I'm always so sorry I can't get to all the questions that are submitted to my online discussion, so here are a few left over from the last chat.

Q: My kid and I have an argument. She will be going to college next year. She has applied to state schools and private (ivy league) schools. I tell her that if she gets a scholarship from one of the schools she has applied she should take it and go to that school. She says that if she gets into an Ivy League, she will go there regardless of the cost. What do you think?

A: I think you stand your financial ground. You are right. She's young and irresponsible and likely sees that Ivy League school much like she sees brand-name jeans. It's a must have.

But that's not true. You can live a great life and get a fulfilling job without going to a brand-name school. I just don't get this thinking our culture has passed on to young folks that college is worth the cost at any price tag.

It's not. And I have dozens and dozens of e-mails, letters and testimonies from broke college graduates who are struggling financially that prove otherwise.

I wouldn't turn down a scholarship to a good school. In fact, I didn't. I got a full scholarship to my state school, the University of Maryland at College Park. Initially I didn't want to go. My preference was to go out of state, but my grandmother would have none of that. Big Mama was right. I received a great education and ended up working at the Post alongside colleagues from Ivy League schools, and my path to the paper wasn't any harder than theirs.

Stick to your word and if she wants to borrow the amount of money it takes to get through an Ivy League school without a scholarship or grant, let her be hardheaded and spend decades trying to pay off that debt. Let her take the hit and experience the consequences of her decision. As Big Mama used to say: "A hard head will make for a soft behind."

Q: My sister and I are both huge fans of yours. We even help one another by asking: "What would Michelle do?" (Recently that meant I didn't get to join the fancy gym I wanted to, but that's okay.) Anyway, we were discussing a purely hypothetical situation we thought you might find fun. I have a 16-month-old son and have a 529 plan for him, to which my husband and I contribute monthly. We also put in any monetary gifts he gets. Assuming life goes according to plan (ha ha!), we should have enough in there when he's 18 to send him to college without incurring debt. Here's the question: Let's say he turns out to be an amazing athlete and gets a full ride. Do we give the money to my son upon graduation? Buy a beach house? What's your opinion?

A: Typically if you withdraw money from a 529 plan and the cash is not used for qualified education expenses you have to pay taxes on the earnings and a 10 percent penalty. But there are some exceptions. You don't have to pay the penalty if the beneficiary has died or is disabled, received a scholarship or decided to attend a U.S. military academy such as West Point.

You still might want to hold onto the money in case your athletic star doesn't go pro and wants to return to school. You could also transfer the money to another beneficiary or use it yourself.

I would try my best to use the money for education expenses for that kid or another one or a relative, etc. If at the end of the day, there's no one else to educate that you want to help, I would probably use it to help my kid buy a home (of course realizing that the tax and penalty would have to be paid).

Q: To raise my credit score, should I pay off my $12,000 debt or should I pay my $11,000 IRS bill? If I pay my debt off, I will raise my score, but I can't get the government job I want unless I pay the IRS off. I don't know which way to go, because they look at both credit score and pending IRS bills.

A: I would pay off the IRS debt because the accumulating interest just puts you further in the hole. And the IRS doesn't play. Interest on debt owed to the IRS is compounded daily! This results in a daily recalculation of the principal amount plus accrued interest.

As long as you are paying down on the $12,000 debt and paying your bills on time, that will eventually boost your credit score.

And if getting a good government job means paying off the IRS debt, that's another good reason to get rid of it - fast.

Q: I just received a notice that the interest rate on one of my credit cards will go up to 25 percent. I have a very good credit score and I am wondering what effect canceling this card will have on my score. I have had this card for many years, but never use it because I use another card with a lower interest rate.

A: I've answered this in a recent column. Here's what I said: Keep the Rate or Keep the Card?

This might be helpful, too: Smaller Credit Lines Shouldn't Hurt Scores Much

To Board or Not To Board

I asked, and you certainly responded.

I received several dozen responses to the most recent Color of Money Question of the Week. After I read a Post article highlighting a trend of parents sending their children off to boarding schools close to home, I asked if you had the money, would you send your child off to boarding school?

Here's what some of you had to say:

"I would not board my children!" wrote Christina Webster of Little Rock, Ark. "I feel like these people's careers are more important than their families."

Warwick M. Lucas, a senior Investment analyst from Johannesburg, South Africa weighed in. He wrote: "If you're only seeing your kids at dinner, you've mostly lost the battle to give them a constructive home environment. Also for 23 out of 24 hours you won't know who is raising your kids if it isn't you. Is it the TV? Is it their friends? Who? In later years you can work out if the busy work schedule was worth it. It's the intangible cost of money."

"I was repulsed by the parents, who send their children to boarding school because it's more convenient for their lifestyle," wrote Lisa Grayson of Falls Church, Va. "Parenting is not about convenience. It's about commitment, sacrifice, support, and doing the right thing. Out of that, grows mutual respect, the development of relationships, and the gift of love. In these inconvenient moments are teaching opportunities and listening chances. Oh yes, it's messy sometimes with traffic tie-ups, sibling fights in the back, and mac & cheese for dinner. But that's what parenting is all about. No pain, no gain. The only good news is that the members of the 'boarding for convenience set' aren't clogging up the roads for the real parents who are struggling to do the right thing."

Georgia S. from Michigan said she would definitely not send her kids to boarding school.

"I would have missed them terribly," she said. "They are adults now and I miss their younger years. What is the point of having kids if you are going to send them away? I was a single mom for a long time and worked full-time. I was extremely busy during those years, but the thought never crossed my mind to send them to boarding school. The parents and the kids are missing out on experiences together that can be educational and rewarding. How do kids feel when they move away? My son didn't even like summer camp.

Overwhelmingly, the responses fell into the "kids are staying with me" category, but there were some who did see the benefit of boarding school.

"Maybe is the best answer I can give," said Tina Salter, of Atascadero, Calif. "The commute reason given by both a student and a parent sounded pretty good. As the daughter of a boarding schooled mother (who had very fond memories of her school 150 miles away from her home) it can't be that bad! And frankly, high schoolers sometimes benefit from being away from their families if the parents try to hold onto them and don't give them the skills to fly on their own."

LeShone from Hyattsville, Md., said she graduated from a prestigious boarding high school, Choate Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford, Conn. "As parent of a toddler with another baby on the way, I would send my children to boarding school if and only if they wanted to attend it. As a student at Choate, there were many students who did not want to be there. Many of those students seemed to squander their parents' money, their own time and opportunities doing silly and sometimes illegal things as a way to rebel. It was an all-too-common scenario."

Finally, here's a precautionary tale from Kelly Wallace of Lorton, Va. "The teens who are sent off to school will become the adults who send off their parents to a rest home for their own convenience."

You are welcome to e-mail comments and questions to singletarym@washpost.com. Please include your name and hometown; your comments may be used in a future column or newsletter unless otherwise requested.