If the parents didn't have money then they could still have helped their kids apply for FAFSA. The fact that the kids had to wait until they were "independently able to qualify for loans" suggests to me that the parents didn't even do the very bare minimum - signing paperwork confirming that they would not be able to chip in for their kids to go to college.
I don't think this is about money at all. I think this is about a whole lot of stuff, most of which is hard to describe succinctly, and LW only went with the money example because people at least understand it in a way that they don't understand that more nebulous stuff.
no subject
If the parents didn't have money then they could still have helped their kids apply for FAFSA. The fact that the kids had to wait until they were "independently able to qualify for loans" suggests to me that the parents didn't even do the very bare minimum - signing paperwork confirming that they would not be able to chip in for their kids to go to college.
I don't think this is about money at all. I think this is about a whole lot of stuff, most of which is hard to describe succinctly, and LW only went with the money example because people at least understand it in a way that they don't understand that more nebulous stuff.