That’s why I never purchased when my child was young. We could not have done both. My daughter graduated with no loans for college and a car.
Did you not otherwise take vacations to save for college?
Very limited number of vacations. Mostly within driving distance although we took 3 trips to Disney.
I didn’t mean to single you out, sorry if it came across that way. I meant that most people are not actually choosing between DVC and savings so much as DVC and other splurges.
Don't worry I was not offended. I am extremely transparent, so I have no problem answering questions.
As I mentioned, in my own experience DVC is budgeted entirely out of our travel budget (and this year partly out of an inheritance). You’ll have to take my word for it that we are also saving aggressively for retirement and kids’ college funds.
You don't need me for this, just Google "Future Value Calculator". Put in the cost of a DVC contract as the starting value. Add up your expected annual costs (DVC dues, tickets, dining, etc.) and enter those as the payment (PMT). Choose how many years to accumulate (e.g., the years you have remaining until kid goes to college, or years remaining to retirement). Finally, choose what rate of return you expect to earn. The calculated future value is your opportunity cost of spending money on DVC vacations.
What does any of that have to do with the analysis on DVC analytics sites?
So, in case it wasn’t clear, what I was looking for were ideas for DVC analysis that I am uniquely positioned to answer because I’ve amassed quite a bit of data and have an actuarial background. It seems like rather than a useful suggestion, you came here to push an agenda of shaming people for buying DVC under the assumption that they’re being irresponsible
Also, if anyone would like to read the facts about the state of the Social Security in the U.S., head over to the Office of the Chief Actuary SSA website for a wealth of resources. The 2023 Summary is a good read and will dispel the false narrative that SS is going to "collapse". It's true that due to less SSA income, the OASI Trust Fund (the one that funds the retirement benefits most people think of) reserves are projected to be depleted beginning in 2033. However, at that point projected benefits are expected to be reduced by at least 23% and at most 29% over the 75 year projection.
Darn I wasn't trying to promote politics, just some really cool actuaries! I take your point about getting off topic...my apologies.
We bought points as an add on to my parents contract for cash on our first wedding anniversary. We often stayed with them, shared 2 bedroom rooms. When the kids came along that investment meant we spent family time together and annual passes allowed for yearly trips that had admission every other year. We sold because in 2019 I had a stroke and lost use of my left side. We did not consider that Disney has more accessible options than many other travel options. Now we have 2 in college, living at home and one out on her own. They were offered live at home and community college the first two years and finish in state and they will graduate debt free.
This is a great idea (though I am indefinitely out of the buying DVC game...), I also think it would be interesting to see a trend of relative pricing between small contracts (100 points or less), medium contracts (101-200/250), and large contracts (201/251+) over time.
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Haha. If PVB drops much more I'm going to be right back in the game. I'm only like 324 points shy of my DVC Tycoon dream.*laughs in add-on-itis*
(just teasing, but I admire your determination
