The College Planning Blog

Hope Is NOT A Plan

Brannon and I were chatting about a client last week and I was commenting about how my client said that, “They were going to wait and see what happened with their financial aid” before they executed our college savings plan. While I was talking with Brannon he said something very interesting. He said, “Hope is not a plan.”

Long after we discussed the client, I kept thinking about what Brannon said….”Hope is not a plan.” If you hang out with Brannon you realize that he’s a really sharp guy. I didn’t think much about what he said at first, but it stayed with me for a while.

Here’s my problem. It seems like no one, and I mean no one wants to take ownership for anything. They don’t plan to do anything. They don’t plan to save, they don’t plan to make money, they don’t plan the next two, three, or four weeks of their lives, let alone the next few years of their lives on this planet.

I don’t mean to get all philosophical or anything but I’ve recently noticed that people have  become completely unable to make a decision in their lives. They are hopeless. They are paralyzed. They are frozen. They just can’t move.

Is it the economy? Is it the uncertainty about the future? Is it the news? I don’t know exactly what it is. But I’ve got a few clients that absolutely refuse to make a decision. Let me give you an example. Three years ago I presented a client with a plan to pay off credit card debt, pay off their car, pay off a credit line, and pay for college for their three kids. Well, the good news is they did part of it. The bad news is that they only took care of half of their cash flow challenges. Guess what they told me? They told me, “We’ll wait to see what happens.”

Well I heard from them yesterday and they are in bad shape. One kid has graduated from college, one is a sophomore in college, and the other is a freshman in college, and THEY ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF MONEY!!! This is AFTER I got a $360,000 bill down to $200,000.

Now they are out of money, the equity in their house is non-existent, their business is in the tank, and they now have to try to borrow the money via PLUS loans. I say try because I’m not sure that they can even borrow the money.

Here’s the irony, if they had just listened and executed the plan….their cash flow would have been LESS than it is now!!!

How about you? Are you hoping for a great 2009?

You better not be! Don’t hope that things will work out. They almost never will work out they way that we want without doing something.

Being aggressive in getting your business taken care of beats out hope every single time.

Make a plan, execute the plan, and make 2009 the best year ever.

Hi Guys,

Last week, The Wall Street Journal carried a story, “Harvard’s Endowment Drops 22% in 4 Months.”

It seems that even the mighty Harvard isn’t immune to the woes afflicting the financial markets. Harvard announced that it would curtail spending and look at other ways to cut costs.

The Harvard endowment, the biggest of any university, stood at $36.9 billion as of June 30, meaning the loss amounts to about $8 billion. That’s more than the entire endowments of all but six colleges, according to the latest official tally.

It’s unconfirmed, but I have it on good word that they’ve taken the drastic steps of suspending their afternoon teas at the Harvard Club!

It’s unclear what effect our recession will have on grants, scholarships and other financial aid at colleges across the U.S.

Here’s the good news:  so far, many institutions have indicated that they will do everything possible to maintain, or even increase, student aid!

If you have a student who will be enrolled in college anytime between now and the next few years, you need to roll up your sleeves, dig in and research which schools are offering money.  You also should identify the colleges that are not doling out the dollars anymore.

Yes, some schools have more money than others.

Wouldn’t you like to know who has what BEFORE your student applies?

Attend one of our final college funding workshops next week and I promise you’ll learn a heckuva lot of “inside” information that you’ll never find out anywhere else.  Info that you can use to save tens of thousands of dollars in college costs.

http://s2198.collegeplanningwebsystem.com/events

Best,

Jeremy

P.S.  These are our final workshops this year. If you have a senior in high school, you are on “life support”

when it comes to college funding. It’s now or never.

P.P.S.  I was kidding about the teas.

Jeremy Farmer

Co-Host, “College Planning Power Hour” Sundays at 5PM on 1070AM

Check our FREE college funding workshop schedule (space is very limited):

http://s2198.collegeplanningwebsystem.com/events

Hey Guys,

I have to say that we were completely overwhelmed with the response from yesterday’s radio show. The College Planning Power Hour is on Sundays at 5PM on 1070AM.

