By Brock Jolly
The College Funding Coach

For most high school graduates, a college education has become an expectation, rather than an option. For many families, the exorbitant cost of higher education has made paying for this rite of passage more like a PhD in microeconomics.

The good news is that there is a solution. As a financial advisor, I see many families with varying degrees of wealth. The majority of these families have their money in two places — their home equity and their qualified retirement plans, including IRAs and 401(k) plans.

When it comes time to pay for college, neither of these two resources is particularly liquid. In many cases, the family finances look great for retirement; but parents still have to get over the hurdle of paying for college education for their children at a cost of $20,000 to $40,000, and for exclusive private schools that amount can hit $60,000 per child, per year.

Read more about "Little-Known Secrets of Paying for College: A Planning Primer"

By Brock Jolly
The College Funding Coach

President Jimmy Carter was fond of saying, “Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.”

I tend to be a believer in taking calculated, or compensated risk. While, I believe it is important to take risks in many areas of life, planning for college, retirement or any financial goal, should not be one of them. Here’s why.

In financial planning, advisors often pontificate that high risk means high reward, whereas low risk means low reward.

In my experience, it is nearly impossible to eliminate risk; however, it is very possible to mitigate risk. My financial planning practice focuses heavily on creating strategies for families to send their children to college with minimal out-of-pocket cost.

As a financial advisor, one of my first focal points with clients has to be managing risk. As a case in point, we can create a great asset accumulation plan designed to send children to college; but it is worthless if we fail to plan for the “what ifs” in life.

What if the stock market tanks in the year prior to college? What if one of the parents dies prematurely, or becomes disabled? What if we’ve created a great college funding plan and the child never even attends school?

Read more about "When it comes to saving for college and retirement, there is value in avoiding risk"

By Brock Jolly
The College Funding Coach

Over the past decade, Section 529 plans have become the primary college funding vehicle favored by most families. This month is an appropriate time to focus on this tool, because May 29 (= 5/29) is National 529 College Savings Day, sponsored by the College Savings Plans Network.

Statistics show that most parents are familiar with Section 529 plans, yet only about 12% of parents have actually invested in these plans, according to InvestmentNews.

This may be a blessing in disguise because many parents who invested in Section 529 plans lost significant sums of money with the recent decline of the financial markets—money that was designed to be spent in the very near future—but is now gone.

As with any financial product, Section 529 plans have advantages and disadvantages, so it is imperative that parents evaluate their options before diving headfirst into the ocean of college savings alternatives.

“Click here to read more about “Understanding the Basics.”:

Read more about "Do 529 Plans make the grade?"

By Brock Jolly
The College Funding Coach

Amazing as it may seem, even young workers are fearful that a comfortable retirement may not be in their future, according to a recent poll.

In fact, a Chicago Tribune reporter recently asked me what economic factors are contributing to these fears and how do these concerns differ across different age groups? How has government policy affected the average worker’s chances at a comfortable retirement? What is the potential economic fallout from the hundreds of thousands of workers who say, “I will work until I die?”

This is the situation, as I see it.

Read more about "Retirement fears in an uncertain economy"