I Don’t Want My Kids to be Crushed by Student Loans. Do You?

June 08, 2012

I read this article titled “This Bright-Eyed Young Man Was Utterly Demolished by Student Loans” about (can you guess?) a guy who has experienced significant financial, personal and emotional hardship because of the financial responsibility that he took on with significant student loan debt.  I wish this were an isolated incident, but based on some meetings I’ve had with young people recently, I’d be lying if I said this isn’t becoming increasingly more common.  Maybe not to the extreme that Nick is experiencing, but there is a growing number of young people who may not be finished with paying off student loans until they are closer to Social Security than college. Continue reading “I Don’t Want My Kids to be Crushed by Student Loans. Do You?”

Pros & Cons of a 529 College Savings Plan for Your Kids

May 16, 2012

Figuring out how to pay for your child’s college education can be overwhelming. The cost for one year of school at a public university is over $17,000 and is nearly $40,000 at a private school – and that doesn’t even include the price of room and board. Counting on scholarships to cover college costs is foolhardy and the availability of student loans (especially a loan with a good rate) is not guaranteed. Continue reading “Pros & Cons of a 529 College Savings Plan for Your Kids”

Back to School Season Brings Tuition Bills to Your Employees

September 13, 2011

It’s that time of year again.  Summer is coming to an end (already!) and college classes are starting.  You know what that means for your employees that are parents – time to start writing those checks!

Unfortunately, sometimes those checks have nowhere else to come from but their retirement accounts.  If you handle the day to day administration of your retirement plan, do you notice an uptick in hardship withdrawal and loan requests around this time of year?  If so, these looming college costs could be the culprit.  According to the College Board, the average tuition this year is almost $8,000 for an in-state public university, and that doesn’t even include room and board, books, and other typical costs. Continue reading “Back to School Season Brings Tuition Bills to Your Employees”

Ten Steps to Funding a College Education

March 30, 2011

So what does college planning look like in the real world?  That’s an excellent question, and since I don’t have a child in college yet, let me share with you what I hope it looks like:

My daughter Rachel is 12-years old.  She will be attending the University of North Carolina (she doesn’t know that yet, but she will—Go Tarheels!).  This year the cost to attend was about $6,000, so her mother and I will plan on paying for her tuition; she’ll be on her own for books, fees, and other expenses.  Her grandpa has already contributed $6,000 toward his granddaughter’s education, so we figure we’ll need to save another $280 a month to meet our goal. Continue reading “Ten Steps to Funding a College Education”

College Planning: The Tax Benefits of Education

March 23, 2011

Today’s blog is the last in a series addressing the different pieces of the college planning puzzle.  Last week we looked at financial aid and basically determined that no matter how much or how little we save for college, financial aid (primarily in the form of loans) will help us make up the difference.  That should provide some relief, since we would like to think that our children can go to whatever school they want to no matter how expensive.  At the same time the idea of our kids (and us) being saddled with debt right out of college doesn’t always sit well with us.  So how do we reduce our dependency on financial aid when the amount saved is not enough?  This will probably come as a shock to you (and yes, I’m being facetious), but parents and students are expected to use some of their current income to help pay for college. Continue reading “College Planning: The Tax Benefits of Education”

Financial Planning: Paying for College

March 16, 2011

In last week’s blog entry I discussed some of the tax-free ways to save for education.  If you are able to save enough to fully pay for a child’s education then I tip my cap to you because that is an impressive feat.  Unfortunately, for most parents the amount they are able to save will only cover a portion (and in my case a small portion) of the full cost of education, so in this week’s blog entry I’ll focus on the next pillar of college planning known as (imagine the thunderous voice of Zeus as you read) FINANCIAL AID. Continue reading “Financial Planning: Paying for College”