College insiders have resumed their radio show, giving parents priceless advice to help them save thousands.

While they’ve saved thousands of families too much money to count, local college planning experts say that’s not going nearly far enough. After speaking in front of tens of thousands of parents over the last five years local college planning experts will begin broadcasting their message using 10,000 watts of power since, as Jeff Farmer says, “One man can only shout so loudly, we need to get the word out that people can save more on college.”

If you have never had the privilege to see Jeff, Jeremy, or Brannon in person conduct one of their famous and controversial college planning workshops, this week is your chance. They are making personal appearances at 2 workshops this week at 7:00 PM at the Sugar Land Library, 550 Eldridge in Sugar Land, and the Cypress Creek Community Center and Church (open to the public), 6823 Cypresswood Drive in Spring.

“We have the perfect storm brewing right now, a tanking stock market, an economy in a recession, and a record number of applicants creating the most difficult college admissions in history. However, for millions of families the need to send a student to college is not going away. It’s shocking that so many parents won’t even be able to afford for their kids to go to school in the next few years, so many good students won’t be able to go, and many students will have to drop out, unless they know the inside information that the colleges don’t want given out,” says Jeremy Farmer. He then adds, “It’s not even a matter of affording the best school….it’s being able to have ANY money left at all these days. Brannon Lloyd was astonished when he first started talking to parents and realized how much bad information was floating around-some of it in the media, “It’s amazing how many parents are desperate for this kind of information. I really don’t know what to say, except that I’m totally blown away.”

The College Planning Power Hour broadcasts Live on KNTH AM 1070 Sundays from 5-6pm.

To register or view other dates, please click here.

We are also on Itunes!
The guys have started adding their previous shows to iTunes as a podcast. From the iTunes store search “College Planning Power Hour.”

Hey Guys,

We’ve been pretty busy here at College Planning Central this past week - seems like every workshop we run books up solid this time of year.

If you’ve been on checking our site for any length of time, but haven’t yet had a chance to see either Jeff, Brannon, or yours truly up close and personal in a workshop, don’t put this off any longer.

I was chatting with a fella who took months before he decided to attend a wokshop.  It got me thinking.

Sometimes prospective workshop attendees view my ads month after month, see the emails, read the articles published by us, but don’t do anything although they know they need help.  Then they rush around at the last minute.  I think I know the reason.

It’s because they think there’s a “catch.”  They don’t see how a three guys who put themselves out there, week after week, promoting their business to the public, can possibly be doing anything other than selling something at these “free” workshops.

Well, here’s a confession – we do get an occasional client out of our workshops!  Yes, it’s true.

But that’s not because we are “selling” anything there.

In fact, we have a strict “no-pitch” policy at each of the locations we conduct - each location is a non-profit or educational setting:  community centers, libraries, colleges, high schools…places like that.

We’re giving the workshops as a community service.  Teachers, administrators, students and college advisors show up at our events. So do doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and candlestick makers.

None of them receives a sales pitch.  Zero.

In fact, there are plenty of folks who attend our events who we could help, but specifically choose not to.  That’s because we’re extremely busy this time of year and can afford to cherry pick the ones who we think we’ll enjoy working with!

So yes, occasionally folks at workshops will approach us and, ultimately, become clients.  Of course that happens - duh.

But if you’re worried about having your arm twisted or being hounded to hire us, you can relax.

See, here’s what really goes on behind closed doors.

We educate you on the ‘rules of the game’ of college tuition discounts, scholarships and financial aid.

We give clear, tangible “nuggets” of information that you can implement right away to slash thousands of dollars off your college costs,

including:

*  The “secret” way to double or triple your eligibility for free money for college, regardless of your income;

*  How the Department of Education calculates how much aid you’ll qualify for;

*  and a lot more (this email is long enough already!)

But I promise, there’s absolutely no pressure to sign or pay for anything on the spot.

So if you’re afraid that we’re selling timeshares or used cars, chill out!  Forget about that stuff, you have more important things to worry about, like the high costs of college!

