College Fund

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Leesider32

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212
Hey all,

I have around €5k saved for my son’s college if he goes. He’s only 5 so have plenty of time to save up for it but at the moment it is sitting in a regular savings account with a 2% interest rate and I’m wondering what options I should be looking at to get a higher return and the ability to add €150 or so a month?
 
Agree with @Premos. And in such circumstances a Money Makeover is generally a good idea.

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@Premos in the middle of doing that, and it is made up of topping up my pension contribution to 25%, a recent investment in foreign property, €20k demand deposit at 2% for easy access, and then around an extra €20k I could invest which includes college fund money. So I suppose really it is putting that €20k somewhere with decent returns and that I can add to monthly.
 
A note on the college fund plan: needs also largely depends on your level of income and if your child might be able to commute or not to university. University going children are expensive but the need for funding are very different if they live at home. The costs might be absorbed by the yearly income. That's more difficult if they live away from home. I worried a lot about funding these years when my children were small. However our incomes have increased and the current student live at home. It's expensive but we don't really feel it. I estimate the cost at about 1k months in all but my secondary school child probably also cost about 750. While he doesn't work during school time, he did during the summer so cover clothes, small social life, phone, petrol...
 
Plus the SUSI reckonable income levels for different classes of grant are arguably quite generous so they may qualify for some funding. E.g.:

Irish Times - "[SUSI] Grants extended to students with household incomes of up to €115K"

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2025/04/03/grants-extended-to-students-with-household-incomes-of-up-to-115000/ (Not paywalled for me at the moment...) https://www.susi.ie/news/susi-is-now-open-for-new-applications-for-academic-year-202526/
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Hopefully he will go to college in Cork so could commute but of course that’s not a given. Reading back over all of the other threads (thanks for pointing me to those) it seems like paying down the mortgage is the best route to go but the balance is trying to have the money available for when he goes to college.

To have rid of the mortgage payments by the time he goes to college is a stretch but my mortgage is with PTSB so should see how they work the extra payments and mortgage holidays etc.

The only other thing to box off is I use expenses to save towards a new car but again where should this money go.
 
Leesider32 said:
To have rid of the mortgage payments by the time he goes to college is a stretch but my mortgage is with PTSB so should see how they work the extra payments and mortgage holidays etc.
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This was not planned for us but we got rid of the mortgage in 2023 and he started university in 2024. So monthly outgoings did not increase and it's a real help.
 
Very nice position to be in. I suppose the other thing I have to factor in is my fixed rate on my mortgage is up in 2.5 years and I don’t think I will be getting as good a rate as my current one which is 2.35%.
 
Leesider32 said:
The only other thing to box off is I use expenses to save towards a new car
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What does this mean?
Leesider32 said:
but again where should this money go.
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If you are saving money to buy something in the short term then almost certainly deposits are your only option.

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Savings Best Buys: There are 3 savings best buy threads on AskAboutMoney that are updated frequently. Instant Access and Notice Accounts - Lump sum variable rate savings. Fixed Term Deposits - Fixed Lump Sum Term Deposits from a few months to a few years. Regular Savings - Smaller sum...
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But, as before, it's difficult to give useful feedback/suggestions without the full financial picture that a Money Makeover would provide.
 
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