Other Article: How to find a trustworthy financial adviser?
The children born today will go to Princeton University when they grow up. The tuition for four years is about 300000 dollars. It sounds impossible to save money for several children to go to college. But everything is possible. Here’s the answer:
- 1. Determine your scope of responsibility. Before starting a savings plan, you need to determine your area of responsibility. Will you support your children to attend any university they want to attend and bear any costs, regardless of their grades? Or should college education be entirely the responsibility of the children themselves (so you don’t need to continue reading this article)? If you are like most parents, you will find your own solution. My parents told me that they were willing to bear the cost of the local university and let me live at home. If I go to other places for college, they can only bear the same amount of expenses. I studied at a state university, lived at home, and got an MBA from Ivy League University.
- 2. Start saving money. If you plan to help children pay for college (you are still reading this article), the key step is to start saving money as soon as possible. The earlier you save, the more you save.
- 3. Join the 529 Program. The “529 Student Aid Scheme” is a tax-free savings scheme that provides education expenditure. If you haven’t joined the program and you already have children, join the 529 program today. If you plan to have children, but do not have children, you can start to consider joining the 529 plan. It is never too early to save money.
- 4. Involve the children. From children’s childhood, we should teach them about your investment in their education and your expectations for them. Encourage children to save money for college, let them share the responsibility, and strengthen their faith in college.
- 5. Help children apply for scholarships. There are a variety of scholarships that can be applied for, many of which do not require referrals and high scores. With the help of the Internet and financial aid institutions, it is worthwhile to apply for at least a dozen scholarships, even if only a few can be applied for. For example, my wife and I set up a scholarship to support students in the city’s primary school where my wife had taught for ten years.
- 6. Use the tax credit plan. The US government provides tax credits for people who pay for college tuition. If you have to pay for college tuition, you can get a tax credit. You need to know how to apply for the “American Opportunity Tax Credit” and the “Hope Tax Credit”, which can offset thousands of dollars of college expenses each year.
- 7. Try not to use student loans. Student loans can not be exempted from the responsibility of repayment when individuals go bankrupt. Student loans can cause years of trouble for you and your children. Eighteen year olds find it hard to understand the pain of student loans. If possible, try not to use student loans.
- 8. Choose wisely. Princeton and Harvard, as well as other universities, charge almost nothing for students from low-income families. If students from poor families enter the school, there is almost no education cost. Even the accommodation fee is not charged. It is reported that 20% of the students are poor students. Families above the minimum income line are deemed to be able to afford tuition fees.
Other Article: It sounds interesting, but how to start?
Follow the above basic steps to formulate and implement a study aid plan to ensure that children can go to college with ease. In this way, we do not need to take great pains, but also avoid the burden of lifelong repayment of student loans for children.