My Children Will Go To School For Free

I’m going to pay into a savings account every day for 21 years starting at the time each of my children is conceived. The cost will be approximately $13 per day, assuming a fairly good interest rate on 5 year CDs. This will mean investing approximately $96,000 in for each child’s future with an additional $24,000 in interest, allowing my children to go to any school they want for free, for 4 years when the total cost of school is $30,000 or less. Put simply: over 21 years paying only $13 per day, I will have $120,000 saved for my child.

Now, many of you may be saying that my child should pay for school in order to instill that financial responsibility. After all, I have help for my schooling, but I have to pay for a certain amount of it as well. The thing is I am paying through loans, at least for my first two years. Therein lays the problem. Teaching financial responsibility is incredibly hard to do when you’re telling your child that they should not take out loans or use credit cards under any circumstances, yet they need to take out loans because they “have” to go to school. (The necessity of a degree is a whole different topic) In order to remedy this, I’m going to pay for their education. I’ll pay tuition, room and board, and any EDUCATIONAL fees (technology, university fees, etc.). They, of course, will be paying to go out to eat or party or whatever else they may do and, if they can’t afford it, they better reevaluate their lifestyle or get a job.

Financial responsibility is a whole-life concept that should be taught at a young age. In a speech today on campus, Adam Carroll told a story about a father-daughter day in which they were about to go out and collect some “passive income” – his 5-year-old’s words. Why isn’t everyone taught solid financial planning and principles when they’re five years old? Because our society is one that likes to live a large lifestyle without large income and without large savings. Again in Adam’s words, “Normal equals BROKE.” To be in debt, to live a large lifestyle and have no savings is the norm in our society. According to CNN Money, 25% of people have saved LESS THAN $10,000 for retirement. What are they thinking?

They’re thinking exactly what they’ve been taught. Society has taught them to spend and live this way. This is why we need formal education reform which includes things like financial responsibility and intelligence. That’s why my children will be paying for their own cars and cell phones. They’ll pay to go out to eat, to buy movies or music, to hang out with friends. In fact, my kids will be paying for everything that my wife and I deem not to be a necessity. Education is a necessity. That’s why my children will go to school for free. And I’m not the least bit worried about it.