Perry Edwards is 25 years old. He and his wife Anita have two children, Shane and Lisa, ages 1 and 3 respectively. Perry wants to retire in 40 years and refurbish old cars. He would like a nice retirement home with some land on a peaceful lake in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Perry believes that to purchase a home and lot in 40 years would cost $200,000 in today’s prices. In forty years Perry also believes he and his wife can live comfortably on $35,000 a year in today's dollar terms.
Realizing that retirement is only 40 years away, and that he still had two children to raise and put through college, Perry thought he had better start saving for his retirement dreams. Also, Lisa is only 15 years away from college, and before Lisa finishes, Shane will be ready for school in 17 years. Currently Perry has $5,000 in an emergency money market account earning 4.0% interest compounded daily. His desire is to never have to use those emergency funds and that they will become a part of his estate. He also owns his own home that has a market value of $100,000 and a mortgage of $90,000. The 8.0% mortgage has 28 years remaining and his monthly payments are $672 for principal and interest alone.
Perry’s annual salary is $40,000. His employer puts an additional $2,000 into a 401(k) retirement plan. This retirement amount currently equals $4,000 and it is invested in a stock mutual fund, which has been earning an annual rate of return of 10.0%. With the current level of the federal debt, Perry is not counting on receiving any funds from social security at his retirement.
With all of the concern about college tuition increasing over the years, Perry believes that the children will have to go to the local junior college for their first two years and then a state school for their last two years. The cost to attend the local junior college is $3,000 per year today, and the cost to attend a state school is $10,000 per year today.
Inflation will have a great impact on Perry’s future retirement and college plans for his children. Based on what he has read and heard on the news, Perry believes that inflation will average 4.0% per year for the next 40 years; however, the cost of a college education will increase by 7.0% per year for the junior college and state school. Also, with the desirability of vacation homes, the house and property in Pennsylvania will probably increase at a rate of 6.0% per year, while his current home will increase in value at a rate of 5.0% per year. Perry hopes that his annual salary will increase by at least 3.0% per year.
QUESTION: Assuming that Perry has no money set aside for his children’s college at this time, approximately how much will he have to save per month for Shane’s education, for Lisa’s education, if he earns 5.0% on the invested funds. (Assume that he wants to have $85,000 available for Lisa and $95,000 available for Shane at the start of each child’s college education to pay for the entire four years.)