Unless you’re one of those “wrapped and done by December one” people, you probably have some names left uncrossed on this year’s Christmas list. If that’s the case, I want to take a minute to suggest that you give the most boring gift of all.
For all of you entering college for the first time this month, and for all you seniors leaving high school this spring (including mine!!), this is for you! We know you’re feeling the pressure of not only choosing where you will go to college, but what you’ll pick to major in. These decisions would be daunting at any age, but at 18, well, it’s a lot. I know many of you will say you’ll go to whatever school will have you and give you the best financial package, but let’s take a step back for a moment and talk about a few personal development questions.
When it comes to paying for college, we generally see three distinct points of view from our client families. Some come in and say, “Hey, I paid for my college by working and saving, so my kids should do the same.” Others take a similar approach but offer a reward of some kind, whether help with a down payment on a home or assistance paying for graduate school, once the child has worked his or her way through school. The third approach we see are the parents and grandparents who want to pay for all aspects of their children’s college, either because their parents didn’t or couldn’t pay for theirs and they remember how tough that was, or because their parents did and they want to do the same thing for their kids.
Now that we’ve all survived prom season and all the hoopla that comes with that, soon enough we’ll be in the midst of graduation season, with caps & gowns and parties and first jobs. While the kids are happy to be graduating, all you parents out there will be thinking about the next tuition bill coming due as another kiddo heads off to college.
After well over a decade in this business, we see certain topics over and over again when we sit down with clients in our conference room. Two of the most common goals people have are saving for retirement and saving for college, and the two can often feel at odds with one another, In most cases, saving for college feels more difficult than saving for retirement, and there are several reasons for that.
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