Topic: Upside Down Major

[sailor723]

We started an RESP for our daughter years ago and max it out every year. She should have a good chunk of change by the time she needs it. She's ten now.

Sure I hope she'll stay in Ottawa but I also hope she'll go to school somewhere else and explore the country and/or world. I went to the local university where I grew up and in hindsight it was the wrong decision.

I'd agree that this is a lot of benefit to kids going out of town for university (assuming finances allow)

[safristi]

R.E.S.P = Red Electric SUV Plan..................   partee time......

[tooscoops]

yeah... i may not be wealthy myself, but i'll make sure the kids at least have the opportunity to do the schooling that they want (that we agree with). both of my kids have resp's and a couple other little things i've put away for them. My own retirement?... nope. haven't really done anything about it. kids education and future? heck yes.



on the topic of upsidedown... had a guy needing a van (again... the usual) and getting out of a cruze not even a year old... owed about 20... my one manager wanted to put in ten... i convinced him to go 12, but even then, no chance of getting it approved. ah well. guess the family will be in cramped quarters for a bit.

[dkaz]

Better stop calling us millennials entitled then when it'll take 1 millennial to support 2 baby boomers.

I thought you were a Gen X
These are some of the dates I found
Boomers 1946 to 1964
Gen X 1964 to 1984
Gen Y 1984 to 1997
Millennials after that

Millennials and Gen Y seems to coincide. I was born in 83 so I'm somewhere in between.

[tpl]

Boomer time started in 1945 in the U.K.  Dunno why the difference. I don't feel like a Greatest Generation person.


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[sailor723]

Boomer time started in 1945 in the U.K.  Dunno why the difference. I don't feel like a Greatest Generation person.


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Yeah, I always took the "Greatest Generation" as those that grew up during the depression and lived through WW II.

[Mike]

Boomer time started in 1945 in the U.K.  Dunno why the difference. I don't feel like a Greatest Generation person.


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I guess because the babies that came from overseas soldiers returning home didn't start arriving until 1946?

[Mike]

Kids are VERY EXPENSIVE.  If you're about to have kids, don't do the math.  Stop reading this now.  Now, of course, the calculations are unique to each person/family, but you get the idea...

We played "stay at home" and the opportunity cost of having a parent at home was high.  For some of the time, we had BOTH at home.  Ugh.  My quick calculation on that shows the costs at probably $600,000 conservatively.  Daycare would have been cheaper, but we chose to spend the extra money because we're a family fortunate enough to be able to.  Many have no choice.

Feeding, clothing and on and on.  Ouch. No idea.  A lot.

Arts and sports and other activities/education?  We're big spenders here, at least $5K a year, some years more.  This year it's going to be over $10K easily.  There's lots of ways to minimize these costs, but it's a big deal to us, so this budget line is high on the priority list.

Education will be $$ if your kid is thinking law or medicine or something like that.  Even regular post secondary ain't cheap.  My own progeny has mapped out a career path that so far looks to have course/exam bills of around $60-70K - cheaper than med school I think, but still a lot.  Luckily it's spaced out over 7-10 years so that helps ease the pain.

Worth it?  That's an individual decision.  To us, still worth at 10x the actual cost.

Back on the topic.  A friend of mine's husband is in the oil patch.  He's lucky in that his job is in refining and he's still well employed.  But, many of his friends are on hard times right now.  One poor guy he knows is trying to unload his massively modded F350 and having no luck.  The kicker?  It's worth maybe $40K and somehow, in some incredible way, he owes nearly $110,000 on it.

An upside down lifetime achievement award?

Yes. Daycare is draining me.

[CanuckS2K]

I certainly think kids should be investing in their own education. The unfortunate thing for my daughter is that she can't live at home while attending school.  It means that she has to live in small mountain towns and her earning potential during the process is not great.

So, the deal we have with her is that she has to support herself - house, clothe and feed herself, and then we'll pay the course and exam fees.

I would certainly agree with that.  My parents paid for my first two years of University and I was responsible for the next two.  I learned pretty quick how much sh!t cost when it was coming out of my own pocket.  I will certainly be helping my two kids out as well, but will NOT be paying for all of it.  Also, I will not be the type of Parent that will be telling their kids that "you're going to University, that's all there is to it"  I don't believe in that approach as there is tons of things to do as a career without going to University.  It will just depend on what they want to do when their older, but University certainly won't be shoved down their throats. 

[johngenx]

Also, I will not be the type of Parent that will be telling their kids that "you're going to University, that's all there is to it"  I don't believe in that approach as there is tons of things to do as a career without going to University.  It will just depend on what they want to do when their older, but University certainly won't be shoved down their throats.

