College funding maximization for financial survival so that parents don’t go broke during college years is not a single “one-trick-pony” step. College funding requires comprehensive planning, with a number of steps, which consider all aspects of the college preparation, selection, financing process, as well as the all-important preservation of parental retirement assets.

John A. Epeneter is a Certified College Planning Specialist (CCPS) with 4 years experience with college planning. He is also a CPA and a CFP® with experience in tax, retirement and investment strategies. It's the right combination for comprehensive
college funding maximization.

Here's the 14 steps to Funding Maximization and Financial Survival

1)    Student Pre-College Planning
Focus is on motivation, reading, study, attitude and test-taking skills designed to maximize GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, and general interest in going to college. The list of “must-have-books” that can help prevent serious missteps.

2)    SAT/ACT/PSAT Test Preparation
Focus is on selection of the “right” mentor program, exploring benefits of www.eprep.com, which test to take, college requirements, etc. The National Merit Scholarship Program gives out scholarships to students who score well on these tests.

3)    Career and College Selection Process
Focus is on which aptitude tests to take, what reliance to place on results, intuitive feelings about how to enlarge existing talents, financial rewards of various careers, which consultants to rely on. How to deal with early decision and early action. How many colleges to apply to.

4)    Determining the Payback
College graduates with bachelors degrees and those with advanced degrees earn more than high school graduates, generally speaking. The focus in this step is to make sure that the career selection will yield a reasonable return on the investment…the overall cost of college. The focus is on matching the financial “boundaries” with the choices of pricey ivy colleges.

5)    Financial Aid Planning
Focus is on maximizing merit aid if eligible, employing strategies to lower EFC to qualify for Pell Grants, Perkins loans, Stafford loans, SEOG grants, how to deal with special situations (divorce and separation, unemployment, unusual income, independent student status), when to file the FAFSA form, why every parent and student should file the FAFSA, when to file the FAFSA, how to position yourself for maximum aid, determine if the online programs have correctly computed the EFC,  how to set up competition among colleges, how to maximize tuition “discounts”, scholarships and merit aid, why the college’s first offer is usually not the best one, why private schools can be as cheap as state schools.

6)    Cash Flow Planning
This step focuses on reducing monthly debt and other payments to increase cash flow to pay for college, utilizing the college’s installment payment plans.

7)    Business Strategies
This step focuses on strategies to reduce business income during college years for financial aid purposes, use of Section 127 plans, how to employ the child, how to shift income to the child, whether to terminate the “S” election, use of company cars, avoidance of the Kiddie tax, claim the tax credit for setup of a new employer retirement plan.

8)    529 Plans, Coverdells and Investments
This step focuses on how to find the best 529 plans, why most plans fail to provide adequate investment returns, how to avoid being taxed on distributions, why 529 plans should not be maximized, why taxable accounts are preferred, why a “safe” bank CD is a loser, should Coverdells be funded first.

9)    Education Loan Options and Strategies
This step focuses on how parents can best leverage themselves to reduce interest costs, reduce consumer debt payments, minimize monthly payments, select the best repayment period, avoid selling assets with taxable gains, and utilize strategies to consolidate college loans. Includes analysis of the best allocation between Federal and private loan programs to help with Stow College Funding, Concord College Funding, Sudbury College Funding, and Acton College Funding efforts.

10) Tax Capacity
This step focuses on how to maximize tax savings and create “tax scholarships” so that Uncle Sam pays part of the college costs. Strategies involve how to maximize tax credits, how to treat scholarships for tax purposes, the student loan interest deduction, how to avoid or minimize the Kiddie tax, how to utilize the Roth IRA, strategies for hiring the child, when should the child claim his own exemption, when to shift appreciated assets to the child, how much income to shift to the child, how to structure divorce settlements, setup of Section 127 plans, utilizing S corporations, investing tax-efficiently, etc.

11) Grandparent Strategies
This step involves the grandparents, especially those who need to gift assets for estate tax       purposes. This step focuses on how to make gifts, why tuition payments made directly to the school by grandparents have tax benefits, how to use 529 plans to advantage, how to use advance tuition payments, how to preserve financial aid benefits if the student is eligible, how to name beneficiaries on retirement accounts, whether charitable giving utilizing charitable remainder trusts or charitable lead trusts makes sense.    

12)  Award Letter Review and Appeals  
Focus is on finding circumstances to use to write a successful appeal letter. What to say and not to say to a financial aid officer.

13)  Retirement Fund Preservation 
This fundamental truth should be taught to all parents: your kids will not pay for your retirement.  Therefore, it makes no sense to invade 401k money to pay for college. Similarly, it makes no sense to stop funding 401ks. It is also bad practice to borrow from your 401k. Those loans tend not to be paid back, costing taxes and the 10% penalty. Maybe 401k deferrals could be cut, but in no way should any part of the employer match be sacrificed. Furthermore a vast majority of parents do not save or have enough money to retire when retirement age comes up.

 14)  Must Have Book Resource List

   Paying for College Without Going Broke, 2010 Edition; Princeton Review

   The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School
   at the Right Price;  Lynn O'Oshaunghnessy

   Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges - 26th Edition; Frederick E. Rugg

   Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way
   You Think About Colleges :Loren Pope

   The College Finder: Choose the School That's Right for You; Steven R. Antonoff

   Barron's Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges; Barron's Educational Series

   The Bound for College Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding and
   Applying to Colleges; Dr.. Frank Burtnett