Don’t be shy, come out to one of our workshops!  You could walk away with information that could be literally worth tens of thousands of dollars!

Here’s the link to upcoming workshops.

http://s2198.collegeplanningwebsystem.com/events

See ya!

- Jeff, Jeremy, and Brannon

P.S.  Not only do we not sell anything or mention our services, we actually GIVE you stuff!

Due to various calls and emails wondering about our Radio Show:

Our sponsor, KNTH 1070 AM, is airing the Aeros and Comets games during the Sunday @ 5pm hour that is usually reserved for the College Planning Power Hour Radio Show.
We look to continue on with our show, according to KNTH on the 2nd Sunday in December, the 14th, 2008.
Thank you for your inquiries and your time,.

Sincerely yours,
College Planning Power Hour Staff.

You may not believe this blog, but bear with me.

Jeff, Brannon, and I constantly talk about how even millyunaires (yes, I know how to spell it, but that word gets spam-filtered easily….) should apply for college financial aid, even if they think they won’t qualify.

Before I get to the story I read today, let me give you a little background on college admissions.

Background that you’ll never hear anywhere else.

Are you familiar with US News and World Report?

This magazine is at the top of the heap when it comes to ranking colleges and universities.

Many admissions heads obsess over their rankings, particularly the colleges in the fourth, third and even second tiers, trying to figure out how to move up in rankings.  Better rankings equals more applicants, more enrolled and the ability to charge higher tuition and fees.

Like it or not, that’s the way it is.

Many ambitious, upwardly-mobile colleges will do all sorts of things to improve their standing with US News.

Some offer “bribes” to good students by way of merit scholarships to pry them away from Ivy League or other highly competive schools.  This funding is doled out without regard to the family’s financial picture.  And it’s heaped upon students with grades and scores that are not “Ivy-caliber”, too!

Now check out what Baylor University did.  Apparently, the SAT’s of last year’s incoming freshman class was worse than the previous year’s.  This would look bad in US News.

So Baylor did something creative to counter their impending drop in the rankings.  They bribed their accepted, incoming freshmen to re-take the SAT!

Yes, you read that right!  Baylor offered a $300 book credit to any freshman who sat for the SAT again.  And, if the student increased his or her score by 50  points, there was another grand in it for them, per year!  About 177 qualified for even more scholarship funding.

Of course, Baylor denies that they created their SAT contest because of the US News rankings.

My point is the college financial aid game works in ways that non-insiders can’t possibly understand.  Even parents who make “deep” six figure, or higher, incomes can save thousands off college costs, if they know the rules of the game.

So take away two points from this letter - do your research about what schools over this kind of aid (and what their standards are) and do NOT  blow off applying for financial aid if you think you earn too much money, because you never know!

Best,

- Jeremy

P.S.  Want more info on “How to Pay for College Without Going Broke or Raiding What’s Left of Your Retirement Portfolio?”  We’ve got more college funding workshops this month and they’re than 77% booked up.

P.P.S.  You can check availability and locations at:

http://s2198.collegeplanningwebsystem.com/events

or call 281 822 6200

Jeremy Farmer

College Financial Advisors

4265 San Felipe Suite 1025

Houston, TX 77027

www.texascollegeplanners.com

281-822-6200

Co-host, “The College Planning Power Hour”

1070 KNTH Sundays 5-6pm (or listen live online at www.knth.com)

Hey Guys,

Here’s what is going on locally here in Texas. Things are getting ugly. So far the politicians solution is to make it harder to get help, instead of actually fully funding the program in place.

July 25, 2008

Source: The Dallas Morning News

Holly K. Hacker

Jul. 25, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) — When it comes to qualifying for the state’s biggest pot of college financial aid, being poor may no longer be enough.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board forwarded a plan to lawmakers and Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday that could fundamentally change the design and mission of the TEXAS Grant program.

It would favor students who excel academically, shifting priority away from those with the greatest financial need.

Kimberly Anderson of Dallas fears the proposed changes could prevent some students from going to college. The 2008 graduate of Carter High School is headed to the University of Texas at Austin in the fall and plans to pay with grants and scholarships.

