Today’s post is written by a fellow fee-only advisor, Greg Phelps, CFP®, CLU®, AIF®, AAMS®, of Redrock Wealth Management.
Saving for a child’s college education is perhaps one of the most noble things a parent will ever do. It’s also one of the toughest financial goals to tackle, because similar to healthcare costs, college expenses have risen across the board at 5% per year. Continue reading Can You Use a Roth IRA for College? Should You?
Further confirming that college can be a buyer’s market, the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual College Openings Update: Options for Qualified Students (a list of schools still accepting applications after May 1) shows an increase in the number of schools still accepting applications compared with last year. In fact, the number has gone up every year since 2013; it increased by about 20% from 2016 to 2017. Continue reading Colleges Still Have Openings for Fall ’17
Today’s post is written by a fellow fee-only advisor, Richard Freight, CFP®, EA, of IAM Financial, who is a father of two who will hopefully be college-bound.
Dear Tyler & Isabella,
These are some of the things I want you to consider when choosing what and where to study in college…..
When the time comes for my son Tyler, and my daughter Isabella, to go to college, I image us having this wise and thoughtful conversation around the pros and cons of this Continue reading Dear Tyler & Isabella, Let’s Pick a College
In case you’re looking for any more reasons not to borrow a penny more than is necessary for college, this article from yesterday’s New York Times highlights three proposed regulatory changes that are likely to make student loans considerably riskier for borrowers.
Before you sign up, you have to figure out how you’re going to pay for college each year. The first step in figuring that out is confirming with the school what has to happen for your aid package to be renewed. Then, consider the additional costs that aren’t included in the award letter—travel to and from school, activities your student intends to participate in, spending money. With all of those items written down, you have a good sense of what you’ll actually spend each year. This may seem really elementary, but most Continue reading Planning for College Cash Flow
My apologies if this is a little down-to-the-wire. Then again, you might do better waiting until the last minute to negotiate an aid award. If you’re planning to do so, here are a few things you need to know.
The first step is to determine what type of aid is being offered, need or merit (or a Continue reading Negotiating an Aid Award
If you have not yet filed the FAFSA for the coming school year, you may be stuck entering your income data manually. The IRS last week said they do not expect the Data Retrieval Tool to be available until the next FAFSA cycle begins in October, due to security concerns. Continue reading Update on IRS Data Retrieval Tool
Here is an article I wrote for another advisor explaining how grandparents might be most effective in helping to pay their grandchildren’s college expenses. Should you be among those fortunate enough to have relatives willing to help, you might want to take a look.
Sallie Mae’s annual How America Pays for College report has some good news: In the 2015-2016 school year, the average amount families spent on college went down slightly, to $23,688. The biggest decline came on spending for 2-year colleges; families with students in 4-year schools reported spending about the same as in the previous year. In Continue reading How America Pays for College
If you tried to fill out the FAFSA this month, chances are it wasn’t easy. That’s because the IRS Data Retrieval Tool has been disabled. The IRS and Department of Education said in a joint statement last week that it will be several weeks until the tool is back online. Continue reading FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool
