It’s “Back To School” season!
My wife is a Kindergarten teacher and I am a numbers/planning geek. It’s inevitable, every year I find myself entertaining my curiosity and projecting future college costs for the incoming kindergarten class (that’s what everyone thinks about in their spare time, right?).
So…what will college cost for the Class of 2031?
To start, the average In-State Tuition & Fees for a Public Four-Year Institution is currently $9,970/year (or $39,880 for four years). If college costs continue to increase at its current average of 5% per year, the total four-year college price tag for the Class of 2031 will eventually double to $81,030 (or $55,676 in today’s dollars).
Either way you look at it, in future dollars or today’s dollars, those are sobering numbers. Will the rate of tuition increase ever slow down? I’m inclined to think it has to at some point, but predicting when is impossible. Will the cost of a college education discourage the pursuit of a college education? Not likely…but it may require better planning and more conversations about matching expected college costs/debt to expected post-graduate income.
With that, here are the stories that caught my eye this week:
MONEY: Some Thoughts on Investing in Real Estate (A Wealth of Common Sense)
Investing in real estate is not for everyone and, as with any investment, it carries risk. It’s important to know what those risks are and if you’re willing to accept those risks. The author poses questions you should ask yourself before attempting to enter the real estate investment world.
LIFE: This Is About the Thing You Want to Do Most but Won’t Talk About (NY Times)
You have it. I have it. We all have it, but many of us are afraid to talk about it. Some clients freely talk about it, and yet others (mostly us men) get close to talking about the “thing”, only to retract and revert to the boilerplate goal discussions. Talk about it. Or write about it. Just do something to acknowledge it and give it a chance to grow.
KENTUCKY PENSIONS:
Kentucky Supreme Court to hear pension reform lawsuit in September (Pensions & Investments)
Kentucky Teachers’ Pension Calculator (Pivot Point Wealth)