Investing in Storage, for College?

College is a crucial part of any young person’s life. It’s a time for growing, learning and finding your true potential (there also might be the occasional night of partying snuck in there too). Anyone who has ever been to college knows what an amazing experience it can be, but unfortunately for any parent that has sent their child off to college knows what a financial burden it can be. Paying for college is not cheap, and frankly put will be a nightmarish accumulation of debt to look forward to, but with right investment moves this endeavor could be a bit more of a manageable scenario.

In the most recent report done by College Board, a “moderate” college budget for an in-state public college averages to about $22,000 per year and about $43,000 for a private college. That means that if your child is there for the standard 4 year undergraduate degree, your total could be anywhere from $80,000 to upwards of $170,000. Shocking right? No matter how much money you may have that is still one steep bill, and that’s just if you pay for it yourself. What if you decide to get loans to pay for college? That’s another x amount of interest that you will have to pay on top of everything else. I think its safe to say that it would be better if you can avoid that route.

So then what is the best way to approach this? You definitely want to make sure you have the money when the time comes, but what is the best way to do that? While I’m sure there are multiple ways that people have chosen to handle this situation, I am going to share with you one specific idea that I think has some real potential.

For starters, instead of just putting some money in a jar on your fridge every month, I think your best option is to invest in something. And no I’m not talking about putting money into a new internet company that you think is going make it big, I’m talking about a smart investment that will provide you with the necessary cash flow to assist in your child’s education.

Recently a family friend of mine was telling a story about what one of her friends does and I must say that it is genius. Basically, every time this friend has a new kid (not sure exactly how many he is up to by now) he goes out and buys an entire self-storage facility. That’s right you heard correctly, he buys a SELF-STORAGE FACILITY, you know one of those things you see on Storage Wars. What’s the catch? He buys it with an 18-year mortgage. That way when the time comes for that man to send his baby off to college, the facility will be paid off and the revenue that comes in after that is strictly used for college tuition. Pretty smart if you ask me.

Now I’m not saying that buying a storage facility is the only way to go. You could easily do the same with a house or condo and then rent it out after it has been paid off; this is just what inspired the idea. Either way, I think that choosing to invest in a fixed asset as opposed to just saving money is one of the best ways to think about paying for your child’s college career. And who knows, maybe that thing you purchase will become the next hot spot on the block, bringing in some serious cash.

Author Bio: This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt is on the marketing team for SelfStorage.com and writes for their blog. With SelfStorage.com you can easily sort, find and reserve self-storage facilities in Seattle, as well as thousands more all across the country.