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It’s hard to find anything close to the pride and joy having kids can bring you. And one of the best gifts we can give them is a solid education. That means reading to them when they’re toddlers, helping them with homework, and paving the way to college.

It’s a good idea to begin putting a college plan in place as soon as you can.

As the end of high school nears, not only are grades and school involvement important, but here comes the potential expense of entry into college. Waiting until then to look at the cost of attendance could be jaw-dropping.

Whether you plan to foot the whole bill or cover just a portion, you may want to start thinking about how much you can save monthly to hit your target.

Considering the Future Costs

As you think about saving for college, consider the potential cost of when your child will actually attend rather than focus on what it costs now.

There’s the matter of tuition and fees, usually reported as one figure. The averages for the 2020-2021 academic year, according to CollegeData:

•  $10,560 at public colleges (for in-state residents)
•  $27,020 at public colleges (for out-of-state residents)
•  $37,650 at private colleges

“Cost of attendance” for a year includes that figure and, usually, room and board, books, supplies, transportation, and personal expenses. For the 2020-2021 academic year, CollegeData put the average cost of room and board alone at:

•  $11,620 at public colleges
•  $13,120 at private colleges

Living and eating at Mom and Dad’s obviously will reduce those costs.

The average price of books and supplies for students at both public and private colleges came to $1,240.

Now let’s say you want to estimate what college costs might be years later, when your child sets off for college. Assuming 15 years until your child starts as a freshman and a 5% increase in costs per year, here’s the estimate per year 15 years down the road for tuition, fees, room, and board.

•  Cost today at a four-year public college, in-state rate: $22,180
•  In 15 years: $46,111

•  Cost today at a four-year public college, out-of-state rate: $38,640
•  In 15 years: $80,330

•  Cost today at a private four-year school (average): $50,770
•  In 15 years: $105,547

Keep in mind that most college students take more than four years to get a bachelor’s degree. In fact, most take five or six years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Those are big numbers, but every student who meets eligibility requirements can get some type of federal student aid, says the Federal Student Aid office. And then there’s merit aid, or merit scholarships, which are based on academic achievement or other talents or skills. Merit-based aid does not have to be paid back.

College Savings Vehicles to Consider

There are several options and accounts to help you with saving for your child’s college education. Some have tax benefits and others offer flexibility, should your child decide to forgo college, so you should explore the plan that best fits your specific needs.

Ways to save for college include:

•  A 529 plan, which breaks down into two categories: educational savings plans and prepaid tuition plans.
•  Coverdell Education Savings Account
•  UGMA/UTMA accounts

The difficult part in deciding when to start saving for college isn’t always as simple as picking out a savings plan. It might be less about “when” and more about “how”—finding room in your budget to meet education expenses and all your other financial goals.

Balancing College Savings With Retirement Savings

If you’re like many young parents, you may be wondering how to juggle college savings with all of your other expenses, including debts and retirement contributions. Drawing up a savings plan that doesn’t jeopardize your retirement planning or send your household finances into a nosedive is a great place to start.

Scholarships and student loans may be accessible to help pay for your child’s education, but the same cannot be said for your retirement nest egg. You would do well to consider how long you’ll need money in retirement and how that compares with four to six years toward a bachelor’s degree.

To get a better handle on how much money you will need to retire, the AARP advises asking four key questions : How much will you spend? How much will you earn on your savings? How long will you live? How much can you withdraw from savings each year?

One study found that the combined income and savings of parents and students makes up for nearly half (47%) of the funding families use to cover the entire cost of school. It also found that parents pay 10% of the total amount due by borrowing, and that students cover 14% with student loans and other debt-forming sources.

Parents deciding when to start saving for college might not want to think of it as an I-must-pay-for-it-all prospect. If you’re still stumped on how to balance both goals, it’s OK. At the end of 2019, before the financial repercussions of COVID-19, many non-retirees were struggling to save, the Federal Reserve found.

These eight tips for finding “hidden” money could help you get started thinking about funding retirement and college at the same time.

As college enrollment time gets closer, you could have a family discussion on how much student loan debt you and your child are willing to take on, if necessary.

💡 Recommended: Understanding the Different Retirement Plans

What If I Still Have Student Loan Debt?

Many parents who wonder when to start saving for their child’s college may also be asking how they can reduce their own college debt. U.S. student loan debt has ballooned to $1.71 trillion, the Fed reported. That’s an average of $37,700 in loans each for 45 million Americans.

If you find yourself with student loan debt while also saving for your child’s college education, there are at least four options that might help you to free up more money:

•  Federal student loan consolidation
•  Federal student loan forgiveness
•  Federal income-driven repayment plans
•  Refinancing private and/or federal student loans through a private lender

With student loan refinancing, depending on your credit history and income, you could qualify for a lower rate than the one you currently have on your student loans.

This could mean savings over the life of the loan, depending on the repayment term you select. But know that if you refinance federal student loans, you’ll lose out on any repayment plans or protections offered by the federal government, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans.

The Takeaway

When to start saving for a child’s college education? The sooner, the better. First, though, it’s best to make sure you are on steady financial footing, and then, if possible, find money here and there to save for your children’s college.

If you happen to still have student loans of your own, you may want to look at the flexible terms and fixed or variable rates SoFi offers to refinance student loans into one new loan with one monthly payment. There are no application or origination fees, and checking your rate takes two minutes.

