Fluffy question alert! Keeping motivated on fire

anonmoose

I think teaching them to stand on their feet financially is important whilst also recognising how tough it is financially to buy a house and pay through uni now. I will be doing the same as many and paying accommodation costs whilst at uni so expect to spend £5-7k per year but I will expect them to work part time or holidays to minimise the debt they leave with. 

I didn't get any financial help from parents and walked out of uni with a small 2k student loan that I used to buy a car. I worked through uni every holiday full time and was one of the last years to get a student grant. So came out with no debt! Obviously that's not possible now but I can't see my kids working the holidays either. I just don't think at the moment they have the right work ethic.  

What I do think is a shame is that I won't be able to provide much of a house deposit pot as most of the money will go on uni costs. I would much rather pay towards a house than uni education as I feel for many it's unnecessary these days.

Anonymous101

michaels said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Kim1965 said:

Children are massively expensive. One through uni, one with only a year to go. The child still at uni was going to have a year in industry next year, then decided  against it. I was so pleased.

We have busted a gut to get our two through uni. I am amazed how support varies from parent to parent. Some people we know and seemingly more affluent, have given little support to their children. They have expected them to get through by working in addition to studying, to support themselves. 
 
 

I am expecting that the "official" regular costs dissipate once the children grow up. The plethora of activities / classes. The endless taxi duties. School fees.

The uni costs are a bit of a conundrum. The maintenance loan is tapered depending on parental income, such that ours get roughly £3,000 pa to live on. That means £1,000 a term to cover food, bills, books, social, travel etc.  £75 per week, annualised.
We make up the difference by paying for the accommodation, which has been typically £500pm for outside London. This seems to be the norm on earlier threads, and in discussions with neighbours in similar situations with children studying. 

London will be much more expensive - and two of ours look set to study there.

It's certainly a sobering thought, as I am keen to wind down well before they finish uni, and will therefore have to account for a large chunk of initial spend out of my pension if I stop between 55 and 60.

That might tip me back into the part time consulting gigs, to earn sufficient to cover these costs.

I don't think it's terribly fair, but since when has fiscal policy and tax been trying to be fair?

As for the more insidious conundrum - when will they actually grow up? And be financially independent? I rather suspect that is much further down the line, and impossible to predict or model financially.

I'm not complaining - far from it - but it's a real challenge for parents to face.

If you stop earning and spend from 'savings' such as ISAs while they are at uni then they will qualify for the full subsistence loan.

It's a fair point, if you are able to manipulate your income this is an option.

I'd still be very mindful that it is a loan and at the current method of charging and calculating the interest due (Inflation linked), its a very expensive loan.

At the moment I'm viewing financing University as a kind of upfront inheritance. Relieving my children of a 9% additional tax for a good period of their working lives.

ex-pat_scot

michaels said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Kim1965 said:

Children are massively expensive. One through uni, one with only a year to go. The child still at uni was going to have a year in industry next year, then decided  against it. I was so pleased.

We have busted a gut to get our two through uni. I am amazed how support varies from parent to parent. Some people we know and seemingly more affluent, have given little support to their children. They have expected them to get through by working in addition to studying, to support themselves. 
 
 

I am expecting that the "official" regular costs dissipate once the children grow up. The plethora of activities / classes. The endless taxi duties. School fees.

The uni costs are a bit of a conundrum. The maintenance loan is tapered depending on parental income, such that ours get roughly £3,000 pa to live on. That means £1,000 a term to cover food, bills, books, social, travel etc.  £75 per week, annualised.
We make up the difference by paying for the accommodation, which has been typically £500pm for outside London. This seems to be the norm on earlier threads, and in discussions with neighbours in similar situations with children studying. 

London will be much more expensive - and two of ours look set to study there.

It's certainly a sobering thought, as I am keen to wind down well before they finish uni, and will therefore have to account for a large chunk of initial spend out of my pension if I stop between 55 and 60.

That might tip me back into the part time consulting gigs, to earn sufficient to cover these costs.

I don't think it's terribly fair, but since when has fiscal policy and tax been trying to be fair?

As for the more insidious conundrum - when will they actually grow up? And be financially independent? I rather suspect that is much further down the line, and impossible to predict or model financially.

I'm not complaining - far from it - but it's a real challenge for parents to face.

If you stop earning and spend from 'savings' such as ISAs while they are at uni then they will qualify for the full subsistence loan.

Thanks  @michaels - that's certainly an option, but then I end up with disparity, whereby 2 children have lower loans to pay back, and 2 would have higher loans. It's certainly something I'll be looking into.  I also need to look into how pension income is considered for student loan purposes, as I'd be using that in lieu of paid employment.
Frankly, working on a short term contract for a couple of months is not a bad rhythm to get into at 55, and would pay well. One month's net would pay the accommodation for a year for one child.

jimi_man

Anonymous101 said:

michaels said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Kim1965 said:

Children are massively expensive. One through uni, one with only a year to go. The child still at uni was going to have a year in industry next year, then decided  against it. I was so pleased.

