* ATTENTION parents of students of the Class of 2007, 2008, and 2009! Has your student begun the process of choosing a college? Do you or your student even know where to start?
I can help with complete college planning. This includes step-by-step guidance along the way as your student prepares for college, choosing a college, and helping you develop plans to pay for tuition, books, fees, room and board, and the like.
* I also provide assistance for students in their senior year (Class of 2006) as you prepare for filing for financial aid, in order to avoid costly delays.
If you’d like some help with either situation, give me a call. It may be too late and I won’t be able to help you out, but it won’t cost anything to talk it over and see if there is anything I can do to help.
* SPEAKING of college planning, one of the biggest mistakes I see parents making these days is to put saving for college ahead of all of their other financial goals. Understandably, they want to give their children everything, and that includes an education without cost to the student.
Keep this thought in mind: you can always take out a loan for college. You can’t take out a loan to retire.
With the cost of college spiraling upward, many parents come realize that not only do they need to save for education, but out of the same paycheck they need to put money aside for retirement as well.
College preparation, including savings, should be thought of as a family project, so include the children in the activity. It’s not bad parenting to share the cost of college with your children – in fact, many would argue that teaching this kind of fiscal responsibility is very important to a child’s (or young adult’s) financial education. Encourage your kids to:
· get a part time job to help save up for school costs
· discuss the concept of student loans with them, so they will be mentally prepared when the time comes
· Do their best in high school – this will boost their chances for scholarships and grants
Click the link to pick up a copy of A Social Security Owner's Manual or if you'd prefer the Kindle version (and let's face it, ALL the cool kids do!), you can find that at this Kindle version link.
I can learn from you, you can learn from me - please leave your comments and links!Jim Blankenship, CFP®, EA, is an expert in personal retirement, IRAs, and tax issues, with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. Read more from this author
And if you've come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed "advisor's advisor".