The document summarizes the challenges students face in planning and paying for college, but also presents opportunities. It notes that conventional wisdom around saving and financial aid is often misleading due to lack of student experience. Colleges aim to maximize revenue through financial aid offers. However, it presents opportunities such as attending less competitive schools that want students more and will offer more aid, negotiating offers through appeals, using assets strategically, and achieving multiple financial goals. It recommends getting expert help if needed to navigate the complex process successfully.

1. The Zen Of College Planning

2. College Funding = Crisis
危=”danger”
機=”opportunity”

3. 危=”danger””
機=”opportunity”

4. 危
The Odds Are Stacked Against You
•Saving For College
•Conventional Wisdom
•Lack Of Experience
•Revenue Maximization Specialists
•Lack Of Clarity

5. 危
Saving For College
•529 ACCOUNTS DON’T WORK!
•You are taking lots of risk:
•Losing money.
•Having to borrow more.
•For very little reward:
•Less Financial Aid.
•Giving all the money to a college.

6. 危
Conventional Wisdom
•Most People Believe
•Name Recognition = Quality Level.
•Price = Cost.
•Save as much as possible, borrow the rest.

7. 危
Lack Of Experience
•This is probably your first time going through the process.
•This may be your last time going through the process.
•You were not born knowing the way.

8. 危
Revenue Maximization Specialists
•Get as many people to apply as possible.
•Use bait-and-switch Financial Aid offers.
•Applications = Sales Funnel
•Financial Aid Applications tell the college how much to offer
relative to your Admissions Application.
•The college then offers based on what they think they need to in
order to get you to attend.
•The offer does not usually reflect what you can afford or your
expected family contribution amount.

9. 危
Lack Of Clarity
•Coaches will make promises they have no authority to uphold.
•Institutional Expected Family Contribution formulas are a closely
guarded secret of the colleges.
•There’s a lack of cases to compare your offer with to see if it’s fair.
•Financial Aid Offers often are worded vaguely so you don’t realize
what is actually being offered until you have already accepted.
•Tax codes can sound generous but are not as straight-forward as they
appear.

10. 機=”opportunity”
機=”opportunity”

11. 機
Follow The Path Of Least Resistance
•Go Where There’s Less Competition.
•Colleges That Want You Will Pay For You.
•Negotiate For More Financial Aid
•Afford College AND Retirement
•Get Help If You Need It

12. 機
Go Where There’s Less Competition
•Some of the best schools are names you may never have heard of.
•Many schools are innovating beyond conventional education.

13. 機
Colleges That Want You Will Pay For You
•Students are supply in a college economy.
•The currency colleges use is financial aid.
•The more a college wants you to attend, the more aid they will offer you.
•The more applicants a college has, the less likely they are to really care if
you attend.

14. 機
Negotiate For More Financial Aid
•Realize that financial aid offers ARE negotiable.
•The process for negotiation is known as “Appeals”.
•True circumstances don’t always get reflected in the numbers.
•Colleges will often raise their offer by thousands of dollars, if you approach
the right way.

15. 機
Afford College AND Retirement
•Know how your assets will affect tuition.
•Reduce risk as you get closer to the deadlines for your objectives.
•Use the same dollar to accomplish multiple goals.

16. 機
Get Help If You Need It
•An experienced college planner can often save you many times their fee.
•They have been through these processes thousands of times.
•They can guide you through the process and make the process less
stressful.
www.college-retirement.com