According to a study I just read, 61% of people would! Haha… At least when it comes to college tuition *for their kids* :)
And depending on how much we’re talking about here ($20,000? $40,000?) I’d probably consider it too. It’s kinda like the opposite of prostitution – getting paid to NOT have sex – hah!
There were some other interesting stats in this survey by U-Nest too (an app where you can create, and manage, a 529 College Savings Plan for your kids super easily):
“Parents prioritize saving for their children over saving for retirement, paying off a mortgage, taking a vacation, and paying off their own student debt.”
As a father I can 100% relate to this, but as a financial “professional” my job is to remind people it’s important to look after yourself too so you can help your loved ones even MORE over time! Similar to the whole “put your mask on first and then put others’ on” airplane rule. Since after all, you’re of much more help to people when you’re alive than when you’re not! (Although saving for retirement/college is not nearly as drastic, haha…)
“While 75 percent of parents believe a debt-free college education will increase their kid’s chances for success in life, nearly 40 percent aren’t saving anything for their kids’ education.”
We’re all guilty of not doing things we know is in our best interest :( There’s a stash of Halloween candy right across from me in this room right now and I very much should put it into the trash but cannot!!! And will in fact go and eat some of it right now because CHOCOLATE!!
“Of the parents who are saving for their child’s education, the majority are using a checking or savings account, and only 18 percent are using a tax-free 529 college savings plan.”
It’s hard to hate on savings because that’s the toughest part of the whole equation, but yes – there are other ways to put that money harder at work so there’s *more of it* later for sure (and at least conserved vs losing $$$ due to inflation!).
Similar to U-Nest, I’m also a fan of 529s and use them for all 3 of my boys, though I prefer going through our state’s plan in order to snag some yummy tax benefits on top of the compounding growth over time. You’d have to check with your state to see if they offer it, but similar to retirement the more you can put you stash in *investments* the more you’ll have later when it’s time to start pulling from it…
“All of this is leading to parents willing to sacrifice their own needs, with over 60 percent stating they would give up sex for one year in exchange for one year of of free college tuition for their kids.”
(I totally wish I could be at the brainstorming sessions for these surveys btw… “Hey – how can we somehow include something about SEX in this?? You know it’ll go viral if we do! And at the very least J. Money will cover it ‘cuz he can never turn down anything to do with sex and money!!!” Haha… All very much true! This blog ain’t called BudgetsAreBoring.com, is it? ;))
I will say though that as much as this stat here on college savings is good, what would be even MORE interesting would be to see how many people could give up sex to have a full year’s worth of STUDENT LOAN DEBT paid off! Since that’s much more of an urgency these days vs something so far off in the future… (though still of course intertwined).
I was going to wait and see what you’d chime in here, but my curiosity got the better of me yesterday and I decided to do my own official poll through Twitter ;)
Here are the results so far (click the picture to see all the comments, haha…)
Surprisingly, the numbers were flopped from what I thought they’d be – especially for a group of finance people!
So either there were lots of people taking the poll without *any* student loan debt at all, OR, y’all are much better about enjoying your lives than I give you credit for ;) And well done in either case!
Here’s a nifty infographic that highlights many of these stats above, and more, if you want to please your eyeballs: The College Savings Crisis: How Parents Feel, Think, And Save. And then you can learn more about U-Nest here too if interested: u-nest.com
I’m not getting paid to share any of this btw, I’m just a sucker for all the juicy press releases being dropped right now! But hopefully you’re catching the nuggets lightly scattered throughout?! ;)
XOXO,
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Without hesitation!
Haha… I’ll tell the magical Debt Fairy for you!
Well, semi-failure – U-Nest is not yet available on android, and I could not see how to use it on the comp browser. it IS early in the day, however, and I could be missing something. and, I didn’t see that poll, or I would also have been a yes I would.
Ahhhh yeah, I see there’s a waiting list for Android currently…
https://u-nest.com/coming-soon/
The money nerd in me wanted to run a calculation. Like let’s say you have sex twice a week and there are 52 weeks in a year. If you divide $40,000 by 104 the total comes to nearly $385. What if someone paid you $385 to not have sex? That’s a decent chunk of change. Of course if you have sex more frequently the financial payoff wouldn’t be so good. If you make out like rabbits that number dwindles. Ha!
