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The new Simplified FAFSA is here! Here’s a quick video with some tips that will help you get through it with a minimum of chaos and maximum of financial aid. 🔗
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Before your student heads off to college, here are some important forms for them to complete.
Yes, everything is getting more expensive. That includes student loans. Rates for the coming year have been published and they’re a little higher than last year’s rates.
April is Financial Literacy Month, so I’m writing about general financial topics. Today it’s the Eighth Wonder of the World, the power of compounding.
A client’s former advisor told her that she should save $800,000 per child for college. None of my initial reactions to that were appropriate for a client meeting, but how much should you save for college is an important question for a lot of families so let’s dig into that.
Highlights
We’re almost there: acceptance letters are arriving and the May 1 decision day is right around the corner. For most families, how much schools cost is part of the decision making process.
Happy 2026! Last year I made a New Year’s Resolution and kept it. That makes me a self-appointed expert on New Year’s resolutions. Here are some resolutions for parents planning for college— and my expert advice on how to keep your resolutions.
Filing the FAFSA and CSS Profile raises tons of questions for divorced parents. Here are some answers.
What is and isn’t an asset on the FAFSA? Here’s a quick “is it or isn’t it?” for you.
Parent assets seem to be the area that most families and planners focus on, despite the fact that they typically have the smallest impact on the formula of each of the components. Strategies and tactics to minimize parent assets abound, but for most families these result more in nibbling around the edges than actually making a significant dent in SAI.
The College Board’s annual Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report was released recently. Among the headline findings: college tuition prices increased at extremely low rates for the second year in a row, reflecting both a combination of continued impacts of the pandemic and enrollment pressures from demographic trends.
Happy FAFSA Day! Are you completing the FAFSA for the first time this year? While you’re waiting for the site to load, here are some resources that will help you get through it with a minimum of chaos and maximum of financial aid.
I think Oregon is one of the last places in the US that starts school after Labor Day so my apologies if you’re no longer in back-to-school mode. Here are some resolutions your family might make for the coming school year. And, here’s hoping they don’t get broken as quickly as the typical New Year’s diet-and-exercise resolutions!
Categories
The FAFSA & CSS Profile
Saving for College
Student Loans
Application Process
Miscellaneous
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What is a “Qualified Expense”?
Most of us will be lucky to save enough in 529 plans to cover the cost of college tuition, let alone room, board and/or any of the other expenses that might qualify. Here is a quick rundown of what expenses qualify with a 529 savings plan:
Divorced Parents and Aid Applications
Divorced parents tend to have a number of questions about aid issues and college applications in general. Let’s start with the basics: Do both parents’ incomes count? And what about new spouses’?
Myth #2: We make too much money to qualify for financial aid
Many parents mistakenly believe that their income level means that they will be required to pay full fare for college for each of their children. The notion of $60,000 in annual costs x 4 years x 3 children keeps them up at night—understandably. As does the thought of limiting their children’s aspirations to in-state schools.
529 Plan Performance Rankings - 2013
529 Plan Basics
For those who find themselves wishing they had asked more about 529 plans, here is a “back to basics” guide.
My socials are full of prom and graduation pictures, which means it’s time to talk about how you get money out of the 529 plan to which you’ve been diligently (or otherwise) contributing.