{"id":195,"date":"2021-01-13T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-to-figure-out-what-to-invest-now-for-a-big-future-expense\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T19:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:38:14","slug":"how-to-figure-out-what-to-invest-now-for-a-big-future-expense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-to-figure-out-what-to-invest-now-for-a-big-future-expense\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Figure Out What to Invest Now for a Big, Future Expense"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This small house with a trampoline in the backyard looks like my minimalist dream.<\/p><\/div>\n

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All right \u2013 before we dive in \u2013 let\u2019s get one thing out of the way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not condoning<\/em> dropping $100,000 in one fell swoop on pretty much anything. BUT, if for some reason you DO need $100,000 at some future date\u2026 I\u2019ll show you how to figure out how much you need to be investing now for it to grow<\/strong> to be worth $100,000 by the time you need it. <\/p>\n

Most of the time, the two major examples people love to use this for are (a) buying a home and (b) paying for a kid\u2019s college education.<\/p>\n

Please allow me to do my due diligence and get my initial cautionary comments out of the way before we jump into the #formula:<\/em><\/p>\n

Both of these purchases can<\/em> be problematic and not great<\/em> investments: Before you rage-unfollow @moneywithkatie, hear me out. I promise I have your best interests at heart.<\/p>\n

If my kid wants to go to UNC Chapel Hill to study elementary education and I\u2019m going to invest $250,000 (minimum) for them to go there without a scholarship in order to get a job making $40,000\/year, is that a good investment? Probably not. While it\u2019s great to plan for an expensive-ass college education, remember to use common sense. (<\/em>As someone without a college-aged kid and barely out of college myself, I feel I am uniquely qualified to make controversial comments on the subject. *winks*)<\/p>\n

Just kidding \u2013 but you know what I mean! As college educations become more ubiquitous (a college degree is a dime a dozen these days) and wages continue to stagnate, dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into a college degree isn\u2019t really<\/em> wise. The scholarship and the in-state schools are your best friends. Hopefully by the time you have a college-aged kid, the bubble will have burst and the cost of college won\u2019t be a quarter of a million dollars anymore, but for the time being, it\u2019s a messed-up system and one in which your ROI is not very good if you pay full price and your kid doesn\u2019t become a doctor, lawyer, or investment banker.<\/p>\n

The housing subject is another one entirely \u2013 and you\u2019ve probably already seen my hot takes on home ownership. For the purposes of this post, we\u2019re going to assume a few things about your intent to buy a home:<\/p>\n