How do you pay for college when your money is tied up in mortgage and retirement payroll deductions?

Question

We certainly can not claim poverty, but nobody is going to take care of me when I can no longer work nor pay my mortgage.

How did you pay for your kids college years when you couldn't claim financial hardship, but certainly didn't have discetionary or disposable income?

Answer 1

I would not rule out filing the FAFSA forms. It takes into consideration the family income and available money even with owning a house. It will help qualify your child for need based financial aid by the state and federal governments along with the college itself. None of these items costs money to access or to apply for items.

Also, if the grades are high enough, the student may qualify for merrit scholarships from the college. Encourage them to do well in school because good grades pay off in less student loans in the end.

Second, if the student is an athlete, there is athletic scholarships available. However, they must register with the NCAA database. I know of someone who qualified for a full ride athletic scholarship.

Third, the high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships for its students to apply for consideration.

Fourth, the college financial aid office and website has a list of scholarships offered by outside organizations and companies. Also, sometimes a college major's website will list scholarships.

Fifth, go to the local public library. There is a scholarship list book that has some scholarships not listed on the web.

Finally, join several free membership scholarship search websites. Most are updated on a regular basis. Most offer a customized search based on the information entered into a form on its website.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Go to the library or to a bookstore and look for books about scholarships. There are thousands of scholarships out there, and many go unclaimed. By looking through one of those books, I am sure your child will find some scholarships that (s)he qualifies for.

There are also professional companies that will search of scholarships for you. They charge a nominal fee, but they will often guarentee a certain amount of aid. Some cost about $100 but promise to deliver at least $500. BTW, they use the same resources that I described in the previous paragraph.

Also, federal financial aid is usually enough to pay for most public universities. Most public universities realize that most students can't afford school without them, so you can usually find enough aid and loans to pay for tuition. Of course that will mean you now have a seperate loan to pay back (although the interest rate is usually low and tax deductible).

You can always refinance your mortgage. Taking your exsisting loan and paying it back over the next 30 years will add to what you pay, but in the short term, it may free up some cash to pay for tuition. You can also refinance into a fixed rate interest only. While your child is in school, you can make interest only payments, and then make bigger payments upon graduation.

If your retirment plan is a 401k, you can borrow against that. I think that is a bad way to pay for an entire college education, but it could possible help pay for the first year (when federal aid is at its lowest).

Another thing, if you have a life insurance policy with a cash value, then you can borrow against that. The rate is usually very good, it does not require a credit check, and if you no longer have a need for the life insurance, it can be a way (think loophole) to cash in the policy without paying taxes on your gains (consult an insurance and tax advisor first).

Personally, I applied for loans, aid, and scholarships. I got some help from my parents, but when they sent two of their other children to college the same time I was going, their help pretty much dried up, so I personally looked out there for whatever help was out there.

Answer 3

I've thought about this long and often and have the answer, you and most won't like it though. Let me use you're own post to highlight these things. 1. "some political leaders to further limit what benefits will be returned " -for many people these benefits aren't being returned, they are just being TAKEN. We need IRA's for each person. You put in, you take out. No more pooling and guaranteed benefits. 2. "We spend a lifetime paying on mortgages for houses " -this is your problem and may be the result of YOUR bad decision. You know what you can afford and what could happen. Shouldn't you ALWAYS prepare for the worst? 3. "We pay loans on cars that wear out " -stop buying that so called "amurikan made!" junk that is actually made in Mexico. Try buying a nice American made car with a Japanese tag. 4. "Many of us scrimp and save to pay for college educations" -don't have children you can't afford 5. "What's left to aid the old couple" -See item 1. I'll also add that YOU people keep demanding/supporting government taxes to help "the poor" and then complain when you are thrown into "the poor" category only to find that the taxes weren't spent how they were supposed to be. Don't cry to me, SS takes a max deduction out of me every year. I think the cutoff is @ 106k and I've still got another 5 months of paying into it. You know what the bonus part is? I WILL NEVER, EVER GET ALL THAT MONEY, someone else will.

Answer 4

File for financial aid, take out student loans. I am paying for my own education, and I think it makes me more responsible knowing that I am paying for my education and it isnt handed to me.

Answer 5

Just apply for as many scholarships as you can. Apply for loans as needed. Scholarships are better since you don't have to pay than back.

Answer 6

FAFSA

google it , its a tuition loan, sometimes you pay nothing back


cheers