A Possible Strategy to Help Minimize the Cost of College When I was in my first semester of college in the late ‘90s, the first book I read was the course guide book (and yes, it was a physical book then). I used it to figure out which classes would help me graduate quickly with…
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Skewed Perceptions: “Only State Universities Are Affordable” Why do so many college applicants only apply to public universities? They believe that private schools will cost more money, and they won’t be able to afford it. At least this is what we are repeatedly hearing from families that we work with on their financial planning. There…
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Let’s face it, marriages don’t always go as planned. Divorce can not only disrupt our personal relationships, but it can also have lasting financial effects. Financial aid for college can be one of those areas where these repercussions are felt. Understanding financial aid eligibility is difficult enough when it only pertains to one family’s financial…
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Expected Family Contribution As parents, we wear ourselves out making sure our children are ready for college. We monitor their grades, make sure they prepare for their SAT/ACT tests, push them to volunteer in the community, and encourage them to participate in extracurricular activities at school. Now we also need to make sure that they…
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By Diana Alvear, FOX 46 Charlotte Putting one kid through college is daunting enough, Bernice Feaster had two. But she never once wrote a check to pay for their school. Scholarships paid for their tuition, room and board and everything else. “Between two sons,” Feaster says, “We did about 1 point 6 million dollars, between…
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Here is an idea. Let’s convince a generation of people over 70 million strong (the baby boomers) that one of the biggest and best investments they will ever make in their life is their home. We will tell them that having a large portion of their net worth and retirement savings in this investment will…
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Question: We are starting an account to eventually fund our child’s education, and we have heard that the 529 Savings Plan and the Prepaid College Tuition Plan are the two best options. Is that true and which one is better? Answer: This is a very frequent question that parents ask when they are taking the…
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“I don’t want any financial aid”…said no one ever. Well that is the path you’ll go down if you don’t file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA. It is estimated that $2.3 billion in federal aid was left on the table in 2017 by students who did not file. Many…
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Have you seen the Progressive Insurance commercial with the “Name Your Price” tool? If you haven’t, the premise is that Flo (the spokeswoman) gives the price scanning gun to the customer to let them name their price for insurance. In actuality, when a customer approaches Progressive about getting Insurance coverage, they get to pick and…
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If you are a high school senior who will attend college in the fall, you need to understand the pressure and burden that follows when you take out massive student loans to pay for college. If you are a college grad and currently staring down the barrel of an overwhelming student loan repayment, you already…
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