$385 would def. be worth skipping a few times! Haha… if only you could pick and choose when to opt out throughout the year :) (“Hey honey – you in the mood?? No? Oh okay me neither *Ca-ching!*”)
Sounds a little bit like immediate versus delayed gratification. Have sex “now” and have a child only to give up sex “later” to cover the college expenses of that child. Or avoid having sex “now” to avoid the expense altogether and have all the sex you want “later”.
Haha… it def. changes things if “having sex this year” equals “a new child is on its way!”
Or, you could just get married and have two or three kids Then you get to give up sex and keep the student loan debt! :)
Heyo!
well, that’s only about 7 sex sessions for my wife/me, so HELL YEAH. lol kidding
Even if it was with myself? HAHAHAHA… That would be a miserable year, I think I’d rather just save that money and go without a new car or TV or something equally as pointless.
Could you go a year without reading this blog for a chunk of change? :)
Well that’s seems like a devil’s advocate because if I paid attention to the stuff I read in this blog than I should have no choice but to abstain.
Did I pass the test?
Sure, haha… but you owe me a beer.
U-Nest just sent me the same press release – interesting! I’m not sure how I would answer that question, especially because I didn’t have student loans to begin with. I’d like to say that I wouldn’t give up the “bed” time, but who knows…if the loan’s interest rate was high enough…
:)
So you’re saying it might be a *hard* decision? ;)
The reason the Wife and I chose not use 529 plan was because it could only be used for college expenses. College isn’t for everyone so if our children decided to not go to college we could either keep it or let them use it depending on what they are planning on doing after high school. Don’t think I could give it to them to take a leap year and go vacationing around the world.. I mean gaining life experience :). I think our state WI allows for transferring to another child or college student but just having it in savings saves the headache the tax benefit wasn’t worth it to us.
Yeah, hard to go wrong with savings too. Though you’re probably going to have to save *more of it* compared to investing it somewhere… What about opening up a brokerage or other avenue to help it compound more vs savings?
J., the title of this post essentially describes my first couple years at the U.S. Naval Academy…
… and, as you may know, all that time at sea.
I’ve spent the rest of my life catching up!
I bet you have, you dirty dog :)
Nah, that’s a strong pass for me! Lol I’ll just hope my son gets a scholarship.
I’d pay someone’s tuition if I could have sex for a year! Not sure if that moves me into Sugar Daddy status, but would be so tempting!
Wouldn’t be too far off from another post we’ve shared before here!
https://budgetsaresexy.com/financial-confessional-i-used-to-hire-escorts/
A year? A whole year!?!? Sorry kids, ain’t gonna happen. Find some scholarships. Fortunately all three of mine did and went for free!
You raised smart kids! :)
Been loving your blog recently btw – good stuff.
Pfft–easy peasy! I don’t want to have sex with anyone currently alive on the planet. I’d rather enjoy a good book or a funny movie than have sex. It would be no challenge at all.
Ask me to give up chocolate for a year and that could be a problem.
I’m hoping to very slowly finish up my English degree over the next five years, so my asexual tendencies could come in handy!
Haha…. well i’d love to watch a movie or enjoy a good book with you if our paths ever cross :) Just make sure to not tell my wife!
This is so sexist. Just like “The Contest” episode from Seinfeld. It’s much harder for men…
So you’re a no, then? ;)
I think I’m owed the tuition from my freshman year. Who do I contact about that? :)
“Sorry, kids. I’m getting laid and you’re going to trade school”.
Haha…
All you need to do is support Ocasia-Cortez and the amazing Green New Deal and you will have free college education, no giving up sex :)
But seriously I really hope you and my other friends south of our Canuck border are embracing many of the social programs we hold dear up here. The party I support is also striving for free post-secondary education as well and just achieved the first step. In BC the new law just passed that there will no longer be interest charged on student loans. A first step in removing the financial hardships and barriers to our education system. Capitalism and the economy will benefit with a little bit of happy democratic socialism sprinkled in :)
Oh wowww – good for you guys!!! I can’t even start thinking about our politics here or else I’ll vomit all over my keyboard before I get my work done today, haha… But I agree it’s a hot mess in our hood over here! Just waiting for that streak of good news to hit!
It would be a very, very stressful year haha. My answer is no. Sorry kids