College Planning Dream Team
©2009 by Marc R. Hill, CCFC, RFC®, CCFC, CAFC
College costs are on the rise and show no signs of slowing their climb. According to the College Board’s “Trends in College Pricing” the average annual cost for in-state tuition ranges from $17,336 for public institutions to a whopping $35,374 for private universities. And these figures are for the 2007-2008 school year, so just imagine the sticker shock families are facing this school year! Adding insult to injury, college expenses are typically paid with after-tax dollars, which means that if you’re in the 28 percent tax bracket, you need to make $24,075 to pay a public institution’s $17,336 tuition. Yikes!
With numbers like these, it should come as no surprise that “How will we afford college?” is one of the top questions causing American families to lose sleep. When faced with this question, most people turn to guidance counselors, accountants and financial planners for answers. After all, guidance counselors are on the frontlines of securing information about potential colleges. Financial planners are experts in investing money, while accountants specialize in minimizing the tax consequences of each tool in a financial planning arsenal.
Unfortunately, putting your ability to afford and pay for college in the hands of these professionals can be a costly mistake. Although they each bring value to the college planning process, relying solely on their advice means that you will not fully leverage your ability to secure a lower cost for college or maximize the buying power of the college savings you accumulate.
To leverage the full range of tools and strategies that exist, you need more than one advisor. At Reduce My College Costs, we believe that no single professional can properly meet all of your college planning needs. For optimal results, you should work with several different professionals, each of whom brings a unique skill set to the table.
In this special report you’ll be introduced to the key players in the college planning arena, including guidance counselors, accountants and financial planners. You’ll learn what type of advice each professional is best qualified to give and how to leverage the expertise of each player.
By building a college planning dream team, you’ll be better able to achieve your dream of putting your child through college, all while minimizing the impact on your retirement plans, tax burden and lifestyle. Best of all, by learning how to build and utilize your college planning dream team; you should be able to minimize the school loans your child accumulates.
Read the “blueprint” on how to build your college planning team by following Dream Team.
