College Planning: The Details Part 2

College is a great time to begin budgeting – a skill that will benefit anyone for the rest of their lives. In the first part of this post, we discussed the importance high school graduates preparing for the investment of college before they start. The conventional wisdom that you have to go to college to get a high-paying job is no longer always accurate. As with any financial decision, going to college should include weighing the pros and cons of the cost and reward. If your child has weighed these options and decided that college is the best financial decision, there are many resources to help figure out how to pay for college and how to choose the right school. 

College Planning: The Big Picture Part 1

Would you give your 10 year old your car keys and let him drive?  Would you let him drive on the turnpike?  Of course not – any parent would be deathly afraid for his safety and the safety of others.

Just as you wouldn’t let your unprepared 10 year old behind the wheel of the car, you do not want to let your high school graduate go to college without the proper preparation. In many ways, this is what we're doing with our kids and grandkids in college planning. We’re asking teenagers to make decisions about their future and their careers, when they are not prepared. Teenagers don't have the fiscal maturity to understand financing their college education, which is quite possibly putting them and others at risk.