Note to my email newsletter subscribers: Did you not receive an email newsletter from me on Monday, December 28? On that date gmail started putting some of my email newsletters into my readers’ spam folders. Even my own copy of my newsletter went into my spam folder! My email newsletter comes every single Monday morning. If you didn’t receive yours on December 28th, you can read it now, below. Most important, though, here are gmail’s instructions for how to mark emails you value “not spam.”
Parents, you have just days or hours left to put extra money into retirement accounts so that it won’t be noticed as your family asset when your child applies for college aid in October of his or her senior year of high school.
If you wait even just four days on this, here’s what will happen.
If you put your extra money into retirement accounts on on January 1, 2016 or after, it will count as a family asset when your child applies for college aid. Yikes!
This is important for you, even if you think that your kid “won’t qualify for financial aid for college.”
Perhaps your family is so wealthy that you’re just sure you won’t qualify for federal college grants such as PELL grants. This step is still important for you. Why?
Because there’s far more college aid money at stake than just PELL grant money. When you eventually fill out the FAFSA form for your child on October 1st of his or her senior year of high school, you’ll be applying for nine separate federal student-aid programs, over 600 state aid programs, and most of the college-based (institutional) aid available in the United States.
When the system scrutinizes your family finances on that day, you’ll want to have as little cash sitting around as possible. Putting that cash into retirement accounts right now might be a very, very good idea.
Here’s what to do right now.
If you have questions about this, see if your Certified Financial Planner is in today. Call and ask to have an appointment with him or her on December 28, 29, 30, or 31. Even a telephone appointment might save you thousands on eventual college costs.
Will your child be attending college in 2016 or 2017? There are several additional things for you to know right now too.
Read this Money article by Mark Kantrowitz right now — it summarizes what you need to know very nicely.
Do you have friends who are parenting 10th, 11th, or 12th graders?
Please share this information on social media today and tag those friends in the comments. Because the rules on this changed so recently (with an announcement by President Obama on September 13, 2015) most families (and even some financial planners!) don’t grasp how important this is. This is critically important information for any family who wants to minimize student loan debt years down the line.
If you’re a financial planner or an accountant, please do this.
Please email your current clients about this. Provide a link to this post. The parents who depend on you will greatly appreciate that you’re focused on helping their kids get through college debt free — plus you’ll help families save thousands on future college costs.
For clear, step-by-step help getting your kid through college debt-free and into a job they love afterward, get your copy of my book:
Important—> It’s a reference book, so nobody reads the whole thing cover to cover. Pick out what you need to read in it using the fast-paced, 10-minute video instructions here.
You can see hundreds of reviews of this book on Amazon by going to:
You can see why financial advising professionals love LAUNCH, here.
You can see the top 9 questions parents are asking me about LAUNCH, here.
Read just one chapter of LAUNCH every 1–3 months while your child’s in middle school and high school, and you’ll know every viable strategy for debt-free college at exactly the right time to implement it.
And if your child’s already well past middle school? That’s OK; you can run to catch up. But the process of getting your kids through college debt-free goes more smoothly the earlier you start it—especially if you’re not planning to save up any money to pay for college.
Let's you and I walk together toward the goal of debt-free college for your kids.
We can accomplish this no matter your current income level—even if your kids never get a single scholarship.
Your first step is getting regularly scheduled, free helpful articles from me—right in your email inbox. Quick, sign up here.
Do you have very specific questions for me about debt-free college and career for your kids?
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, and on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.