It’s July already???? Yikes, 2017 has gone by quickly! Time to do a financial check-up on those New Year’s Resolutions to see how you are doing. I don’t know what your resolutions were, so here are a few common ones that there is still time to tackle. BEFORE you are making your resolutions for…
Are you game? I admit it. Often when we go to my kids’ sports games I bring along a guy who yells at my kids from the sidelines. He is their father, so I don’t have much choice. Occasionally, I’ve been known to say a few loud-ish words myself. Why do we put…
This one came out around Christmas from Fox Business, but it’s a concept worth thinking about whenever gift-giving opportunities arise. While it’s long been possible to hand out cash, buy stock or contribute to college savings plans, financial institutions and retailers are making it easier to bestow a gift with lasting value. Among them…
It’s almost back to school time! To me, that means back to homework time for parents. And why do we do all of this nagging and whip cracking to our kids about grades? So they can go to college and hopefully get some scholarship money to pay for it. The ultimate goal being, of course,…
As I write this blog (I write them in advance of them coming out), I’m waiting for yet another cancellation notice for my sons’ games this weekend due to weather. We will be playing spring sports make-up games until August at this rate. It’s not so disruptive to my schedule because I am a very…
Every parent has probably had this conversation with their school aged child. Kid: I hate school. I can’t wait until I’m a grown-up and don’t have to learn or do homework. Parent: Guess what, chief. You are never done learning and doing homework. I still have to learn new things all the time so…
Seventy two percent of grandparents polled in a 2014 Fidelity survey felt it was important to help pay for grandchildren’s’ educations. Wow! That is a very large number. For those who are in a position to chip in a little (or a lot) for college for their grandchildren, here are a couple of ideas. Open…
That’s right, I said YOUR plan, because I already know my kids aren’t getting any athletic or academic scholarships. At a Financial Planning Association meeting I picked up this flyer from the nice folks at College Invest. In the flyer there are several interesting statistics: 83% of Colorado parents expect their child to receive a…
I recently had friend ask me this question. The answer is “yes, you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it.” There are main reasons for this: Investments: 529 College Savings plans are generally invested in pre-packaged funds whose aggressiveness is based on the child’s age. The younger the child, the more stocks are in the portfolio. …
First, let’s talk about what a parent is NOT to do. Please do not stop saving for retirement, or worse, take money out of your retirement accounts to pay for your kids’ college expenses. You have only one shot at saving for retirement, but your kids have many ways to pay for college. Some examples:…
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