3 tips for having the college money talk

By Chris Wills | February 9, 2022 |

In our work of helping families navigate the college process. it continually shocks me how few have not had the “money talk,” either between the parents and/or between parents and child. Given the cost of college today, this is highly irresponsible at best, if not downright dangerous. I haven’t heard of many married couples not…

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4 mistakes families make that increase the cost of college

By Chris Wills | December 9, 2021 |

While the rising cost is certainly a factor, it is often the decisions that families themselves make that cause them to unnecessarily pay more for college than they should (and potentially increase student debt). As hard as it might be, there are instances where a family needs to recognize a college-related decision will cost them…

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6 Questions You Need to Ask on Your Next College Tour

By Chris Wills | November 8, 2021 |

Chirping birds, beautiful old buildings covered in ivy, large century trees and an eager student chatting and walking backward. This is what many of us experience during our kid’s college tours. I’ve been on many, many tours during the searches for my kids and in addition to the painted picture here, I noticed one other…

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4 last-chance financial aid strategies for parents

By Chris Wills | December 10, 2020 |

Now that the FAFSA uses tax return information from two years before a student’s high school graduation year, families of current HS juniors (2022 grads) will use tax information from 2020 when they complete their first FAFSA in the 2021-2022 school year. This is a huge deal because whatever those families are doing (or not…

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Tips on the 6 trickiest FAFSA questions

By Chris Wills | October 3, 2020 |

The FAFSA is a quintessential government form, meaning it isn’t always as easy to understand as it should be. And with over 100 questions to navigate, far too many families make mistakes that are unnecessarily costing them money. Money Magazine compiled the following tips on how to tackle the 6 trickiest questions: Questions 24 and…

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