“I understand they don’t want to waste the money,” she said. “I think it’s still fair to go off needs.”

Thursday’s move paves the way for debates in the coming legislative session about spending priorities for higher education.

Since 2004, the state hasn’t provided enough money to cover all students eligible for the grants, which provide about $5,200 a year — enough to cover average tuition and fees at public universities.

For the coming school year, the coordinating board estimates there will be enough grant money for only 28,000 of the 70,000 new students who qualify.

Thursday’s action is a move toward deciding which students deserve the money most.

“It is not a good message to send to poor students that by virtue of the fact you’re poor, you’re going to get aid,” said Raymund Paredes, the state’s higher education commissioner. “Students from all income classes should be sent the message that you should be expected to perform as well as you can.”

But state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said the changes could hurt the very students the program was supposed to help.

“Don’t be in a position where we end up being penny-wise and dollar-foolish. The plan is working,” said Mr. Ellis, who led efforts to create TEXAS Grants in 1999.

Under current rules students must take a college-preparatory curriculum in high school to qualify for the grants. The vast majority of Texas students meet that standard today.

The proposed changes come at a time when political and business leaders are pressing public universities to enroll more low-income and minority students — people who make up a growing share of the state’s workforce.

The bulk of TEXAS Grants goes to students whose families make less than $40,000 a year. Three-fourths of recipients are minorities.

Last year, the Legislature ordered a review of state aid programs to make sure money is spent efficiently. The coordinating board hired a private consultant to come up with recommendations.

The consultant recommends that to receive TEXAS Grants, students either score 1350 out of 2400 on the SAT or 18 out of 36 on the ACT; graduate in the top half of their high school class; or complete the state’s most rigorous high school curriculum.

Dr. Paredes offered an even tougher set of recommendations Thursday. They include requirements that students either score 1500 on the SAT or about 21 on the ACT; graduate in the top 30 percent of their high school class; or graduate high school with a B average.

While board members voted to send the consultant’s report to the governor and lawmakers, they didn’t expressly endorse it. Nor have they endorsed Dr. Paredes’ recommendations. Rather, several board members said they need more information on how the proposed changes would affect lower-income and minority students.

Board member Robert Wingo of El Paso said more study is needed “so we are not putting the very students we’re trying to help at risk.”

The possible changes come as tuition at four-year public universities keeps rising in Texas, and as students are relying more heavily on loans to pay for college.

Tuition and fees at four-year public universities have risen about 50 percent since 2002, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis that adjusts amounts for inflation. The charges have risen as the Legislature has allowed state funding per student to drop and authorized campuses to make up for the shortfall by setting their own tuition.

And TEXAS Grants don’t begin to cover the total cost of attending a four-year public university in Texas — add in books, room, board and other expenses, and the total averages $17,500 a year.

Keshav Rajagopalan, student government president at UT-Austin, said adding some academic standards makes sense, but the consultant’s report leaves out a key issue.

“There is nothing that talks about actually funding these programs,” he said. “You can’t just say we’ve got programs and then not put money toward them.”

Coordinating board officials said any changes in eligibility wouldn’t take effect for several years.

An advisory group of financial aid experts and others helped prepare the report, though not all their suggestions were included.

The group made a point that, however the state’s aid programs are structured, they must be fully funded to meet the state’s goals of sending more low-income students to college, said George Torres, a committee member and official with Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation (NYSE:STU) , a nonprofit created by the state to guarantee federal student loans.

He said any surplus money in future state budgets should go toward making sure all eligible students receive TEXAS Grants.

Staff writer Joanna Cattanach contributed to this report.

Pictured from the left: Jeff Farmer, Jeremy Farmer, and Brannon Lloyd

Hey Guys,

Join us for our incredible new college planning radio show every Sunday at 5PM on 1070AM. You can also listen live on their website: www.KNTH.com.

