Anyway I was just reading slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2267997/) and here's an exchange between the columnist and a reader. Notice how the college fund comment is plugged into the response as if it is a given! What is the HN opinion on paying for college?
Q. Biological Clock vs. Financial Reality: My husband and I have very different views on when we should start trying to conceive. My feeling is there's no time like the present, while he feels that we're not ready yet. We both feel ready emotionally, but we both feel, quite frankly, poor. (We're both graduate students—we make less than 20,000 and after this May have no guaranteed income.) But I'm of the "simple life" mind-set anyway. Infants don't need much beyond onesies and diapers; no matter how well-off we are, we wouldn't be doing diaper genies and such. And mostly, I feel, we can always get money, but we can't get these years back. (We're fairly young—in our late 20s—but we want to have lots of kids.) I'm having a really hard time waiting; I break into tears every time I see a baby. We've discussed this ad nauseam. He says it's not just up to me, so we should wait. But it's not just up to him, either. I guess my question comes down to this: Who's the default decider?
A: Among the devastation this bad economy is bringing is the situation you are in: People who would otherwise be starting their families are too financially afraid to do so. There's no default decider here—this has to be a decision the two of you make. Your husband is right that having a baby requires more than onesies and love. But you're also right that you can't put this off indefinitely while you wait for the economy to improve. In any case, however bad the economy is now, eventually it will recover—<b>perhaps in time for you to make a dent in a college fund.</b> I think you two should talk to some trusted outsiders about this. Not necessarily a marriage counselor, but maybe some older relatives who started families in the late 1970s or early '80s, when the economy was also in the dumper. Or perhaps you should consult with someone who does long-term financial planning, so that your husband can feel more confident about making the decision that now is the time for you both to start adding future wage earners to the workforce.