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August 9, 2023 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
Attention Parents and Grandparents of College-Bound Students: FAFSA Gets an Overhaul Changes are coming to the complicated form that students must submit to qualify for college financial aid, known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The Department of Education is calling it the “most ambitious and significant redesign of the federal student aid application in decades” and adds that it “includes unprecedented changes to how students and families apply...

August 9, 2023 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
Money Tips for Parents Sending Children Off to College You’ve done a great job teaching your children vital life lessons and instilling values that will last a lifetime. As summer ends and a new school year begins, one thing that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially for college-bound children, is the money talk. Having open and honest discussions about finances can help shape your child’s long-term relationship with money, which might set them...

July 13, 2023 in College Planning, Estate Planning, Tax Management
How the SECURE 2.0 Act Changed 529 Plans Changes to 529 Plans in the SECURE 2.0 Act The SECURE Act was initially passed by Congress at the end of 2019 and was intended to improve retirement savings opportunities. It was a big deal at the time and the most significant piece of retirement legislation since the 2006 Pension Protection Act. Congress came together to pass SECURE 2.0 at the end of 2022 to...

September 14, 2016 in College Planning, Financial Life Planning, Young Adult Series
Attention, all parents and students! We bid farewell to Sheri’s Summer Refresher Series and bring you an important, good-news announcement that you might have missed in all the back-to-school action (including all the obligatory “first day at school” social media posts and pics). As reported in a New York Times article, “Earlier Date for Filing Fafsa Form for College Aid,” the national Education Department just made it easier to apply for...

September 3, 2016 in Articles, College Planning, Dimensional, Investing
September 2016 Back to School Higher education may come with a high and increasing price tag, so it makes sense to plan well in advance. With school back in session in most of the country, many parents are likely thinking about how best to prepare for their children’s future college expenses. Now is a good time to sharpen one’s pencil for a few important lessons before heading back into the investing classroom to...

July 19, 2016 in College Planning, Family Money, Summer Refresher Series, Young Adult Series
In early June, several of us at SAGEbroadview shared our recent adventures in the college admissions process. In particular, Sheri described some of the college admission challenges  that she, her husband and her youngest son Devon encountered as they sought a good fit for his higher education ambitions. It would be comforting to say that it will be easier for Sheri this time, since Devon is their second son to head...

June 1, 2016 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
Following up on Sheri’s insights  from Devon’s search for a musical program, Wendy Vissar reflects on the challenges that she, her husband Michael Slackman and their son Nikolas have encountered in his desire to pursue a career in theatrical arts. As long-time neighbors and good friends, Nik and Devon are both about to make their way into the wider world. We hope they remain close to us and one another...

June 1, 2016 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
Shakespeare may have been right when he penned, “All the world’s a stage.” But as Sheri, her husband Dave and their youngest son Devon have discovered, an aspiring performing arts student will still find the college admissions process even more challenging as a result of extra audition and other specialized requirements. Following is Sheri’s advice for families of students who are interested in entering performing arts programs, like the one Devon...

June 1, 2016 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
In our last post, we described how a number of us here at SAGEbroadview have been on personal quests to send our kids to college … and have lived to tell the tale. Today, we share some of the key insights Lynn Iannetta Baker discovered as she, her husband Scott and their daughter Sarah looked into schools that seemed best suited for Sarah’s educational aspirations. Combining two parts of practical wisdom...

May 25, 2016 in College Planning, Family Money, Young Adult Series
Planning for College It never rains but it pours, or so the saying goes. As it applies to sending our beloved adult children to college, many of us here at SAGEbroadview have been getting deluged lately. As Sheri described, Dominic flew the coop in 2014. This fall Devon, her youngest son, is entering the University of Hartford’s music performance and composition program via The Hartt School. Lynn has also recently completed “the...