College insiders to start new radio show, give parents priceless advice to help them save thousands.While they’ve saved thousands of families too much money to count, local college planning experts say that’s not going nearly far enough. After speaking in front of tens of thousands of parents over the last five years local college planning experts will begin broadcasting their message using 10,000 watts of power since, as Jeff Farmer says, “One man can only shout so loudly, we need to get the word out that people can save more on college.”"We have the perfect storm brewing right now, skyrocketing gas prices, a tanking stock market, and an economy in a recession. However, for millions of families the need to send a student to college is not going away. It’s shocking that so many parents won’t even be able to afford for their kids to go to school in the next few years, so many good students won’t be able to go, and many students will have to drop out, unless they know the inside information that the colleges don’t want given out,” says Jeremy Farmer. He then adds, “It’s not even a matter of affording the best school….it’s being able to have ANY money left at all these days. Brannon Lloyd was astonished when he first started talking to parents and realized how much bad information was floating around-some of it in the media, “It’s amazing how many parents are desperate for this kind of information. I really don’t know what to say, except that I’m totally blown away.”

The College Planning Power Hour will be broadcast Live on KNTH AM 1070 Sundays from 5-6pm beginning August 17th, 2008.

This week, let’s take a question.

My 18-year-old daughter is going to college this fall. I was sure the college would just hand us a scholarship because she’s smart and was home schooled. We also have a handicapped child that needs constant care. But we didn’t get any help. I know we were dumb. But now what do we do? College is more than we can afford.

– Gail (last name removed to protect the guilty party) Houston

A. To start, go stand with your nose in the corner for five minutes. While I am joking, if you think my punishment is bad, it’s nothing compared to what colleges will give you. I wouldn’t say you were dumb. You were naive, and you made the same mistakes that most families make.

Busy parents assume they will get financial aid if they need it or if their child is smart or has a certain talents. What they don’t realize is that winning aid - especially scholarships or grants — takes research and effort. Don’t expect them to throw money at you. Remember that colleges are full of “exceptional” students.

It requires that you understand the quirky formula that your college financial aid office will use to determine what you can afford to pay for college. The formula is embedded in the FAFSA and PROFILE forms colleges require you to fill out when applying for aid. Parents that don’t understand the formula make themselves look richer than they are. For example, they might report 401(k) retirement savings like they are regular household savings, and consequently undercut their financial aid by thousands of dollars.

Now, if you haven’t come to one of our free “Paying for College Without Going Broke” workshops, pick up the phone and call the office at 281-822-6200 for upcoming times and dates. Reserve now, because they are filling up quick. And while the workshop gives you an overview, if you haven’t come in to talk in person about how these rules will effect your personal situation, then you need to get in ASAP.

In addition, parents can greatly enhance the opportunity for winning grants and scholarships if they have their children apply for admission to many colleges, including public and private colleges.

The reason: Often private colleges give more aid than public colleges, even though public schools seem cheaper on their face.

You lost most of your power to do that when your child agreed to attend a college without first working out your actual cost for college.

I have seen parents making over $200,000 a year qualify for need based financial aid, and I’ve seen a family making $30,000 a year, screw things up and get nothing.

Remember, that NOW is the time to start working on this for your next youngest student.

It is very important to get started while they are a freshman or sophomore in high school. By the junior or senior year, you are trying to do this entire process at the last minute, and making mistakes will cost a fortune.

In conclusion, all of Gail’s problems would have been easily avoided by simply attending one of our free college planning workshops. Be warned, that every college makes huge amounts of money, based on a family’s ignorance.

Remember that knowing what to do is only the first step. It only helps if you take action.

Talk to you soon.

Your friend,

Jeremy Farmer

Hey Guys,

We hope you guys are doing great. I wanted to share a couple of great stories that show you what NOT to do. Pay attention carefully, and it will save you thousands.

I’m going to switch gears in this post and tell two stories.

The first story is about a mother of a brilliant, well rounded senior, Justin. He was so well-rounded, in fact, that he was named to a six-student “dream-team” by his high school advisor - for excelling in the classroom and athletically. Justin had more than a 4.0 grade point average, was an All-State swimmer and a great kid. This honor was pretty impressive when you consider that the school is one of the largest in the country.

