When students go off to college, parents lose access to their health and education records unless the student authorizes that access. FERPA rules govern access to education records, while HIPAA rules govern access to health records. Getting the right forms completed before your student leaves for college will allow you to access their records as well as to assist and advocate for…

Bad news in a world where it seems the cost of everything has gone up: the cost of student loans is going up, too. Student loan interest rates are set annually based on the May Treasury auction. With this year’s auction behind us, we now know what the rates on this year’s student loans will be. Each loan type has…

If you’re still looking for your dream school, head over to NACAC’s College Openings Update. This list of colleges still accepting applications is released annually and serves as a reminder that plenty of colleges are happy to welcome students rather than rejecting them. The database allows you to search on numerous criteria including location and availability of financial aid. Now…

April is Financial Literacy Month, so I’m writing about general financial topics this month. Today’s topic: the power of compounding. The power of compounding is what makes long-term savings so beneficial. It’s also what makes debt so costly. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who…

A client’s former advisor told her that she should save $800,000 per child for college. None of my initial reactions to that were appropriate for a client meeting, but how much should you save for college is an important question for a lot of families so let’s dig into that. First, why do advisors tell people that they need to…