22 I owned a home and was debt free. What good would college have done me?
More importantly, I believe that not saving for college accomplishes exactly what we agreed at the beginning of this is a parent's job; it prepares a child for life.
If your 13, 15 or 17 year old decides that he wants to be a lawyer, and therefore needs the education of a four year degree, that is your opportunity to begin teaching him about working for what he wants in life. The idea that a child is entitled to an advanced education paid for by his parents is absurd and unrealistic. It's the grown up equivalent of buying a guitar for a five year old that wants to be a rock star and never holding him accountable for the guitar winding up in his closet two weeks later.
Rather, sit down with your 13-year-old lawyer to be and begin working on a game plan as to how HE is going to pay for it. Talk to him about getting an after school job now and saving for it, getting a student loan, taking a loan from you which he WILL pay back with interest, joining ROTC, or any of the other multitude of possibilities available today.
Handing your child his college education free of charge makes you feel like you're a great parent, but in practice accomplishes the exact opposite. Additionally, when you challenge your kid to pay for his own college education, it also forces him to at least consider other careers that don't require degrees. There are plenty of noble and/or high paying jobs that do not require college educations.
One final note; many parents wind up in the "my kid WILL go to college" mindset because the parents are concerned about how they'll look to their peers. This is sick and small. The idea that you will direct your child's life in a direction that offers no guarantees and in fact may destroy them for the sole purpose of your bragging rights makes me almost believe that we really DO need to insist on a license to breed in America. If you are worried about how your child's education will affect your legacy, then don't have children until you grow up.
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