Education Planning

Education planning for your children can be a major financial consideration. Planning early allows you to take advantage of the time value of money and help minimize the savings requirement.

Consideration should be given to one or more of the following strategies when trying to maximize your college planning:

• Prioritizing your education objective with your insurance needs, retirement needs, major purchases and current income needs

• Developing an effective savings strategy that considers asset allocation and takes advantage of education plans

• Considering the various education funding accounts -- Qualified State Tuition Plans (also known as 529 Plans#), Uniform Transfer to Minor Accounts (UTMA) / Uniform Gifts to Minor Accounts (UGMA), Coverdell Educational savings accounts and prepaid tuition plans

• Ensuring college expenses are realistically calculated and include tuition, room and board and living expenses. There are many factors to consider such as the inflation rate for the rising cost of tuition, whether your child will attend post-graduate studies and whether your is likely to receive scholarships or financial aid.