Saving for 7: How 1 Family Is Saving for College for 7 Kids

With seven children between the ages of 7 and 19, simply covering living expenses -- food, clothes and school supplies -- adds up for Mike and Suzanne Mayernick.

But the couple made a decision that, no matter how many kids they had, they were going to maintain a focus on saving for college. So, on the day each child was born or adopted (they have four biological children and three adoptive), they opened a 529 college savings plan.

"Educating our kids and being able to provide for them an opportunity to go to college has always been a priority," says Mike Mayernick, a wealth management adviser with Northwestern Mutual in Nashville. "We'd really like them to be able to get out of school without student loan debts because I know how that can set you back. So, early on, it just became a big priority, and it means we have to sacrifice in some other areas."

Faced with so many other expenses, large families could easily let saving for college fall off the financial to-do list.

"Having several children further exacerbates the usual challenges of saving and paying for college," says Kevin McKinley, of McKinley Money LLC in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. "The more children you have, the more likely it is that there are going to be different interests, abilities and skills, making it more difficult to reach a level of parental support that everyone views as fair."

[Learn four ways to kick off the college savings talk.]

Opening a separate 529 account for each child, putting money in a variety of college savings vehicles, maintaining a low debt-to-income ratio and being willing to delay retirement are ways the Mayernicks are saving for college. Here's what to take away from their uncommon college savings experience.

-- Make it a priority: After the birth of their fourth child, Mike and Suzanne Mayernick thought that they were done having kids.

But then the couple, who live in Brentwood, Tennessee, began to read and hear about how young African-American men have disproportionately high dropout and incarceration rates.

"It really did tug on our heartstrings. And we thought, 'You know what? We can't make a difference for all of them, but we can maybe make a difference for one,'" says Suzanne Mayernick.

They adopted two African-American boys, and then decided to adopt a 3-and-a-half year old girl while on a mission trip in Uganda. Soon they were a family of nine.

The Mayernicks made it their goal to save enough to pay the estimated costs of tuition at a state public school for each child, knowing that one might go to community college while another might go to Harvard University.

If saving for college is important, "you make it a priority," Mike Mayernick says. "You start early and you build it into your budget, almost like it's a bill."

-- Flexible options: In addition to opening a 529 plan for each child -- in which earnings grow without being subject to federal taxes and are not taxed as long as the money is taken out to pay for college -- the Mayernicks have custodial accounts, called UTMAs, which also have tax advantages.

They also have a joint investment account that could be tapped if there's not enough in the education-specific accounts.

"With seven children that range from 7 to 19, it's kind of difficult to predict the actual cost of college. So, we've tried to maintain maximum flexibility, so we're not drastically overfunding or underfunding our estimated needs," Mike Mayernick says.

[Explore eight tools that give you a tailored estimate of college costs.]

Because the beneficiary of a 529 plan can be changed if one child doesn't go to college or doesn't use all of the money, having multiple accounts is a "no-brainer," Mayernick says.

McKinley agrees. He says, "Separate 529 accounts are a good way to track the money but still leave the family with the option of moving funds from one account to another without a significant penalty."

-- Debt-to-income ratio: The Mayernicks are also careful to keep their debt-to-income ratio low in an effort to reach an overall goal of saving 20 percent of their earnings for all purposes, retirement included.

"If that means buying a smaller house or doing a longer-term mortgage, or not having a lot of consumer debt, if your debt-to-income ratio is pretty low, then you've got the flexibility to save," Mike Mayernick says.

Parents "should make sure that they are putting college costs in the proper perspective," McKinley says. "The parents should still save for their own retirement first and pay down high-interest loans and credit card balances before setting money aside for college."

[Weigh the pros and cons of having your children help save for college.]

-- Educating eight: The Mayernicks feel comfortable enough with the state of their college savings that they started supporting and educating a young woman from Honduras, whom they met on a service trip.

After "aging out" of a children's home, they were worried that the then-19-year-old would be at risk for sex trafficking or prostitution.

"She dreamed of going to college but knew there was no way that would happen," Suzanne Mayernick says. "She didn't know how she was going to feed herself each month, much less pay for college."

They've been paying for her to attend college in Honduras, but the 21-year-old recently got a student visa and will come to live with the Mayernicks in December to go to school in Nashville.

Trying to save for college? Get tips and more in the U.S. News College Savings 101.

Deborah Ziff is a Chicago area-based freelance education reporter for U.S. News, covering college savings and 529 plans. You can follow her on Twitter.