“Besides that, zero debt among four kids.”
That’s impressive! :)
When ‘The Middle Kid’ was ready for college, I told him he could live at home rent-free (while enrolled) and I would pay for his fees and books. HOWEVER - he also had to be working part-time to cover his tuition at the local Tech College. I would not pay one DIME towards a socialist state college - he needed to be earning a degree in something that would make a solid living. He also had some financial help from his ‘real’ Mom. I was just his Evil Step Mother. ;)
And now? He’s a Traffic Routing Engineer for a major Midwest city. He’s the one that studies the traffic patterns and has input as to where new roads, road expansion and round-a-bouts are placed for the local DOT. He’s also very knowledgeable on computers, so that helps a LOT with this job.
All accomplished on a pay-as-you-go basis. :)
Only one of mine did four year college. He had a job in his field as a junior and earned enough to pay his last two years.
He did have some loans for school. (Some from us). They were paid in full within one year.
He’s an astronautical engineer. He controls a bunch of satellites at nasa.
Other kids are a member of the gig economy, a book editor and a trucker.