We have busted a gut to get our two through uni. I am amazed how support varies from parent to parent. Some people we know and seemingly more affluent, have given little support to their children. They have expected them to get through by working in addition to studying, to support themselves. 
 
 

I am expecting that the "official" regular costs dissipate once the children grow up. The plethora of activities / classes. The endless taxi duties. School fees.

The uni costs are a bit of a conundrum. The maintenance loan is tapered depending on parental income, such that ours get roughly £3,000 pa to live on. That means £1,000 a term to cover food, bills, books, social, travel etc.  £75 per week, annualised.
We make up the difference by paying for the accommodation, which has been typically £500pm for outside London. This seems to be the norm on earlier threads, and in discussions with neighbours in similar situations with children studying. 

London will be much more expensive - and two of ours look set to study there.

It's certainly a sobering thought, as I am keen to wind down well before they finish uni, and will therefore have to account for a large chunk of initial spend out of my pension if I stop between 55 and 60.

That might tip me back into the part time consulting gigs, to earn sufficient to cover these costs.

I don't think it's terribly fair, but since when has fiscal policy and tax been trying to be fair?

As for the more insidious conundrum - when will they actually grow up? And be financially independent? I rather suspect that is much further down the line, and impossible to predict or model financially.

I'm not complaining - far from it - but it's a real challenge for parents to face.

If you stop earning and spend from 'savings' such as ISAs while they are at uni then they will qualify for the full subsistence loan.

It's a fair point, if you are able to manipulate your income this is an option.

I'd still be very mindful that it is a loan and at the current method of charging and calculating the interest due (Inflation linked), its a very expensive loan.

At the moment I'm viewing financing University as a kind of upfront inheritance. Relieving my children of a 9% additional tax for a good period of their working lives.

Not necessarily. It's only a loan if you end up paying the full amount plus interest back. And while we all hope our children will be high earners, for most people they are unlikely to pay it all off. 

michaels

jimi_man said:

Anonymous101 said:

michaels said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Kim1965 said:

Children are massively expensive. One through uni, one with only a year to go. The child still at uni was going to have a year in industry next year, then decided  against it. I was so pleased.

We have busted a gut to get our two through uni. I am amazed how support varies from parent to parent. Some people we know and seemingly more affluent, have given little support to their children. They have expected them to get through by working in addition to studying, to support themselves. 
 
 

I am expecting that the "official" regular costs dissipate once the children grow up. The plethora of activities / classes. The endless taxi duties. School fees.

The uni costs are a bit of a conundrum. The maintenance loan is tapered depending on parental income, such that ours get roughly £3,000 pa to live on. That means £1,000 a term to cover food, bills, books, social, travel etc.  £75 per week, annualised.
We make up the difference by paying for the accommodation, which has been typically £500pm for outside London. This seems to be the norm on earlier threads, and in discussions with neighbours in similar situations with children studying. 

London will be much more expensive - and two of ours look set to study there.

It's certainly a sobering thought, as I am keen to wind down well before they finish uni, and will therefore have to account for a large chunk of initial spend out of my pension if I stop between 55 and 60.

That might tip me back into the part time consulting gigs, to earn sufficient to cover these costs.

I don't think it's terribly fair, but since when has fiscal policy and tax been trying to be fair?

As for the more insidious conundrum - when will they actually grow up? And be financially independent? I rather suspect that is much further down the line, and impossible to predict or model financially.

I'm not complaining - far from it - but it's a real challenge for parents to face.

If you stop earning and spend from 'savings' such as ISAs while they are at uni then they will qualify for the full subsistence loan.

It's a fair point, if you are able to manipulate your income this is an option.

I'd still be very mindful that it is a loan and at the current method of charging and calculating the interest due (Inflation linked), its a very expensive loan.

At the moment I'm viewing financing University as a kind of upfront inheritance. Relieving my children of a 9% additional tax for a good period of their working lives.

Not necessarily. It's only a loan if you end up paying the full amount plus interest back. And while we all hope our children will be high earners, for most people they are unlikely to pay it all off. 

It would also be good to think that if it is a loan the child might think about the value for money and what they spend it on...whoosh did anyone see that pig fly over?

It is of course very poor value for those who will pay it back as effectively they will pay a punitive interest rate to make up for all those who won't pay it back.  I can certainly see that if you forsee your child paying it back then it would make sense to give/lend them the money rather than them borrowing it from the govt.

anonmoose

Havent they changed it from next year and  lowered the threshold so that most people will pay most of it back?

anonmoose

I have just looked it up and the threshold is falling to £25k from just over £27k and repayment will be over 40yrs instead of 30yrs. Changes come in 2023.

