The cost of college is increasing faster than inflation. How do you know if you are saving enough money for college? We have a new college cost calculator that will help you determine the cost of college in the future and also tell you exactly how much money you should be saving for college.

When we had our first child many things changed. I found myself with a lot more responsibility. I was now responsible for the financial well being of another person. Along with buying life insurance, and drafting a will, saving for college became a hot topic in our household.

Honestly, I had been putting it off for as long as possible. When we met with our financial planner right, she ran some numbers through college cost estimator and it really opened our eyes. Even a public university in our relatively inexpensive state was going to cost a king’s ransom.

Not only did we consider the enormous cost of college, but we also contemplated whether we should even pay for college in the first place! Yes, I know this idea sounds like blasphemy, but my wife and I both paid for most of our college ourselves. We both know people whose parents paid for their school. A lot of these kids didn’t make it through school and could have cared less. They were on economic outpatient care.

So while we contemplated whether we should pay for school, I built my own college cost and savings calculator. There are some online already but most that I found didn’t seem very easy to use. I wanted one that reflected real life. What if he takes five years to graduate (like yours truly) or what if he goes to trade school or grad school?

So my college cost calculator let’s you enter the current cost of college, your current savings amount (if any) and you estimated return on your investments. It also has some reasonable default information if you aren’t sure. This calculator shows the results over a range of years to you can compare how much you have to save each month based on how many years of college you expect your child to attend. The calculator also has a nice chart showing you the increase in college costs over the years.

I’d appreciate any feedback on the college savings and cost calculator. Go ahead a leave a comment if you see anything that could be improved.

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