Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Funding a 529 plan for a child’s education by a gift to the child, may help get assets off your balance sheet and help minimize your estate tax exposure, but caution must be oaid for two reasons.  First, setting up the trust for in someone else’s name means you give up control.  If the child [...]

There is a reason the Educational IRA has been fortgotten, its benefits have been surpassed by 529 Plans.  Educational IRAs had restricted income levels to qualfy to contribute and for distribution while 529 plans do not, and though educartional IRAs are self directed allowing for greater choices in investment vehicles, the number of state sponsored [...]

Once a popular tool for saving for college and sheltering investment income from taxation, the UGMA, unified gift to minor’s account haspretty much faded away and for good reason.  The advent of 529 plans has eliminated any value UGMAs had.  In addition the “kiddie” tax makes the taxation on these accountsno better than if held [...]

Using a financial planning software like ExecPlan Express retirement planning software can helop guide you through planning for a future college expense using 529 plans.  529 plans have become increasingly popular through the years as the investment vehicle of choice to fund college education, simply because of its tax free growth and unlimited contribution levels.  However [...]

Killing two financial goals with the same dollars is always a top finacial planning goal.  And though it is only appropriate for some famuilies, using a VUL policy to fund college expenses may make a lot of sense.  The obvious is that a VUL will provide in the short term the capital needs protection in the event [...]

There is not standard approach to funding future college expenses.  This is because everyone has unique financial goals, retirement objectives, cash flow, tax exposure and family structure that will play into what makes most sense.  To get the right idea and to look at various options requires using a financial planning software like ExecPlan Express retirement planning [...]

A key consideration for creating a personal financial plan for some people will be those who need to integrate college funding into their personal finances.  Ownership of assets and what type of assets you invest in, can significantly impact how much financial aid and in some cases qualifying for some college scholarships will depend on [...]

If you thought all financial assets are treated the same for college financial aid calculations, you would be wrong.  Financial aid formulas exclude certain types of assets.  These assets include retirement accounts such as profit sharing plans, IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401k plans, SEPs, Keoghs, deferred compensation plans, 457 plans, profit sharing plans, etc.  In addition the cash [...]

Too often people believe income levels determine qualification for financial aid.  That is only part of the personal finance equation for determining financial aid.  Your assets as well as your child’s assets will also have a significant effect on how much you may qualify for financial assistance.  And who owns the assets  have a major [...]

The new investment bubble may be college education.  There oncewas a time that a high school education was enough to obtain employment that would provide enough to save for retirement , put away for your children’s education adn even invest in a vacation home.  Today the employment market demands a college degree, and with that higher salaries [...]