The article said they expect just over 50% to pay off in full from 2023 up from 23% who currently do.

Kim1965

ex-pat_scot said:

Kim1965 said:

Children are massively expensive. One through uni, one with only a year to go. The child still at uni was going to have a year in industry next year, then decided  against it. I was so pleased.

We have busted a gut to get our two through uni. I am amazed how support varies from parent to parent. Some people we know and seemingly more affluent, have given little support to their children. They have expected them to get through by working in addition to studying, to support themselves. 
 
 

I am expecting that the "official" regular costs dissipate once the children grow up. The plethora of activities / classes. The endless taxi duties. School fees.

The uni costs are a bit of a conundrum. The maintenance loan is tapered depending on parental income, such that ours get roughly £3,000 pa to live on. That means £1,000 a term to cover food, bills, books, social, travel etc.  £75 per week, annualised.
We make up the difference by paying for the accommodation, which has been typically £500pm for outside London. This seems to be the norm on earlier threads, and in discussions with neighbours in similar situations with children studying. 

London will be much more expensive - and two of ours look set to study there.

It's certainly a sobering thought, as I am keen to wind down well before they finish uni, and will therefore have to account for a large chunk of initial spend out of my pension if I stop between 55 and 60.

That might tip me back into the part time consulting gigs, to earn sufficient to cover these costs.

I don't think it's terribly fair, but since when has fiscal policy and tax been trying to be fair?

As for the more insidious conundrum - when will they actually grow up? And be financially independent? I rather suspect that is much further down the line, and impossible to predict or model financially.

I'm not complaining - far from it - but it's a real challenge for parents to face.

I think you akmost have to have a conversation with them. My daughtet finushed uni 2 yrs ago, ive just stopped paying her mobile phone bill.
 She has more disposable income than me, she dies not need my suppirt financially.
 Likewise, until my lad starts work, hooefully next year, I cannit start to wind down to part time. Perhaos my fault fir having kids later in life. 

Anonymous101

jimi_man said:

Anonymous101 said:

michaels said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Kim1965 said:

Children are massively expensive. One through uni, one with only a year to go. The child still at uni was going to have a year in industry next year, then decided  against it. I was so pleased.

We have busted a gut to get our two through uni. I am amazed how support varies from parent to parent. Some people we know and seemingly more affluent, have given little support to their children. They have expected them to get through by working in addition to studying, to support themselves. 
 
 

I am expecting that the "official" regular costs dissipate once the children grow up. The plethora of activities / classes. The endless taxi duties. School fees.

The uni costs are a bit of a conundrum. The maintenance loan is tapered depending on parental income, such that ours get roughly £3,000 pa to live on. That means £1,000 a term to cover food, bills, books, social, travel etc.  £75 per week, annualised.
We make up the difference by paying for the accommodation, which has been typically £500pm for outside London. This seems to be the norm on earlier threads, and in discussions with neighbours in similar situations with children studying. 

London will be much more expensive - and two of ours look set to study there.

It's certainly a sobering thought, as I am keen to wind down well before they finish uni, and will therefore have to account for a large chunk of initial spend out of my pension if I stop between 55 and 60.

That might tip me back into the part time consulting gigs, to earn sufficient to cover these costs.

I don't think it's terribly fair, but since when has fiscal policy and tax been trying to be fair?

As for the more insidious conundrum - when will they actually grow up? And be financially independent? I rather suspect that is much further down the line, and impossible to predict or model financially.

I'm not complaining - far from it - but it's a real challenge for parents to face.

If you stop earning and spend from 'savings' such as ISAs while they are at uni then they will qualify for the full subsistence loan.

It's a fair point, if you are able to manipulate your income this is an option.

I'd still be very mindful that it is a loan and at the current method of charging and calculating the interest due (Inflation linked), its a very expensive loan.

At the moment I'm viewing financing University as a kind of upfront inheritance. Relieving my children of a 9% additional tax for a good period of their working lives.

Not necessarily. It's only a loan if you end up paying the full amount plus interest back. And while we all hope our children will be high earners, for most people they are unlikely to pay it all off. 

It’s either a loan or a tax.

Depending on the exact income that could be making repayments for decades without ever making progress on the capital.

Anonymous101

anonmoose said:

I have just looked it up and the threshold is falling to £25k from just over £27k and repayment will be over 40yrs instead of 30yrs. Changes come in 2023.

The article said they expect just over 50% to pay off in full from 2023 up from 23% who currently do.

Also worth noting the interest rates charged linked to inflation and that charges start from the moment the loan if provided not from graduation or start of repayment.