Posted on

STARTING POINT: All the Basics You Need to Know Right Now (AUDIO)

For Parents of Kids Ages 12–26

by

If you’re a parent and you’ve just found this, you’re probably thinking:

“Oh, wow—seriously? There’s help for getting my kids through college debt-free, and into great jobs after college? I had no idea this kind of help was available! Am I late starting this? Yikes, I don’t have any spare time! If I work on this, how much time is it going to take me?”

Rest easy, Mom and Dad. You’re not late.

And getting your kids through college debt-free takes only minutes per week.

Right now, at this moment, you’re standing at the perfect starting point.

Listen to episode 1 of my podcast, below. It takes only 23 minutes. (Listen while you’re commuting, loading the dishwasher, or getting ready in the morning.) When you finish listening, you’ll feel hope and confidence, and you’ll know exactly what you need to do next to get your kids to the most exciting academic and career destinations—even if they don’t get a single scholarship.

If you’re parenting kids ages 12–26, listen to just the first 8 minutes below, and you’ll be hooked.

debt-free college podcast

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Morgan Stanley’s Alix Magner Buys 30 Copies of LAUNCH For Her Clients

Below, the Top 9 Questions Parents Are Asking Me About This Book

by

LAUNCH

To see a list of the top 9 questions parents are asking me about LAUNCH—along with detailed answers—scroll to the red print below. 

When Morgan Stanley’s Alix Magner calls you, you sit up a little straighter in your chair.

Alix is a high-powered, Stanford educated wealth management advisor who works with Minneapolis area families who have millions in assets—and families who are strategizing to get to that point.

When Alix told me that she’d read my book cover-to-cover and wanted to buy 30 copies for her clients, I jumped out of my chair.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Help—I Need Your Input as I Prepare to Open My TRIBE Doors in March

by

To get straight to the description of my TRIBE Membership, zoom to the red writing below.

membership

I’m stunned and amazed at the great response I’ve gotten to the short, succinct video trainings I’ve been sending to everyone who subscribes to my free weekly email newsletter.

(You can see them now at bit.ly/easylaunchinstructions.)

Specialized help—based on the age of your kid—with no video longer than 10 minutes! Parents are loving having fast, inspiring grade specific training that only gives them info they need right now.

The stories of exciting success are flowing in—along with gratitude that I just made the whole process even easier.

At the same time, this has opened up wellsprings of raw emotion in some parents.

Some of what I’m hearing sounds like this:

1. “I want to get my kids through college debt-free and set up for real jobs after college—but I don’t have time to read very much.

Please just give me the least amount to read possible.”

2. “I seriously don’t have time to do very much! Please give me just the bare bones that I need right now.”

3. “When I can’t do much, please support me and tell me, ‘That’s OK! This is still going to work out!'”

Continue Reading »

Posted on

What’s the #1 Best-Selling College Financial Aid Book?

by

In 2021, my book LAUNCH hit #8 on Book Authority’s list of 51 Best-Selling College Financial Aid Books of All Time.

best-selling financial aid book

I was excited! But then I thought:

“OK—which book is the #1 best-selling college financial aid book of all time?”

I was overjoyed to see that the #1 best-selling college financial aid book of all time is Frank Bruni’s rockstar best-seller Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania.

I love this book because it echoes exactly what I say emphatically on my podcast here and in this article here. Gallup research shows that elite education does not actually lead to a happier life! Though I do recommend that everyone avoid for profit schools, students can attend lower-ranked colleges and still make their best, highest dreams come true.

Bruni’s book is a must-read not only for parents and students, but also for teachers and school counselors who sometimes inadvertently and unnecessarily pour gasoline on student anxiety by casually dropping this untrue sentence: “If you don’t get into a good school, you won’t be able to get a good job when you graduate.”

(This is not true! Frank Bruni explains why.)

Here’s the Amazon description for Book Authority‘s best-selling financial aid book of all time:

Continue Reading »

Posted on

11 Delicious Foods That Boost Brain and Memory

by

I love this Healthline article about 11 foods that boost brain and memory:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-brain-foods

boost brain

Are you looking to especially boost brain power for academic work or standardized testing?

Read an additional article: What Should Students Eat Before Testing.

This help is kindly brought to you by me—the author of this book:

Continue Reading »

Posted on

No More SAT II Subject Tests! Whoo-hoo!

by

If you’ve got a copy of my book, you can happily cross out what it says about SAT II subject tests on page 80.

Whoo-hoo!

The College Board has announced it will no longer be providing SAT II subject tests.

No more SAT II subject tests! This is great news for students!

Why?

SAT II subject tests

Because in the past, many 12th graders found themselves lamenting, “What in the world? Some colleges I’m applying to want me to take an hour-long subject test in U.S. History, Chemistry, Physics, Spanish, or Literature? It’s been years since I had those classes! I’ve forgotten most of that stuff! Why didn’t anyone tell me about this sooner?”

This caused stress and consternation for students all over the country—but not for the students and parents who follow me.

Readers of my book were alerted to this—starting as early as 9th grade.

Students whose parents follow the clear steps in my book were tipped off, on page 80: “As soon as you finish a class on one of these subjects, whether you’re in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade, quick—go take the SAT II subject test on that subject. This might allow you to fulfill basic degree requirements, or get college credit for certain introductory-level courses. In some cases, strong SAT II subject test scores on a college application can help boost an applicant’s admissions ranking.”

Students who did this as early as 9th grade sidestepped senior year stress and pressure that ended up nailing the students who were surprised by this additional testing.

Would you like to be forewarned and fully informed about topics like these?

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Parenting Through the Pandemic

by

If you’re parenting through the pandemic, you’re doing something that hasn’t been done in this country in 100 years.

Nothing—nobody—has prepared you for this.

Let me give you a boost of encouragement.

You are doing better than you think. Give yourself a break. Cut yourself some slack. Lower your expectations.

As long as the kids are fed and safe—what you’re doing and how you’re managing this is good enough.

This quote about parenting through the pandemic says it well:

You’ll find even more encouragement about parenting through the pandemic in this article by Tara Haelle.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from it:

“I think we maybe underestimate how severe the adversity is and that people may be experiencing a normal reaction to a pretty severe and ongoing, unfolding, cascading disaster. It’s important to recognize that it’s normal in a situation of great uncertainty and chronic stress to get exhausted and to feel ups and downs, to feel like you’re depleted or experience periods of burnout.”

“This is a once in a lifetime experience. It’s expecting a lot to think we’d be managing this really well.”

~Ann Masten, PhD, a psychologist and professor of child development at the University of Minnesota

Encourage yourself today—not by managing perfectly today—but by doing this.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

How Having Kids Helps Us in Chaotic, Uncertain Times

by

Having kids in the house keeps us looking toward the future. It constantly lifts our eyes to the horizon—to what will be years down the line.

In chaotic, uncertain times, this is good for us.

Especially when we say to ourselves, “I can’t control what’s going on in the world right now, but I can control my own behavior and choices. Right now, today, I can take some small manageable steps toward bright futures for the kids.”

I provide very short reading assignments that help with this—every week in my free weekly email newsletter.

Anyone can subscribe for free here.

Our country has been through frightening, chaotic times before, and we will go through them again. How great it is—to build our confidence that our kids are going to thrive and flourish in years to come—no matter what happens.

Continue Reading »