2013 College Funding Whitepaper

Almost everyone with young children and  teenagers needs to be thinking about how they are going to  help their children fund their college expenses! This is not something that you  can start effectively planning with a 17-18 year old! Effective planning strategies are most effective if you start implementing them when your children are 7-12 years old!  The fund allocation  strategies also  require that funds be allocated before  you start working on your Free Application For Student Aid (FAFSA)  Time is your best friend!
Albert Einstein said "one of the greatest wonders in the universe is the compounding of interest!" This is from the same guy who discovered  E=MC2!

If you  want a copy of my whitepaper titled "2013 Guide to College Funding"
If you  want a copy by email it is available at no charge. If you live in the US and want a copy by regular mail it is also available. However for mailed copies there is a charge of $6.00 including shipping and handling. We prefer to send it by email!

It discusses  Scholarships, Grants, 529 Plans, ROTH IRA, 401K Plans, Cash funding and TAX FREE funding strategies. It also includes strategies that can help you increase your eligibility for Financial Aid. This involves ways to reduce your out of pocket expense in the college funding process. Some of these you can implement on your own but some do require the use of a financial professional  like us!  Even families with close to a 6 figure income  or 6 figure assets can benefit from some of the legal strategies we talk about.

 These techniques are very useful for parents and are also helpful for grandparent that wants to help fund a grandchild's college education. In many  states we can help you effectively implement the strategies we discuss.

Generic questions or comments can be directed to us here on the blog or contact us through the following methods.
To call    614-264-3864
to email  financial-services@live.com
to visit website go to  http://financial-service6.wix.com/polarisfinancial

IS a 529 Plan Right for your situation

529 College Saving Plans

529 Plans for college saving. There are numerous questions about saving for college. I believe that for many people the best ways to save for college are not in a 529 Plan. Many State plans have produced DISMAL results.. Previous news reports in the Columbus Dispatch have detailed poor performance in the Ohio plan even before the recent Market meltdown. Many states plan participants tend to invest in age based formula driven plan options with less risky products receiving a greater percentage of the funds as the students get closer to College age. That is a good idea but it may not be enough. With a 40% loss or more some plans are not likely to have enough time to fully recover before the funds are needed. She also adds that many families have had to cut back on funding the plans because of tight budgets in general.

It is important to continue saving something every month even if it is only $25 a pay period. You cannot alter investment allocation for existing funds in the plan more than once per year. Even though you may not be able to reallocate the existing funds you can immediately allocate the new contributions however you wish.

529 Plans have high funding limits. You can actually set aside $250,000 for your childrens education Tax free. Unfortunately if your children do not use the funds you will get penalized when you withdraw the funds. In some ways using a ROTH is better but the maximum contributions are much lower. You also have much more investment or savings flexibility with the ROTH