Invest plans

[palciparum]

I have $200K for child's college in next 5 years. 200K does not cover cost of 4 years undergrad/lodging/boarding from what I have been told.

It appears 5 years may not be long enough time to put in 529 plan. Too late now I guess. I live in state with no state income tax.

I have invested in stocks that motley fool recommends but there are 2 stock recommendations every month (I am not even considering 5 best buys). One runs out of money eventually and can not buy all the stocks. I have some investment in Large cap growth funds.

How should I invest this 200K? Any recommendations? I can choose 25 stocks with 10K each. Which stocks to choose and how to choose?
If market reruns are better, than take student loans. Keep money longer in market and later repay student loans using that money.

Or should I choose a financial advisor - don't know how expensive they can be?

[xraygoggles]

You want your kid's college fund to hinge on random stocks from a newsletter?

[palciparum]

You want your kid's college fund to hinge on random stocks from a newsletter?

What do you recommend?

[xraygoggles]

What do you recommend?

The usual and most sensible recommendation is a total market index or S&P index. VTI or VOO. Or whatever the analogous fund is at your 529.

[Random1]

First of all not all colleges cost $50,000 a year. There are many cheaper options for education. The most important part is an education, and having you child have some "skin" in the game can be a motivating factor for choosing an affordable option for college. If this is the only money you have set a side for education and it determines whether your kid goes to college or not, personally I would take the safe bet rather than let my kid down. I would put the money in a conservative mix, more of a guarantee that it would be there. Just taking student loans , may not be as easy as you think, being a high income earner. The last time I checked, the total amount was $6500 of non subsidized loan with a terrible interest rate.

my advice , keep as close to cash as you can and work hard to fill in the difference by saving as much as you can.

[abds]

You need an IPS and you need it fast.

[Dewangski1]

First of all not all colleges cost $50,000 a year. There are many cheaper options for education. The most important part is an education, and having you child have some "skin" in the game can be a motivating factor for choosing an affordable option for college. If this is the only money you have set a side for education and it determines whether your kid goes to college or not, personally I would take the safe bet rather than let my kid down. I would put the money in a conservative mix, more of a guarantee that it would be there. Just taking student loans , may not be as easy as you think, being a high income earner. The last time I checked, the total amount was $6500 of non subsidized loan with a terrible interest rate.

my advice , keep as close to cash as you can and work hard to fill in the difference by saving as much as you can.

Agree. I guess I’d also ask that if you already have 200k, do you need more? How hard would it be to “find” more? If it would not be hard to find more, then maybe you just invest the 200k in the total market and find the tuition money when it comes time?

If you know you will need the money, then you should not go into equities, but rather CDs or short term treasuries. Maybe you could look to blend it or use a target date fund, but know that as you chase returns, you take on risk. Agree with the suggestion that you need your own ISP.

[JBME]

I have $200K for child's college in next 5 years. 200K does not cover cost of 4 years undergrad/lodging/boarding from what I have been told.

It appears 5 years may not be long enough time to put in 529 plan. Too late now I guess. I live in state with no state income tax.

I have invested in stocks that motley fool recommends but there are 2 stock recommendations every month (I am not even considering 5 best buys). One runs out of money eventually and can not buy all the stocks. I have some investment in Large cap growth funds.

How should I invest this 200K? Any recommendations? I can choose 25 stocks with 10K each. Which stocks to choose and how to choose?
If market reruns are better, than take student loans. Keep money longer in market and later repay student loans using that money.

Or should I choose a financial advisor - don't know how expensive they can be?

how did you get to $200k and what is your goal to have for this? Sounds like the $200k isn't invested at all which might be a good thing given your thoughts were initially to invest in individual stocks. So my first thought is keep doing what you've been doing to get beyond $200k. Put it all in a brokerage account mutual fund. If you become comfortable enough investing choose a conservative allocation like 30% equities (mutual funds with low expense ratios like .20 or less, not individual stocks) and 70% bonds. Or 30% equities, 40% bonds, 30% cash

[palciparum]

You need an IPS and you need it fast.

What is IPS? Any recommendations?

[Nysoz]

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/ho...nal-statement/