Twins and University

[Decoratingdilema]

First thing to say is yes I am being totally unreasonable to be worrying about this now.

I have twin girls who are 6. I saw a Martin Lewis article the other day where he talked about maintenance loans for universities. The basic jist of it was that if you had a joint household imcome of £25k then you’d get the full loan.

our joint income is about £85k so I’m not sure how much, if any they’d be entitled to. We’d have to cover rent, food, books etc. It’s got me on a spiral of worrying about how we’d afford this if both of them decided that university was the path that they’d want to take.

Should we be saving now just in case his happens?

honestly this is not a stealth boast, I’m genuinely fearful of planning and being able to afford this should they both want to go.

Then there’s the driving lessons at the same time

I know this is on AIBU but if there is any other twin parents who could share their experience that would be great

so

YANBU - it’s never too early to plan

YABU - they’re 6 get a grip 😂

I actually think you're being sensible to consider saving now. We have dd starting her second year of uni and it's cost us considerably more then we thought it would. Admittedly this is totally our fault for not researching and preparing beforehand. We will definitely make sure we are much better prepared for ds (much younger) for if he decides to go.

That cuts the minimum loan even further.

It also makes getting a decent education a matter of potluck (or money. The well off will always have options). Jane Smith’s parents happen to live right next to a university that’s brilliant for her chosen course. Go Jane! Bob Brown’s parents live in a rural area where the closest university that offers his chosen course is 4 hours away. Sorry, Bob, looks like you can’t follow the career path you want.

There are several professions (law for example) where going to a ‘good’ university is essential to be a high flyer. The ‘go where you live’ argument means the well off children or those lucky enough to be able to commute will be the ones with the career opportunities. Joe off the council estate apparently needs to know his place and go to the local university no matter how unsuitable the courses.

A twin mum tip- when applying, we knew they wanted very different subjects, but could possibly have ended up at the same university. Our girls decided to discuss their possible choices, but ultimately, didn’t tell each other their first and second choices until confirmed as their first choice and insurance. In the end, they went to different unis for the first year, which was great, but then DD3 ended up moving and picked DD4s choice, which she had considered. Our two are very close, and I do think they should have had two separate university experiences, but I’m ultimately glad they were happy, and at least had a year apart, and they didn’t live together. All the fun to come! Plus, dividing up a very shared wardrobe for two 18yo girls was an experience few get the privilege of…

They are now, but who knows what might happen in five years, let alone 13 years when OP's children are of university age.

I just think you can't live your life saving for things that may never happen, especially when you'd be doing so at the expense of your children doing certain things in the present.

Also, when most parents talk about activities, they mean things like Brownies or dance or football, not the ski trips and French trips you seem to be referring to.

I’m pretty sure the chances of parental contributions not being required in the future is minimal. If anything, things may well go the other way with children of higher income parents not getting any loan and parents being expected to fund the lot.

Absolutely start saving now , we’ve saved all our child benefit from the day they were born and it will just be enough to cover them for Universal- they will get minimum loan and it will not even cover their rent for the year - we would have been financially screwed if we hadn’t done this - daughter’s rent is £150 a week in second year!

Kids can get jobs and work to support themselves through uni. Saving is helpful but not all can do this.

You're missing my point - which is that most people aren't going to plan their savings today around something that may not even be an issue in 15 years time.

It's all very middle class privilege.

Of currently 4600 a year, which if you are lucky will pay half the rental cost for halls

Saving for things that will never happen? Retirement ? Old age ? I’m quite sure those are a certainty unless of course you die!

If your children will not get the full loan then you should do what you can to save what you can as soon as you can.
Your future self will thank you for it. I don’t understand arguing with someone who is suggesting saving for university. Is it because you’re not saving and you don’t want others to save either- hoping that eventually university education will be free again. It will never be free again. Not at the rate that young people go to university nowadays. If anything it will get more and more expensive. But sure you crack on. Don’t save for them! It’s your decision.

Sensible parents will do exactly that. They will plan their savings around the possibility that their children will attend university.

Save - but it’s not an emergency.

If the system stays the same they will get min loan (about £4.5k or £6.5k in London) and parents are supposed to top up to the max.

A “normal” 3 year course, not in London, will cost you in the region of £30k for both for all 3 years. You have 12 years, plus the years they are actually there when their other expenses decrease (you won’t be buying clothes or paying for term time food or activities/hobbies).

