College Planning is the process of reducing out-of-pocket college expenses while offering the best educational opportunities for each individual student. We accomplish this goal through our expertise in federal and state tax law, educational law, financial aid formulas and sound financial planning concepts. A few of the goals of College Planning include:

• Safeguarding retirement funds while parents pay for college.
• Helping parents pay for a child's education without breaking the monthly budget.
• Enabling families too affluent to qualify for financial aid to pay for school on a tax-favored basis.
• Matching students to appropriate schools based on multiple factors so they graduate in 4 years, not 5 or 6.

Just like a good tax consultant can help you lower your tax liability, a good college planning consultant can help you lower the expenses of your child's education.

• Helps you legally and ethically arrange your income and assets to lower your out-of-pocket costs and increase eligibility for college aid.
• Helps you select schools most suited to your child's course of study that offer the best financial aid packages .
• Assists you in filling out the two major financial aid forms so they go in accuately and on time.
• Helps you negotiate with schools to get the best possible financial aid package.

• I've seen the damage that blind trust can inflict on people. I've seen the pain that kids and their folks experience when they nearly went broke, or couldn't attend their preferred college because of incorrect 'advice' the were given from someone who didn't really understand College Funding or worse--just didn't care.
• By educating the parents and students on how the financial aid system really works, we can help the family get the best Financial Aid package for their prospective school.
• By helping the parents legally arrange their financial affairs, we can help the family qualify for the most Financial Aid possible; or to pay for college on a tax-preferred basis if they don't qualify for Financial Aid.

Certainly! But you won't need to use all of our services. There will be fewer opportunities for us to help you arrange your financial affairs, but we still offer many services that can help your child. In addition, if your family is at or below the median income level, you'll have an easier time qualifying for financial aid.

Of course! Middle and upper income families face the greatest demand for continuing education, but have the hardest time paying for it. By helping such families legally arrange their financial affairs, we help them legally lower their Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

Once we know what the college expects the family to contribute, then we can help the family decide the best method to pay the true cost of college on the most tax-favored basis.

Less governmental money subsidizing colleges means higher tuition, higher room and board, etc. College costs are increasing faster than inflation rates every year. Many colleges are increasing costs by as much as a staggering 20% each year!

Other factors that make college more expensive are:

• Salaries and benefits for highly educated staff members
• Rising costs of insurance, maintenance and repairs to buildings and grounds
• Constant, expensive upgrades in order to keep up with technology in the computer age

The true cost of college is not the tuition price posted on a college's website. The true cost includes tuition plus fees, books, lab expenses, roam and board, living expenses and transportation costs for your new college student. There are lots of miscellaneous expenses you need to calculate when figuring the true cost of college.

On average, a state college can cost $16,450 or more per year and a private school can cost $34,000 or more per year when you factor in these additional costs.

First of all, very few people have enough savings to pay for a four year college education for even one child - much less additional children. You should never deplete your complete savings to pay for college when there are other important considerations in your life. You still need to consider your own retirement years, maintaining your home, graduations, weddings, aging parents who may require care and your family's emergency fund. 

A lot of people think home equity loans or retirement accounts are the only answer. It may seem like the only option you have, but most people are alreay in a great deal of debt...and don't need more piled on top of what they already owe. It's true that borrowing may be necessary to pay a part of your child's education; but you shouldn't have to borrow the entire cost and low-interest loans should be carefully researched so you don't risk your retirement income.

Yes, but be aware that very, very few kids get "full rides" or even "partial rides" from colleges in the form of scholarships. Only a tiny fraction - far less than 1%- will get any kind of an athletic or academic scholarship. Scholarships can help with part of the financial aid package, but they rarely make up the whole package.

Obviously you want to send your child to the best institution you can. Don't assume that the school with the lowest "sticker price" is the least expensive. Once we weigh in financial aid programs, in many cases it can be less expensive to send your child to a private university than to a state school! 

Not necessarily! It's understandable that overwhelmed parents may feel there's nowhere to turn, but in many cases that's simply not true. There are a number of ways we can help you find educational funding. The fact is, in many fields the first thing employers look for is whether a prospective job candidate has a college diploma. Your son or daughter will be competing in a tight job market against people who have degrees.

• Ideally, you'll want to start before January of your child's Junior year of high school.
• If your child is past January of the Junior year, start NOW.
• Financial aid is awarded on a first come, first served basis. Do not wait until the last minute, because once the school and government aid money has been awarded...it's gone.

• Guidance counselors are too bogged down with issues such as teen pregnancy, drugs, helping students pick colleges, etc. to devote extensive time helping each individual parent apply for financial aid.
• Financial Aid Nights focus primarily on how to fill out forms.
• They do not explain how to legally and ethically increase your eligibility for financial aid using Income and Asset planning.
• They cannot help you pick schools based on each school's ability to give you a good financial aid package.
• They will not show you how to negotiate with colleges to get the best possible financial aid package from each school.

A college's financial aid office has a multitude of students applications to process and only a limited amount of time to get through them all. They may be able to answer some of your questions, but if you plan on them being the only source of help you might want to remember that they work for the college, not for you. Expecting a college to help you save money on tuition is very much like expecting the IRS to help you save money on taxes.

At the beginning, of course! Your first step is to call us at 888-414-6400. We'll find a time when you have a few minutes to sit down, face to face, to discuss your family's situation. There's no charge for the meeting, and after we talk, we'll have a better idea what services would best help your student. We'll show you what we can do, and then you can make an informed decision on whether you'd like to use our services. Whether you choose to hire us or not, I can assure you you'll leave the meeting at a distinct advantage over parents who are not proactive about College Planning!

Don't Wait, Call 888-414-6400 today!   

Because every child deserves to go to college. Especially yours.