Every year the cost of college goes up, and every year families struggle harder to meet these rising costs. Pay for College without Sacrificing Your Retirement offers help for taking on the double challenge of paying for your children’s college education and saving for your retirement. It shows how to maximize your resources, evaluate colleges and financial aid opportunities, avoid crushing student debt, make the tax system work for you, and save for retirement. … More >>
#1 by William J. Ross on July 1, 2010 - 7:19 pm
I read this book both as a CPA who has many clients ask me about financial aid and as a father of 2 children. In both regards, this book was excellent. The author starts with a wise premise, that your retirement and putting your kids through college are linked together and any money paid to your child’s college is money that you won’t have in retirement. The book then strikes a great balance between overview and detail so that you can get the information you would need in your situation without sacrificing thoroughness. The tone is easy to read. There are sufficient examples and highlights of important points. And, the book seems very comprehensive, so after reading it, I felt I knew enough to intelligently begin to rework my savings for my children’s education.
I will unhesitatingly recommend this book to clients and colleagues. In fact, I plan to purchase multiple copies to have on hand for my clients, many of whom have the same questions that I had and which the book answered.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Hewitt Heiserman Jr. on July 1, 2010 - 7:49 pm
If you are worried about paying for college tuition–and after 2008, who isn’t?–then get Pay for College Without Sacrificing Your Retirement, by Tim Higgins (Bay Tree Publishing, 2008). As Higgins, a Boston-based financial planner notes, college is the second biggest expense for most families, after housing. But in this easy-to-read book you’ll get lots of practical tips to help you take care of your kids’ education bills while also making sure you are not putting your golden years at risk.
Hewitt Heiserman
Author, It’s Earnings That Count (McGraw-Hill, 2004)
[...]
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by CTM on July 1, 2010 - 8:35 pm
This book changed my approach to paying for college. We have been faithfully putting money into our children’s college funds and funding our retirement, but this book really opened my eyes to the big picture by asking two important questions, “How close to retirement age will you be when your last child graduates? And when he or she does graduate, how financially ready will you be for retirement?”
This is not a last-minute, quick fix for scrounging up money when your child is a senior. But for those late in the game (a child in high school), it does do an excellent job of explaining how financial aid works, why you should fill out the application for aid even you’re sure you won’t get any, and what to do with your assets (and when) to increase the possibility that you will get aid. It also gives advice on working with colleges to see if your child can get a better aid package than the one he or she was initially awarded.
I also really liked the fact that the book isn’t just about getting financial aid. Just because you don’t qualify for federal aid doesn’t mean that paying for college is easy. The author does a nice job giving examples of strategies for a variety of income levels. We won’t qualify for need-based aid, but I learned that there is more I can do in terms of our savings and investments to help pay for college.
The book also isn’t just about the money. I appreciated the discussion on the importance of selecting the right college, not just sending my child to what she thinks is her dream college. I have changed my mind about the importance of the college visit prior to making a decision. I didn’t do this when I chose a college, but will now think of that as an investment rather than an optional, possibly unnecessary expense.
Overall, this book gave me a much greater appreciation for the interconnectedness of my two most important financial goals in life and very useful strategies for working toward fulfilling both. I think they should hand this book out at the doctor’s office along with “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” We have done a decent job with our finances over the years but I wish I had had this epiphany back when my first child was a baby. I have highlighted passages in this book, which I never do, and will keep it close by until my last child orders her collegiate cap and gown.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Midwest Book Review on July 1, 2010 - 10:35 pm
The outrageous costs of college are what scare many a potential student off, unwilling to work until the day they die. “Pay for College Without Sacrificing Your Retirement: A Guide to Your Financial Future” is a personal finance future says that the two can coexist quite well. Outlining financial aid, scholarships, tax shelters, personal savings, and other things that those looking towards college must consider, “Pay for College Without Sacrificing Your Retirement” is the companion guide these students need.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Sue Maghielse on July 1, 2010 - 10:41 pm
If you have ever been awake at 3 am worrying about the financing of your child’s college education you MUST read “Pay for College Without Sacrificing Your Retirement.” A $20 investment in this book could save you THOUSANDS of dollars, no matter what your tax bracket is. Moreover, you may learn that the expensive “pie in the sky” college that your kid really wants to attend is amazingly affordable. Kudos to Tim Higgins!
Rating: 5 / 5