Source: Joyce Cantrell, Instructor of Personal Financial Planning – Kansas State University
RADIO REPORT: Planning for your child's college education
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Wrap
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You have selected a report on ways you can save money to fund your child's college education. The wrap and sound bite follow in 3,2,1…
WRAP
1: Start early when planning for your children's college
education
TIME :54
SUGGESTED INTRO: The cost of college tuition gets higher every year. The parents of a child born today would expect to pay over $150,000 for that child's college education. An expert in personal financial planning at Kansas State University has several tips on ways parents can plan for their child's post secondary education. Lanice Thomson reports.
TUITION. . .BOOKS…DORM FEES. . .THE COST OF COLLEGE GETS HIGHER AND HIGHER. JOYCE CANTRELL, INSTRUCTOR IN PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING AT K-STATE SAYS IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START SAVING FOR COLLEGE. SHE SAYS, THE SOONER YOU CAN START SAVING FOR YOU CHILD'S EDUCATION, THE BETTER. . .
(Cantrell :16 " There's always a classic example of people who start right away and people who wait ten years. The people who begin immediately put in less money and accumulate more than the person who puts in the same or even more money, but waits longer.")
CANTRELL SAYS PLANNING FOR COLLEGE SHOULD BE PART OF THE FAMILY'S OVERALL FINANCIAL PLAN. SHE SUGGESTS THAT FAMILY MEMBERS SIT DOWN AND ASK THEMSELVES CERTAIN QUESTIONS...
(Cantrell : 18 " What's my value right now, what assets do I own, what is my spending like, where am I and where do I want to go. That's the first step."
LANICE THOMSON, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY.
ACTUALITY
1: Even families with limited incomes can learn to save for
college
TIME : 31
College can take a big chunk out of anyone's bank account, and it's important for future college students and their families to begin as early as possible to prepare. Joyce Cantrell, instructor in personal financial planning at K-State's school of family studies and human services, makes suggestions for those with limited incomes, or for those who do not save money easily. The sound bite is 22 seconds and the outcue is ". . .you never see it."
(Cantrell :22 "If you're starting out, one of the best ways for people who have difficulty saving or maybe their resources are limited -- Double E savings bonds -- they're payroll deduction, their painless. If you pay yourself first the money comes straight from your paycheck where you immediately deposit it into some type of account and you never see it."
ACTUALITY
2: A Section 529 plan is one way families can save for college
TIME : 27
Cantrell says a good way to invest for a college education is through a Section 529 plan. This is a tax-deferred way to save for college which has additional tax incentives for Kansas taxpayers. . The sound bite is 27 seconds and the outcue is ". . .of the earnings."
(Cantrell :27 "For example in Kansas, the earnings on the account are going to grow on a tax deferred basis at the federal and state level, taxpayers also in Kansas get a $3,000 income tax deduction and then the earnings portion, when you the withdraw funds, if you're using it to pay for the qualified education expenses, well then it's tax free treatment of the earnings."
For more information about the Section 529 Plan, log onto www.learningquestsavings.com