Justin’s mom went to one of our workshops in the summer between Justin’s junior and senior years. She told us that she wanted to book a free consultation to go over her personal financial situation. But she canceled the first date, then the second. Then we never heard from her (we have a “two strikes and you’re out” policy), so we assumed that she took care of her college planning herself.

By the way if you haven’t been to one of our workshops click here or call the office at 281 822 6200 for upcoming dates and times.

Fast forward to March of Justin’s senior year – approximately nine months later. Justin’s mom booked an appointment with us to go over the good and bad news.

The good news was that, thanks to Justin’s superb high school record, he had been admitted to Columbia University in New York City.

The bad news was that his financial aid package consisted of one component – a $48,000 parent loan – 8.5% interest rate payable over 10 years, 4% origination fee. Columbia offered no other aid period. That was just for year one! Years 2-4 would be the same, or possibly worse.

Justin’s mom was in a panic. She could not afford to send Justin to his dream school. She came in to our office a week after she received the award letter to see if there was anything we could do.

Unfortunately, we were having our meeting way too late. Had we met six months earlier, we would have made some easy adjustments. We could have easily lowered her Expected Family Contribution by around $20,000-$25,000, per year.

Justin’s father (a do-it-yourselfer type; an engineer) made two fatal errors in overstating the fair market value of his home, and including his retirement accounts. Columbia, a private school that accepts the CSS/Profile financial aid form, took one look at his home equity and refused to dip into its war chest of grants and other free money. This is information we give at our free workshops, nonetheless! (Worse, the stubborn dad later made an ill-advised, futile attempt to have Columbia use his original purchase price as the value, which I’m sure the financial aid officers laughed at.)

The unfortunate ending of this story is that all of Justin’s hard work – monumental efforts taking AP and other challenging courses, excelling athletically and in other extracurriculars and kicking butt on the SAT’s - will be for naught and he will not attend his first choice, Columbia.

Justin did everything in his power to get himself into the best college he could. His parents, on the other hand, did not fulfill their end of the bargain.

The second story is similar. Brannon met with Stan, a well-to-do, self-employed businessman (he owned an airplane brokerage business) and his wife in their son’s senior year, right before the financial aid forms were due.

Stan’s business had been hit hard by 9-11 but he had clawed his way back by sheer force of will, working an incredibly hard schedule.

Although time was of the essence financial aid-wise and Brannon offered Stan a slot in his clientele, Stan and his wife disappeared off the face of the earth. Or so we thought.

April rolled around and Stan resurfaced, leaving Brannon a message one week while Brannon was away at a conference. After Brannon returned, they spoke.

Same story. Stan’s child had been admitted to a private college in New England. Stan later told me that he had his secretary do the financial aid forms for him. His secretary!

The result? An EFC of $73,000! Ouch.

Could this have been avoided? Keep reading.

Stan and his wife came in to the office the following week. It was probably too late to address his son’s financial aid this year, but Stan had a daughter in her junior year of high school so there was hope for the future.

In the meantime, we determined in that meeting that Stan’s EFC should have been closer to $14,000! We decided to file an amended FAFSA, however the damage was done.

Brannon said later that he thought Stan’s wife was going to murder him (her husband, not Brannon) based on the glares she was shooting his way. Can you blame her?

So what’s the point of these stories? It’s not what you may think – we’re not telling them to you so you throw yourselves at us, begging us to let you hire us.

No, far from it. We have enough clients and are very selective about whom we work with.

Rather, the main “aha!” moment you must take away from these stories and the preceding pages is that, although it’s been said before, you will not derive any benefit at all from all of the valuable information contained herein if you then do nothing with it!

The delays by each family profiled in this section cost them tens of thousands of dollars in aid per year! And in the case of Justin, it cost him the opportunity to attend the school had been dreaming of.

So don’t just read this blog, surf the web, buy books and think you’ve got your college funding covered. Take the information and implement it! All the knowledge in the world is useless without using, or implementing, it.

Please raise your hand, if you want the same result as Justin and his mom.If you haven’t already, come to one of our free workshops on How to Pay for College Without Going Broke - we’ve got four of ‘em scheduled for this month!