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Homeschooling has long been an option for parents looking to educate their children outside the traditional bounds of public and private schools. The movement gained momentum in the 1970s, when educational theorist John Holt argued that formal schools placed too much emphasis on rote learning.

Since then the number of homeschooled children has grown to 2.5 million, about 3% to 4% of the population of school-aged children. And it looks as if those numbers will continue to grow by an estimated 2% to 8% each year.

COVID-19 has turned traditional schooling on its head and increased interest in homeschooling. Many formal institutions have decided to switch to online learning to avoid the risk of spreading the virus through in-person instruction. As a result, more parents are wondering whether homeschooling is a good option for them.

While homeschooling methods can offer benefits, there are some downsides to consider as well. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of homeschooling that might help parents decide whether it’s the right path for them.

The Pros of Homeschooling

Creating a Unique Curriculum

Parents who wish to homeschool their kids have a lot of flexibility when it comes to the direction of their child’s learning. Depending on their child’s needs and interests, parents might choose to spend more time teaching their kids musical instruments, developing foreign language skills, or going on educational field trips.

Homeschooling can be a personalized curriculum that works best for a particular child, rather than trying to make that child fit into the confines of a pre-existing curriculum.

That said, rules for what a homeschool curriculum must cover vary by state, and states may require annual assessments to make sure children are on track.

Tailoring the Child’s Education to Their Needs

The traditional school day and curriculum functions on a relatively strict schedule. Each subject tends to be given the same amount of time. And teachers must move at a certain pace in order to make sure they cover everything the curriculum requires.

This one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t necessarily work for all learners. For example, while a child may be a whiz at math, they may need extra time learning to read.

Parents of homeschoolers can adjust schedules to make sure that kids are spending enough time on the subjects in which they need the most help, while avoiding lingering too long on subjects that come easily.

Some kids may have challenges learning in a traditional classroom setting with 20 other kids and multiple distractions. Maybe a child works best with long blocks of uninterrupted study, or maybe they work best in shorter blocks of time with short bursts of physical activity outside in between tasks.

Parents may learn that some subjects are best taught at certain times of day. For instance, maybe a child is most focused in the morning, making it a good time to cover more challenging subjects, saving easier tasks for the afternoon.

Cost Saving

Homeschooling may be a good option for parents who are dissatisfied with their local public schools but don’t want to pay for private school. On a moderate budget, homeschooling could cost $300 to $500 per child each year. That figure assumes that parents are taking some money saving measures, such as saving money on school supplies, buying used textbooks, renting or borrowing curricula, and leaning on the public library as a resource. But it also assumes they’ll be spending on a few extras like tutors as needed and extracurriculars like art classes.

On the other hand, the average private school tuition is more than $11,000 per year. Parents who can devote their time to teaching their kids at home have the opportunity to save a lot of money, especially if they are teaching multiple children at the same time.

The Cons of Homeschooling

Increased Workload

While there are plenty of benefits, it’s also important to weigh some factors that could be considered disadvantages of homeschooling. Chief among these is the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to homeschool a child.

In many ways, homeschooling is a full-time job, requiring careful planning each day to make sure kids are covering the necessary ground.

Depending on where parents live, adding the extracurriculars that can make sure a child has a well-rounded education can be difficult. Living in a rural area may make it difficult to find extracurricular classes outside the home or make frequent visits to a museum or experience other cultural activities in person.

Social Constraints

Traditional schools have a built-in social structure. Kids are gathered into one class and learn to interact with each other and work together. Some parents may fear their children won’t learn proper socialization if they are homeschooled.

While homeschoolers don’t necessarily have the same opportunities to socialize, there are still plenty of ways for parents to make sure their children are making friends and interacting with peers.

For example, parents may consider homeschooling co-ops, groups of families of homeschoolers that come together to go on field trips, work on life skills or do extracurriculars that traditional schools might offer, and homeschoolers might otherwise miss.

Opportunity Costs

Not only will parents be paying out-of-pocket for costs associated with homeschooling, there are also opportunity costs—the loss of a potential gain when choosing one alternative over another—to consider.

A parent who stays home to teach a child is usually not spending that time at work earning a salary. For many parents, this is a worthy sacrifice to ensure their child gets the education they need. But parents should consider opportunity cost when deciding whether homeschooling is an affordable option.

Researching Homeschooling Options

There are a wide variety of homeschooling options and resources available to parents, from fully developed private, online homeschool curricula to web-based public schools that allow students to follow a public school curriculum at home.

Some school districts may even allow kids to go to school part-time while completing some of their schoolwork at home, a compromise that some parents might feel is the best of both worlds.

When selecting a curriculum, look for the best options that meet you and your children’s needs, making sure that it aligns with the legal guidelines for your state and will meet your state’s evaluation standards.

Preparing for the School Year

Whether you choose to homeschool or stick with a traditional school setting, students will still need school supplies. Homeschoolers’ lists may look different than those from your neighborhood school, but looking for back-to-school sales will typically save parents money on these supplies.

Using a bank account like SoFi Checking and Savings® can be a great way to spend on back-to-school supplies—while saving and earning.

For parents who want to save ahead of time for school supplies, setting up a checking and savings account can be a good way to make sure the funds are there when they’re needed.

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