The Top 5 Adviser Mistakes in College Planning

Few financial advisers and insurance professionals have been trained in the planning module of college funding. But there are specialists whose core competency is college plan design and securing funding from various resources. Parents with college bound children need a trusted adviser, not a pushy salesperson. They also need an adviser that understands the big picture of an overall financial plan. The cost of sending your children to college seems at first to be in conflict with your saving strategies for retirement. So many parents of college bound children sacrifice their future retirement income and long-term care protection to give their children a higher education. But with the right advice, you can manage both scenarios without hurting your lifestyle in your golden years.

While the Baby Boomers are heading into retirement, the Gen X and Y parent population is just beginning to send their children to college. They appear to be saving for retirement, but with the cost of college growing ever higher their retirement funding has grinded to a halt. There’s always a conflict between current and future needs. That’s why a professional college planner is so vital to your family’s economy. Meanwhile the millennial generation is being crushed with student debt and as a consequence is delaying marriage, delaying starting a family, and delaying buying a home. Good financial advice is helpful in every sphere, but in college planning it’s critical 

There are a few characteristics to avoid in an adviser:

They sell only to future needs like retirement, instead of immediate needs like college.

They may pose as a trusted professional adviser when they’re actually just a salesperson.

Their compensation model is only commission based products and excludes fees.
The “adviser” only talks about and sells the same product line to fund everything.

Parents may be starved for help and good information, which leads to picking the wrong adviser. There are trained financial advisers and insurance agents who have learned the college funding aspect and all the items surrounding applying for schools, financial aid and post college repayments. Choose wisely. It’s your life. It’s your time. It’s your money.

^{John McDonough has contributed to this press release. Segments in part or whole are from his publications.}