September is National College Savings month! And the start of college football!
But wait! My child is not going to college yet!
Whether your child is a newborn or a high school student, college will be here sooner than you think. And what you do today can have a big impact on how much college costs.
Picking the right college is hard enough, figuring out all of the savings options is even harder! And who knows if I’ll get financial aid. And where will I get the extra money to put away for college?
First things first. Take a deep breath. There are many resources to help you with finding the right college, but choose wisely. As my good friend and college search consultant Judy Zodda of Zodda College Services (www.zoddacollegeservices.com) states that colleges are quoting six year graduation rates.
SIX?!?! Why?
Transferring to find the right fit or taking time off to travel or work are among the reasons. But for many, college is no longer a four year expense.
How to pay for those years? Start by figuring out what saving for college means for you.
Try a simple experiment with your spouse (and child if high school age).
Give each person a piece of paper. Have each person write down how much they expect to contribute to college expenses per year – but don’t show the other person yet. Write down a specific number. For example, you could write $0, or $10,000. Or it could be 50% of UMass Lowell. Or 100% of Harvard.
Once everyone has written their answer, then share your answers.
In seminars and in meetings with clients, I have yet to have both spouses agree on a figure. Some are close but never 100% in synch. Most of the time, I find that spouses are usually far apart.
The point is that before you start saving money in some sort of account, figure out what you’re actually aiming for.
If your child is high school age, it is important to involve the child. Case in point – a neighbor with a very bright student had always told their son just earn good grades – Mom and Dad will pay for school. Well, the son got the grades but the parents didn’t do anything about saving. Therefore, the son didn’t work. The parents ended up writing a sizeable check (and taking a major hit to their lifestyle) even though the son stated afterwards that he was willing to work to help contribute but was never told he needed to.
Answer to last week’s trivia question – C - 39%
No trivia question this week. As I was writing this yesterday, I learned that the brother of a friend and former colleague died suddenly over the weekend. He is survived by his wife and young son. While I did not know the brother personally, I do know that my friend was very close to his brother. The tragic part is that the brother had a nagging issue the he thought was minor (and never checked) and that was what ultimately killed him.
