Blog
I've moved my blog to Substack! Subscribe below to keep up with me and access exclusive perks, including live discussions with college planning experts, time to ask me anything, and more.
I've moved my blog to Substack! Check out some of my most recent posts below.
Subscribe now to keep up with me and access exclusive perks, including live discussions with college planning experts, time to ask me anything, and more.
Looking for my older blog posts? Check out my full blog archive below.
Blog archive
Changes to the FAFSA
Summary of changes coming to the FAFSA in 2022 stemming from the roughly 170 pages of the 2020 year-end omnibus federal spending bill that were devoted to FAFSA Simplification.
Podcast: College Financial Literacy
In my latest podcast episode, he walked me through some of the key pieces of college financial literacy. His wisdom is available here on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
How Much Can You Contribute to a 529?
How much can you contribute and how much should you contribute?
Is College Tuition Going Up Next Year?
The COVID pandemic has had a significant impact on higher education both in terms of enrollment and budgets. With federal stimulus pumping almost $40 billion into higher ed, we’re in uncharted water when it comes to forecasting future tuition cost trends.
College Students and 2021 Stimulus Payments
Good news: This time around, if you get the stimulus payment and you claim your college student as a dependent on your taxes, you will get a stimulus payment for them as well.
How to Start Saving
It’s back-to-basics week for me and time to talk about getting started saving for college. If you want your children to go to college, you need to save. Period. That’s the easy part. Harder is where and how much.
Talking College Planning…
Link to my interview about college planning with Your Teen Magazine.
New Year’s Resolutions for 2021
Has there ever been a year as hotly anticipated as 2021? And among all the new year’s resolutions to get back to living our best lives as soon as we can– travel, time with friends and family, in-person school– might I suggest some resolutions for families of college-bound children? I’ve divided them by age range to make it easy for you to pick a few that are appropriate for your family.
EFC vs SAI: What’s in a Name?
A great deal of attention has gone to the renaming of the FAFSA’s Expected Family Contribution to Student Aid Index. The change is a good one, even if it is primarily cosmetic.
FAFSA Simplification in the Stimulus
169 pages of this week’s stimulus bill are devoted to FAFSA simplification. It’s a great step and I apologize that 169 pages of bill-speak have left me unable to simplify the changes for you yet. Here are a few broad points:
College Students and Stimulus Payments - 1st or 2
With a new round of stimulus payments coming under the new stimulus deal, many families of college students are hearing that they should declare their college students independent so that they can claim the stimulus payments.
Student Loans: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
It’s hard to hear the phrase “student debt” without “crisis” appended. But like most types of debt, there is “good” student debt and “bad” student debt. To understand the difference, it’s helpful to look at the economics of a college degree. A college education confers many benefits, but when evaluating debt the economic ones are key.
Claiming the AOTC
The American Opportunity Tax Credit is usually the best tax benefit available to families. But it has some rules you should be aware of in order to make the most of it.
To all the Sophomore Families
If you’re a parent of a high school sophomore (or younger) and reading this, congratulations! Today you’re going to learn some things you can do that will benefit you far more on the FAFSA than the last-minute moves families can make just before filing the FAFSA.
Early Decision and Early Action
Early Decision is a binding commitment that if you are accepted to the school, you will attend and will withdraw all other college applications. Early Action, on the other hand, is typically simply a quicker response from the school that still gives the student until the regular admission deadline to respond.