My wife and I have six university degrees between the two of us.  And my daughter is a 95% GPA student taking all high-academic courses.  So, naturally, her teachers assume she's prepping for some prestigious university.

The issue for her is that while she excels at school, she hates it.  Every minute of it.  She wants to do things where she's physically active and outdoors.  She's had some great teachers that create engaging and terrific learning environments, but she still can't stand being walled in all day long.

[CanuckS2K]

Also, I will not be the type of Parent that will be telling their kids that "you're going to University, that's all there is to it"  I don't believe in that approach as there is tons of things to do as a career without going to University.  It will just depend on what they want to do when their older, but University certainly won't be shoved down their throats.

My wife and I have six university degrees between the two of us.  And my daughter is a 95% GPA student taking all high-academic courses.  So, naturally, her teachers assume she's prepping for some prestigious university.

The issue for her is that while she excels at school, she hates it.  Every minute of it. She wants to do things where she's physically active and outdoors.  She's had some great teachers that create engaging and terrific learning environments, but she still can't stand being walled in all day long.

And that's just the very reason why I won't push University upon my kids.  From what you've posted about your daughter over the years here, it seems like she'd be MUCH happier teaching climbing for X amount of dollars than some high end Corporate job for XXXX amount of dollars.  To me, it's all about what you're passionate about doing, not how much you get paid.  I learned this at a later point in life, but I'm grateful that I did at least.  This is the stuff that I'd much rather pass along to my kids rather than making them suffer through University degrees that they might not give a sh!t about.  Either way, I'll be behind whatever they choose, it just won't be MY decision.......like some Parents I know. 

[johngenx]

My wife's had a very hard time with this.  She came from poverty and she was the first person in her family to go to university.  Higher education has been very good for us, both economically and from a personal development standpoint.  But, when I finished my first degree, <20% of people had one.  It was a valuable piece of paper.  Credential inflation has changed that landscape.  A lot.

I see my daughter being able to use our economic stability as a springboard to launch a passion-based career - they're usually easier if you have that backstop and support.

The other thing that's changed my wife's stand is that she's now seen the kid "at work" in the mountains.  She sees her working on skis.  She saw her leading a mountaineering trip this summer with a group of new climbers and how amazing she was at it.  So patient and nurturing and a huge smile on her face the whole time.  She didn't even care that she marched them up a peak that was maybe a 1/100 difficulty for her - she was sharing her love of the activity with them.  Seeing that I think was an "aha" moment for the missus - the kid is actually frickin' amazing at it and she's barely started.

[Mike]

Kids are VERY EXPENSIVE.  If you're about to have kids, don't do the math.  Stop reading this now.  Now, of course, the calculations are unique to each person/family, but you get the idea...

We played "stay at home" and the opportunity cost of having a parent at home was high.  For some of the time, we had BOTH at home.  Ugh.  My quick calculation on that shows the costs at probably $600,000 conservatively.  Daycare would have been cheaper, but we chose to spend the extra money because we're a family fortunate enough to be able to.  Many have no choice.

Feeding, clothing and on and on.  Ouch. No idea.  A lot.

Arts and sports and other activities/education?  We're big spenders here, at least $5K a year, some years more.  This year it's going to be over $10K easily.  There's lots of ways to minimize these costs, but it's a big deal to us, so this budget line is high on the priority list.

Education will be $$ if your kid is thinking law or medicine or something like that.  Even regular post secondary ain't cheap.  My own progeny has mapped out a career path that so far looks to have course/exam bills of around $60-70K - cheaper than med school I think, but still a lot.  Luckily it's spaced out over 7-10 years so that helps ease the pain.

Worth it?  That's an individual decision.  To us, still worth at 10x the actual cost.

Back on the topic.  A friend of mine's husband is in the oil patch.  He's lucky in that his job is in refining and he's still well employed.  But, many of his friends are on hard times right now.  One poor guy he knows is trying to unload his massively modded F350 and having no luck.  The kicker?  It's worth maybe $40K and somehow, in some incredible way, he owes nearly $110,000 on it.

An upside down lifetime achievement award?

Yes. Daycare is draining me.

In march we will have 2 going to daycare $1800 month ish......  My wife is hoping one of our kid will be a surgeon.  I hope one will be a genius artist at abstract art and sell squiggles paintings for millions! The ultimate dream job!

My one kid costs $1500 a month.

[Gurgie]

Kids are VERY EXPENSIVE.  If you're about to have kids, don't do the math.  Stop reading this now.  Now, of course, the calculations are unique to each person/family, but you get the idea...

We played "stay at home" and the opportunity cost of having a parent at home was high.  For some of the time, we had BOTH at home.  Ugh.  My quick calculation on that shows the costs at probably $600,000 conservatively.  Daycare would have been cheaper, but we chose to spend the extra money because we're a family fortunate enough to be able to.  Many have no choice.

