This Redditor believed everything was set and ready for her college applications. However, her parents suddenly wanted to cut her funds in half, disrupting all her plans. What should she do?
Starting a New Chapter
OP (Original Poster) is a 17-year-old senior at her high school. When she posted this story, college application season was coming in just a few months!
Looking Through Her Options
Because she would soon start college, she was already sorting through things and getting ready to start a new chapter of her life. She had several schools selected, most of which were state schools.
Organizing Information
To help her decide where she would go, she created a spreadsheet with information on the schools she was eyeing.
OP said that the spreadsheet had “information on them, including costs of tuition and CoL for students there.”
Meticulous With the Information
OP didn’t stop by simply inputting the information. She also set up functions on the sheet to show her how she could afford it using the college fund her parents had set up for her and her general savings.
New Family Dynamics
However, the twist was that their family recently welcomed her newly-born baby brother. OP said she was an only child before.
Discussion With Her Parents
So, when she approached her mom to talk about her college plans and show her spreadsheet, she was shocked to learn about their new plans.
OP shared, “She told me that I need to adjust it for half of the college savings as they were planning to give my brother half for his college savings.”
Destroyed Plans
OP didn’t understand why her parents suddenly decided to split her college fund in half. She said, “They have 16 plus years to save up for his college, if that’s something he’ll even want to do.”
She added that when she ran the numbers on her spreadsheet with half of the college fund, it was “not looking good.”
Looking Toward the Future
OP wasn’t pleased with this turn of events.
After all, she said she wanted to graduate with “as little debt as possible.” So, taking away half of the college fund initially meant for her was “pretty damaging.”
Not Budging
She didn’t want to give up, so she tried talking to both her parents about it. However, they wouldn’t budge!
OP shared, “My dad said it’s their money, so it’s up to them how they get to spend it, and I’m not entitled to it, which I understand.”
Her Parents’ Plans
It turns out that OP’s parents planned to retire early so they could have more time with her brother. They were already in their 40s, and funding another college fund would “push back their retirement.”
Save Up on Your Own
OP’s dad told her to “just save more money and not waste it.” She shared he was a bit upset that OP bought herself a Nintendo Switch with her last salary.
However, in her post, OP argued that she usually put most of her paycheck into her savings.
15 Months Versus 15 Years
Her dad told her she was a “smart girl” and that he and her mom could help her figure it out. However, OP was adamant it was unfair.
She said, “I still don’t think it’s fair to lose a good amount of my college funding 15 months away from starting to someone who won’t use it for over 15 years.”
What Redditors Think
For Redditors, OP was correct to think that what her parents did was unfair.
A top commenter said, “I’d say not the a**hole if they started your college fund when you were a baby, then they have the same amount of time to do it for him. If they don’t want to keep putting money away for another 18 years, they should have thought about that before having another kid.”
It’s Their Responsibility, Not Yours!
Users also called OP’s parents out to make her accountable for something they decided to do.
“OP’s parents are the ones who decided to have another kid, knowing when they wanted to retire and what their original plan was. Taking away from what they told OP would be OP’s resource for college is not the right avenue here,” one Redditor noted. Another wrote, “This is the issue. They led her to believe this was her money, and she planned accordingly, only to have them pull the rug out from under her at the last minute when there was no time for her to plan differently.”
This Is All Wrong
Other Redditors also noted that parents should want to ensure that all their kids have the best chances of living a great and comfortable life.
One user wrote, “It’s their money, and they can do what they want. But it’s always on the parents to ‘figure it out,’ not the kids. You do what’s in the best interests of your kids—both of them. It’s on you to make it work because you’re the one who decided to have them. The parent makes the sacrifices, not the children. A good parent will bend over backward to make sure that their kids have the best chance at life—the best opportunities they can reasonably give them.”
What do you think of OP’s parents’ sudden decision? Do you side with OP?
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This post first appeared as She Refused to Split Her College Fund and Give Her Newly Born Baby Brother Half. Her Parents Have 16 Years to Save for His, so Why Should She Sacrifice Hers? on Quote Ambition.
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