The Two Minute Financial Aid Primer

by Wayne Firebaugh on August 10, 2011

The financial aid system can seem so complicated. This video describes the four different things the financial aid formulas try to assess before determining how much aid a student should be awarded.

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It’s Even Worse than You Thought

by Wayne Firebaugh on April 20, 2011

If you think college is expensive, you will be dismayed to learn that it can actually be much more expensive than you ever imagined. This video describes two factors – delayed graduation and income taxes – that can cause a shocking increase in a family’s college cash outlay.

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College Savings Accident Ahead

by Wayne Firebaugh on April 4, 2011

Many people believe prepaid tuition plans are safe because they are guaranteed by the sponsoring state. Unfortunately, as this video describes, this is often a dangerously wrong assumption.

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529 Plans – The 2nd Best Way to Save for College

by Wayne Firebaugh on March 24, 2011

A 529 plan is definitely not a complete college funding strategy. In fact, for many families, a 529 plan isn’t even the best college savings option. 529 plans can be expensive and inflexible. They do not generate federal tax deductions and, if you are not careful, the anticipated tax-free withdrawals may not materialize. This video describes what might be the perfect alternative to a 529 plan.

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You’re Playing the Wrong Game

January 25, 2011

Let’s just agree that the federal financial aid formulas overstate your family’s ability to pay for college. For that reason, many parents try to game the system by reducing their reportable resources. At the top end of the scale, the aid formulas assess your income at 46%. However, your assets are assessed at “only” 5.6%. [...]

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Please Just Tell Me

January 4, 2011

Applying to college can often feel like talking to your spouse. Why can’t you just tell me what you want? I’m not a mind-reader and I don’t really want to guess what you are thinking. If that exchange sounds familiar, you’re in luck. Well, at least you are in luck with respect to your college [...]

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Sneaky College Cost Increases

August 9, 2010

For a lot of families, college is about to get a lot more expensive. Over the past 10 years, tuition and fees have increased at an annual rate of 4.9% more than inflation (CollegeBoard Trends in College Pricing 2009). To be sure, that 4.9% represents a very substantial and painful gap between growth rates of [...]

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There Oughta Be A Law!

July 8, 2010

Richard Dawkins, famed Oxford zoologist and atheist, has often said it is impossible to legislate morality. However, more than two years after the beginning of a market meltdown, a Congressional conference committee unveiled a 2,000-page bill trying to do just that. This pending legislation represents the most significant changes to financial regulations since the Securities [...]

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So Long, Small S Corporation?

June 25, 2010

Managing taxes is an important part of saving for college. S corporations can help manage a business owner’s tax burden because corporate income “passes through” to shareholders. This means that S corporations don’t pay income taxes. Rather, shareholders pay the taxes on corporate earnings but not on any cash that is distributed. In addition, shareholders [...]

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For-profit college? Forget about it!

June 21, 2010

The Higher Education Act of 1965 requires proprietary and vocational (read “for-profit”) colleges, other than clearly designated “liberal arts” or non-degreed vocational programs, provide “an eligible program of training to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.” Compliance is a condition for those colleges’ students to be eligible for federal financial aid including [...]

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