Did you retire early before kids went to Uni? How expensive was it?

point5clue

Great thread.  I have one just finishing a four year course, one about to go this September (not sure where yet) and one two years (two and a half I suppose) away.  I would like to retire at some point over the next few years - definitely before they have all graduated.

I realised that it was the 'teenager/student' costs that were making my 'how much do we need' calculations so hard.  I looked back over the last couple of years and found the two major costs that are outside the normal run of things.

Uni Accom - As others have said the cost breakdown makes paying for accom and them keeping the maint payment about right - so £6k pa per child (might have. a two year overlap if no.2 and no.3 both do 4 year courses)

Learning to drive: around £1k (worst case - our first took ages) for lessons, but thats just the start.
We both had automatics, so bought a approx £500 car for practise - knowing it will do for all 3.  Learner driver insurance on top of me insuring it for myself (cheapest way I could find to do it), and one years insurance with a black box once they've learned to drive.  We live in the country so being able to drive for the last year of sixth form, though a privilege, is something I wanted for them. 
£500 car will need more spending on it that it costs over a few years.  I reckon another £1000 so far over 3 years.

So I created a logical bucket for a lump sum for teen/uni costs and took it out of my 'number'.  I know some people frown on mental accounting, but it addresses that worry of the risk of feeling selfish if you can't help your kids as much as you want because you've FIREd.  (I'm glad I'm not the only one ). Its not that I'm limiting my help to that sum, but it might be enough on its own, and if not it will reduce the dent in any monthly budget.

Despite common sense it was slightly painful to see my 'number' drop significantly for the first time in ages, but I now feel that when I am finally brave enough to pull the rip cord I won't worry about that group of costs. 

michaels

I think parental income is assessed on the previous year but you can request to have it done on current year if you have seen a drop in income.

jamesmorgan

Croeso69 said:

What is the current threshold for parental income such that a child qualifies for the full loan?

Presumably tax credits and child benefit for other children are ignored?

Is there an allowance if you have other children still at school so the allowable income is higher?

My eldest is in year 11 so would be going to Uni in September 2023 if he wishes. Presumably the assessed tax year would be 2022/2023?

Still working but thinking about retiring early soon, age 57.

I can drain an ISA and spend some PCLS on top of taxable income if the income for a full loan is too low.

I think the current threshold is £25K taxable income.  Tax benefits and child benefit are not taxable so are ignored.  In fact, a good way to get below the threshold is to pay more into your pension - not only does this reduce your taxable income but also increases tax credits.

This link provides some further info that you may find useful..

https://www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/parents-guide-tips-university.html

Topcatk

We were fortunate to retire whilst our son was in his first year at Uni. He is now in his third year. He only qualified for the minimum maintenance loan so he is living off that and we have covered his accommodation costs. We obviously knew about these costs before the final decision was to taken to retire 2 years earlier than originally planned. However we hadn’t planned for him to continue studying post degree. With the current pandemic  and state of the job market, we are supportive of him doing so but weren’t prepared for some of the fees that some of the courses have ....his range from £30k-46.5k for a 9 months masters! 😱 With the max masters gov loan available being only £11222 to cover fees AND living costs .... we may have to find a significant amount of unforeseen money to allow him to do an extra year of study. It is difficult to have to say to your son ‘sorry but we can’t afford for you to do it’ .... especially when we are now living our dream (albeit not opulent) life abroad ...but had we continued to work we could have done. 

Your children are a long time off Uni - good luck with your crystal ball on planning how long they will study etc. 😁 as we failed with the end in definite sight! ☹️

SouthCoastBoy

That is a lot of money for a 9 month masters, up to 5k a month! What is the subject area?

strawb_shortcake

We've lived on one average wage for a long time and never really been in a position to make university pots for the children, but that time for uni is fast approaching.

My eldest has been looking at degree apprenticeships and this would be funded by his employer, if unsuccessful there and I'm sure there is a lot of competition he's considering the Armed forces as an alternative.

My Daughter wants to go into medicine of some description and I think that her choices may be limited, but with the right course then she may qualify for free tuition and a bursary.

My Husband is at uni now, and due to my income he gets just under the maximum maintenance loan, so depending on the eldest two children's final choices on uni I'm expecting them to receive roughly the same. But we will be able to help financially to an extent. But I would be encouraging them to work to support themselves and they are all very good at saving. 

I used to manage people on the graduate scheme at work and the ones that came with previous work experience/history always did far better both in work ethic and social skills

Ant555

I am 52 and have two finishing Uni this year after 3 and 4 year courses.
When applying for maintenance loan be prepared to have P60 previous years info to hand for both parents (if applicable) for the previous year - ie if applying for a course staring this September then you need household income details for 2019-20 tax tear.  Each parent is expected to fill in their own details independently of the students application.
Our situation included encouraging and them finding part time work in the first year but eased off in year 2 onwards as the uni workreally starts to ramp up and we didnt want too many distractions.  Some of their housemates have to work as their parents cant or wont afford to subsidise.  One housemate works nights Friday, Saturday and Sunday and gets in at 5am Monday morning ready for his 9am lecture - necessary for his to afford to live there I accept,  but I am fortunate to be able to shield my kids from having to work those hours.  Student work might be more of an issue in the next few years anyway as non students apply for all the part time jobs.

Essentially we pay for living expenses by transferring money weekly and the loan covers all accommodation costs with a tiny bit left over as a 'bonus' so to speak.  On average its £25/week for food which is more than enough at the moment with no trips to the pub to eat into that budget.

Hope this helps.

michaels

Hmm - sounds like normal student weekend wakening hours anyway - might as well get paid for it....

AlanP_2

All 3 of ours went to Red Brick northern Unis so avoided London / SE costs.

Between us and grandaparents ~£5k a year per child sounds about right. All 3 of ours worked whilst at 6th Form and in Uni holidays and the experiences they gained have benefited them when applying for jobs on the CV, at interview and on assessment centres.

Two of them worked at an Outdoor Activities centre as instructors, including week long residentials for children with disabilities and repite breaks for young carers.

Talking about how you worked as a team with other instructors to help them get from a wheelchair to high ropes course or in to a canoe safely make great examples as well as building their own self-confidence self-belief and awareness that not everyone is fortunate enough to enjoy the lifestyle they did.

The eldest ended up on the Unilever Grad Programme and each Grad had to supply a 1-page summary that described them, their interests and experiences that was shared with everyone in a book format.. Looking at it after his first week's induction every single person they had taken on had worked whilst at college / Uni and had done something in the gap between graduating and starting (very few went straight in to Unilever). This ranged from time spent in the Armed Forces, to travel to charity activities etc.

May not aply to all employers I know but thought it was quite informative about the "type" that large Blue Chips organisations seek to recruit for future senior positions.

One last thought, non-finacial - Apply early. Our middle one did Chemistry and at the open fday for the course he ended up on they made it clear that once they had made the number of offers they needed to make to fill their spaces they didn't even look at any more applications. He got his application in about 4 months before the closing date. 

Albermarle

All 3 of ours went to Red Brick northern Unis

Although with all the money they have been awash with in recent years ( until Covid), most are not red brick anymore but mainly shiny new glass and steel .