£100/month over 12 years would give close to £20k with compound interest. Don’t put it in their names. My dc are at the age where some of their peers have been handed £1000s from the government trust funds. The majority of it has been spend in holidays, cars, clothes and general enjoyment.

Getting a job in a university town with no experience is hard work. Employers know you want to go home for Christmas and will probably disappear the next summer. 6th formers are often more attractive in that sense. It’s savvy to get a job the summer after y11 with a big employer such as a chain restaurant/takeaway or a supermarket. Lots let you transfer between stores and the ones that don’t may offer a seasonal contract in 2 locations (dd has a McDonald’s contract term time in her uni town and holidays in our home town). Don’t assume they can go off to university in late September after A-levels and find lots of vacancies.

Don’t panic. I have 2 on min loan, haven’t saved anywhere near as much as I should and am managing on a lower income than you.

Saving for things that will never happen? Retirement ? Old age ? I’m quite sure those are a certainty unless of course you die!

But you'd be saving for those for your own sake, not for your children's - unless we're going down the road of parents having to fund their children's retirements now?

I don't have children to save for, btw, I just don't understand this mentality that parents now have to fund their children well into their twenties, including paying for weddings and housing deposits in many cases.

As I said, middle class privilege.

Well, yes, we are talking about people with higher incomes whose children will get a minimal amount. Discussion of how reasonably well earning middle class parents should assist their children does tend to result in fairly middle class solutions. I’m not sure why you’d expect anything else?

Also, most people with a reasonable income expect to plan their finances long term with a view to retirement, paying off the mortgage etc. It’s just being suggested that they add university fees to their long term planning.

Edited to say: And most people do make at least limited long term financial plans unless they are very badly off (even if that plan is not to save because of the effect on means tested benefits). I assume you aren’t doing so by what you’ve said but frantically trying to convince yourself no one else is doing do either really isn’t helpful.

I guess I just find it strange that parents are expected to fund everything these days - from driving lessons, to university, to house deposits and more.

I'm a mum of twins and it isn't really a twin problem as parents with 2/3 siblings may also have kids who all want to go uni. It just feels that way as the cost is double at one time but for other parents it's a continual cost which can stretch 5-10 years. My twins like to do alot of clubs together and sometimes I think oh I'm always paying double before I realise they are paying other clubs for other siblings.

The vast majority of students work whilst at university to supplement the maintenance loan. I would say a large percentage also take gap years to save up money too.
We will have twins plus a sibling at uni at the same time (twins and sibling are in consecutive school years).
We have saved a little and will give them what we can but also expect them to work and save up during gap years to pay for their time at uni.
Unless parents are mega rich, most students need to help with topping up the loans themselves.

You're not alone OP, I have 5 year old twins and about the same household income and have the same worries, I've already started saving!

These things are very different. A mortgage company won’t refuse to lend money based on the buyer’s parents’ income. The Student Loan company will absolutely refuse to lend money based on the student’s parents’ income leaving the student with no way to go to university unless the parents contribute.

Can you really not see the difference?

*I’m not touching driving lessons since whether they are necessary or not is massively dependant on location.

Rather than saving, I would actually concentrate on trying to pay off your mortgage (if you have one) by the time they might start uni. And maybe think about increasing your salaries if that’s practical.

I don’t have twins but I’ve had two at uni together several times over the past decade. We were in a position to be able to afford to pay their rent and they had the minimum maintenance loan to cover everything else. They also worked in the holidays. Rent for two has worked out at around £1000 per month. If you are not paying a mortgage is that an affordable amount for you @Decoratingdilema

And this is not a stealth boast. I’m just trying to show how much might be needed with a minimum loan.

Of course it is a twin problem, other siblings don't go to uni at exactly the same time so you can spread the costs 🙄

if you can afford to put a bit of money away it makes sense to save a stocks and shares ISA for each of your children with a low fee service such as Vanguard. You can track major share indices such as FTSE or US equities so you don’t need to be an expert to benefit from the general pattern of share growth over the next decade.

Absolutely but if it costs £15,000 a year to live (random figure), it’s a lot easier to earn £4,500 a year (max loan) rather than £10,500 (minimum loan)

@CandidHedgehog of course I can see the difference but I guess I just don't feel that parents should be responsible for forking out for 3/4 years of education as a result of their incomes.

I went to university when incomes were taken into consideration and we all just got jobs if our loan didn't cover all our expenses. I barely knew anyone whose parents funded them.