College Expense Planning
Using your college savings optimally to pay college expenses is a complex challenge – there are far more ways to squander than to stretch your finite resources. Parents with children who will enter college in the 1-2 year time frame will reap the following benefits from a college expense planning engagement:
- Objective guidance about the affordability of various colleges
- Optimized use of resources earmarked for college
- Optimized use of complex and mutually exclusive tax breaks allowed for college expenses
- Detailed insights into how you can maximize financial aid
- Detailed insights into whether, how and when to take advantage of student loans
- Timely assistance with navigating the financial aid process
- A trusted adviser in the wings to consult with throughout the college years
The college expense plan we prepare for you will be 100% tailored to your unique circumstances.
The deliverables for a college planning engagement include:
- A reliable, up-to-date, per-child estimate of the amount of money needed to fund attendance at the college(s) of choice.
- A written report detailing the strategies and tactics that will maximize financial aid, minimize taxes and loan interest expenses, and optimize use of earmarked resources
- A detailed report of final recommendations for positioning your assets and managing household income to maximize eligibility for financial aid
- An ordered, time-sensitive Action Plan to guide you through the college funding years; this report includes specific recommendations about when to return for check-ups during the college years
These deliverables will be thoroughly explained to you in a presentation meeting.
The amount of time we require to formulate a well rounded college expense plan, and therefore the cost of this service, will vary depending on the number of children included in the planning and the complexity of the need to reposition assets. You will be provided with a guaranteed fee estimate at the end of our complimentary Get Acquainted meeting.
Often it is prudent to combine college expense planning with retirement planning and an investment portfolio review into a single engagement. The goal in so doing is to ensure that you can truly afford the level of support for college expenses you aspire to provide.