The Upper-Middle Class Has Itself to Blame for Student Debt

[riderinthestorm]

78. Or when the child is 12 you can get cancer and face $200k in medical bills

with insurance (an 80/20 plan without RX coverage, travel expenses to hospitals etc.).

So you have 12 and 5 year old children and you suddenly have no savings anymore. At all. Its either use the savings to stay alive or save them for your children's college? Really?

Jeez, you do know that sometimes LIFE gets in the way of the best laid plans? We had a barn struck by lightening - the cost to repair was staggering. Our liability coverage paid some but we had to cover the rest. That barn is our primary business - it wasn't as though we could NOT fix it - it was imperative to continue on with our business.

People lose their jobs, or get salary decreases, or furlough days. Ever heard of that? Or a parent becomes terribly ill and your savings get tapped to provide them end of life care. My neighbor was in a terrible car accident. She and her 14 year old son spent months in the hospitals and rehab. It took everything they owned, including their house, to recover physically. She's a widow so there wasn't anyone to keep working and keep things going. How do you plan for a catastrophic car accident? Her spouse's life insurance (see they DID plan ahead), kept them in recovery but nothing more. His life insurance that was supposed to cover their son's college costs were eaten up in medical bills.

Your "compassion" is really short sighted.