Feeding, clothing and on and on.  Ouch. No idea.  A lot.

Arts and sports and other activities/education?  We're big spenders here, at least $5K a year, some years more.  This year it's going to be over $10K easily.  There's lots of ways to minimize these costs, but it's a big deal to us, so this budget line is high on the priority list.

Education will be $$ if your kid is thinking law or medicine or something like that.  Even regular post secondary ain't cheap.  My own progeny has mapped out a career path that so far looks to have course/exam bills of around $60-70K - cheaper than med school I think, but still a lot.  Luckily it's spaced out over 7-10 years so that helps ease the pain.

Worth it?  That's an individual decision.  To us, still worth at 10x the actual cost.

Back on the topic.  A friend of mine's husband is in the oil patch.  He's lucky in that his job is in refining and he's still well employed.  But, many of his friends are on hard times right now.  One poor guy he knows is trying to unload his massively modded F350 and having no luck.  The kicker?  It's worth maybe $40K and somehow, in some incredible way, he owes nearly $110,000 on it.

An upside down lifetime achievement award?

Yes. Daycare is draining me.

In march we will have 2 going to daycare $1800 month ish......  My wife is hoping one of our kid will be a surgeon.  I hope one will be a genius artist at abstract art and sell squiggles paintings for millions! The ultimate dream job!

My one kid costs $1500 a month.

That's a pretty steep price to pay for daycare! I'd say $1000ish would be somewhat in the ball park... I know when my 2 were both in FT (this is going back 9yrs) it was costing us $1600/month, which was more than our mortgage payment!! Ours were in a homeowner run daycare & she'd only have 3 little ones, so they got a lot out of their time with her   

[johngenx]

The cost of daycare seems to have risen dramatically in the last 15 years or so.  And yet when I see daycare worker jobs advertised, they're still paying minimum wage.  Are daycare owners making the money?  I assume costs like rent have probably gone up a lot.  Is it going into overhead?  I'm curious.

I don't know how people in Vancouver or Toronto do it.  Housing costs are astronomical.  Urban sprawl combined with heavy traffic means a lot of people have commutes that take up a significant part of their day, even on transit.  With the high cost of living, it pushes families to have two incomes and then daycare can eat up so much of the second income.

I lived in Toronto briefly and flying in I could see km after km of urban landscape.  In downtown, I'm not sure I've ever felt more removed from the natural world.

[Mike]

Yeah, the costs in Oakville specifically for daycare are insane. This is nowhere near the most expensive. And yeah, it outweighs the mortgage payments which is equally insane. I couldn't imagine having two kids in daycare right now.

[Jaeger]

Yeah, the costs in Oakville specifically for daycare are insane. This is nowhere near the most expensive. And yeah, it outweighs the mortgage payments which is equally insane. I couldn't imagine having two kids in daycare right now.

I am so freaking glad those days are behind me.  Cost was brutal in Oakville even 10 plus years ago.  And we only have one.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

We're actually looking for daycare for my daughter starting in January.  We only need part time care, as my Mom has agreed (and wants) to take her two days of the week.  Seeing as she'll be part-time, it's really hard to find a centre that will do that, so I think we've nailed down a home-based daycare provider who should only cost us $390 a month for the 3 days a week she looks after my kid.  She's including two snacks per day and a home cooked lunch too, so we think that's actually pretty good value.  The best part is her house is only a ten minute walk away from us.

$390/month for 3 days/week seems pretty reasonable.  That's $30/day.  If we required 5 days a week of care, that would be $650/month.  I'm not sure where the rest of you are getting $1500 for one kid from.   That seems outrageous.

[Ex-airbalancer]

The cost of daycare seems to have risen dramatically in the last 15 years or so.  And yet when I see daycare worker jobs advertised, they're still paying minimum wage.  Are daycare owners making the money?  I assume costs like rent have probably gone up a lot.  Is it going into overhead?  I'm curious.

I don't know how people in Vancouver or Toronto do it.  Housing costs are astronomical.  Urban sprawl combined with heavy traffic means a lot of people have commutes that take up a significant part of their day, even on transit.  With the high cost of living, it pushes families to have two incomes and then daycare can eat up so much of the second income.

I lived in Toronto briefly and flying in I could see km after km of urban landscape.  In downtown, I'm not sure I've ever felt more removed from the natural world.

In 1983 it was cost $25 a day to send a child to city run day care in Thunder Bay , min wage was $3.50 a hour
Interest rates on cars was 20%, on house was about 13%
48 oz can of apple juice was about $1.50, I think you can find it cheaper than that now

[safristi]

Time to reintroduce child coal mining jobs..............................