Financial planner and former college admissions counselor tyler west Families should join The College Investor Audio Show at MilliCon to hear exactly how paying for college works – from 529 plans to commuter schools to the conversations parents aren’t having with their kids.
Recorded live at Millmanicon, Robert Farrington sits down with financial planner Tyler West, an associate at CL Sheldon & Company who works with military and veteran families. Prior to financial planning, Tyler served in the Army, worked in higher education at the University of Colorado, and ran his own college planning business advising high net worth families on admissions and financial aid.
His central message: Households spend too much energy optimizing the savings instrument and not enough energy on the conversations that actually determine whether the money is well spent.
episode summary
- Why isn’t a 529 plan automatically the right answer for every family?
- The “doughnut hole” problem facing middle-class families who are not eligible for need-based aid
- Why completion rates matter more than reputation (only 49% of students who start a four-year degree ever complete it)
- How to use access/match/security framework on both ingress And potency
- Why Parent PLUS Loans Can Quietly Destroy Families?
- The graduate school debt limit takes effect July 1 – and why graduate school is where the real debt damage happens
Start with the conversation, not the account
Tyler’s response to the standard financial planner playbook: Most families default to opening a 529 plan and contributing the “appropriate amount” without ever discussing what the child really wants to do. Her advice is to start conversations about careers early (at the dinner table, with family and friends of different professions) because most high school students can only name between six and 12 careers, and they tend to choose based on what their parents do.
529 plan trade-offs
A 529 plan is a great tool, but Tyler cautions families to weigh the state tax deduction against the cost of flexibility. Investment options are limited, and not every state’s rules are consistent with federal rules – California, for example, does not recognize 529-to-Roth IRA rollovers, so rollovers trigger state taxes and penalties.
For higher-income families, the financial aid math may also matter less than they think: Once you cross a certain income and asset threshold, you’re paying the sticker price, no matter which account you use.
Access, Matching, Security (even at cost)
Tyler suggests families build entry security And A financial security. Commuting, in-state public schools, and dual enrollment for early graduation (or with two degrees) have been undermined. The sticker price isn’t realistic for most families, but it is real for the upper-middle “doughnut hole” that lacks both Pell grants and need-based aid.
student loan rules
Tyler’s Tough Rule: Never borrow more than a student’s expected first year salary. The big danger is Parent Plus – there is no legal obligation for the child to pay it back, and it can be subsidized by the parent’s prime compounding years to a degree that the family could not otherwise afford.
ground level
The means of saving are less important than the conversation. Sit down with your child, find out what they really want to do, and let the financial planning flow from there.
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