True, but take a more reasonable number like $20k/year/kid, factor in the time value of money and you can quite reasonably hit a future value of half a million

True, but take a more reasonable number like $20k/year/kid, factor in the time value of money and you can quite reasonably hit a future value of half a million or more to get a single kid to college (let alone through it). In other words, what would you have if you invested the cost of children for 17 years? a shitton of money. (Granted, $20k/year is a hefty spend on a kid where I come from).