Families Paying For College
HELPING FAMILIES OF COLLEGE BOUND STUDENTS NAVIGATE the high costs of COLLEGE
Our kids have grown up fast, and now with teenage children, college is right around the corner. We have a healthy household income, but we are not sure how we’ll be able to pay for college without impacting our retirement goals.
Paying For College
Mark and Julia
Ages: 52 and 50
Main Goals
Creating a plan to pay for college for their oldest daughter, Olivia, who was a Junior in high school when we started the process. Mark and Julia had minimal college savings for Olivia in the form of a 529 plan. With college less than 18 months away, Mark and Julia worried that they would not be able to afford college for their daughter- at least without sacrificing their retirement dreams to do so.
Our Strategy for Mark and Julia:
- School selection gameplan – Identified schools that would provide more financial aid for Olivia based on her academics and their family financials
- Income and asset shifting – Strategized how to structure family financials to maximize Olivia’s opportunity for financial aid
- Assisting with the financial aid forms – We completed the FAFSA and CSS Profile alongside Mark and Julia to ensure they presented their family financials in the most opportune way to the schools on Olivia’s list
- Scholarship research – We helped to identify a number of local scholarships for Olivia to apply for her senior year
- Negotiation – We assisted with the appeals process, and were able to help Olivia receive an additional $2,000 in financial aid at her top choice
- How to pay – Given limited savings in a 529 plan, we mapped out how college would be funded for Olivia. We provided Mark and Julia with information to avoid mistakes in the funding process: How to best utilize the 529 assets? What loans to take? How to fund college out of cash flow? ➔ All without bankrupting their retirement
We partnered with them to provide them with guidance around the financials of allowing Olivia to attend a great school at a great price.
Interested in learning more about our college planning process? Click here to schedule a time to discuss your situation.
Disclaimer - This case study is provided for illustrative purposes only and is hypothetical in nature. It is provided to help you better understand the kinds of situations we commonly encounter and how we approach them. An individual’s experience will vary based on his or her individual circumstances.
Do you have a plan to pay for college?
What's Keeping You up at night?
How Do I Pay For College?
I know that it’s expensive, and I may not have saved enough. What funding strategies make the most sense for us given a limited time left to save?
How can I fund college without bankrupting my retirement?
I don’t want my kids to be saddled in student loans but I also don’t want to have to delay my retirement.
How can I reduce the cost of college?
I think my income is too high to be eligible for financial aid. Are there other strategies to reduce my cost?