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College and Private Education Planning

Education funding and college planning may seem like a daunting and complex project, but here at Total Wealth Planning, our mission is to turn this overwhelming task into a comprehensive step-by-step process. Our proprietary College Planning Process is designed to help our clients navigate through the vast number of available options while simultaneously saving time and expense. From the beginning, our team will examine all available strategies and provide unbiased recommendations based on your family’s goals and needs. As a holistic financial planning firm, we believe that education costs can be an integral part of your financial picture. With education costs on the rise, establishing a plan now could have a major impact on retirement planning or other long-term goals. Are you ready to start planning for your future? 

Our Planning Approach Considers 5 Key Components:

Education planning is about integrating each one of these areas into a comprehensive coordinated plan.

At Total Wealth Planning, we have developed a four-year college planning checklist, which begins with each child’s freshman year of high school, to help manage the planning process. As each year of high school progresses, so do activities of both parent and student. It specifically outlines the responsibilities of both parents and students each year. It starts with simple things like establishing good study habits, striving for a high GPA and enhancing vocabulary and writing skills. For parents, step one is beginning to understand the Expected Family Contribution (EFC)—and whether repositioning of income and assets to increase eligibility for financial aid—is warranted. In addition, parents must decide their own financial commitment. This is not an easy decision, but one that must be planned out by establishing specific goals and objectives.

What to Avoid

In our “what to avoid step”, we help parents avoid certain mistakes that can harm a student’s ability to receive needs-based or merit-based financial aid. We help you become aware of the numerous scholarship search scams and college consultants promising a whole host of awards and other aid packages that typically do not come through.