Fidelity offers Age-Based 529 investments. Just pick a year.

The best time to save for your children’s college tuition is when your child is born. A small investment now will help them cover their college costs in the future. Say you invest $10,000 when they’re born. Assuming a 12% annualized return, it will grow to about $80,000 by the time the kid’s 18 years old and ready for college. $10,000 investment to pay for $80,000 in school costs? Not a bad price to pay for college at all.

Watch out though: You don’t want a bear market to challenge your kid’s future. You’ll want to secure that fund as cash as the child gets older. Use an age-based 529 investment to save for college.

Age-Based 529 Plans automatically adjust from aggressive (mostly stock investments) to conservative (mostly bonds and cash) as the child comes closer to their project college years. All you have to do is pick a projected year and the fund will handle the rest. The downside is that you pay a bit more in management fees since it’s an actively managed funds. The upside is that you get to spend more of your time playing with your kid instead of balancing their investments.

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Just read an article on MSN Money about selling plasma (and other bodily fluids) for cash. It reminded me a lot of my college days when I was a regular plasma donor.

I used to go to the plasma donating place almost every Friday afternoon. It was a great way to make some fast cash; it only took a little over an hour and they paid $25 every time you donated. Then after I got my $25, I’d walk about 30 yards to the nearest bar and drink lots of $2 Happy Hour pitchers. Was it a good way to spend my plasma money? Probably not. Did I almost pass out from the combination of alcohol and lack of plasma in my blood? Yeah, occasionally. Did I ever lie to any attractive (and naive) girls about the bandage on my arm, saying that it was the result of donating blood for a transfusion for my little brother who had leukemia? All the time.

I miss college.

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A lot of students miss out on tons of government grants and low-interest loans because they never apply. Always fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, otherwise known as the FAFSA. It’s free to fill out plus you could qualify for some free money.

1-2 million families are qualified for the Pell Grant worth up to $4,000 per year but they miss out because they don’t apply for financial aid. Big mistake. Never turn down free money.

[Photo Credit]

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Student Loans: Not As Fun As Advertised.

A lot of student loan companies offer incentives for people who setup automatic payments for their monthly payments. People with automatic deductions from their paycheck or bank account are less likely to default on payments. Auto-pay your monthly student loan payments to knock off some percentage points from your interest rate.

For my automatic student loan deduction, I get .25% (that’s point two five) off of my student loan interest which saves me a few hundred dollars per year. The added bonus is that the student loan payments are paid every month without me having to think about it.

Check with your specific lender if they offer such incentives.

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Money $mart Life has a good article on how college kids can save money on spring break. From personal experience, I thought the best piece of advice was:

“5) Pack the Room
Same principal as pack the car. The more people you can fit into a room, the cheaper it is per person. We could only fit 5 guys into a Cavalier on the way to Ft. Lauderdale but we met up with a few friends down there and filled our hotel room to the brim. Obviously with just two double beds there’s not enough bed space for everyone so be sure to bring a sleeping bag for nights when you get floor duty.”

The last spring break I went on, we had 7 people sleeping in one hotel room. Sure, the sleeping arrangements weren’t exactly ideal (our buddy Stavi slept out on the balcony), but I simply viewed the cramped conditions as extra incentive to find a nice young lady to spend the night with (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Apparently it wasn’t incentive enough, as I had little success in that regard and had to spend the week sharing a bed with Henry.

Article [via Money $mart Life]

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FMF has an article Parents or Kids — Who Should Pay for College?

Some people feel it’s the responsibility of the child to pay for his own education. I have a friend who almost didn’t go to college because he had no way of paying for it. On the other hand, I have friends who had their tuition all paid for and they are in even MORE debt than they were in college since they didn’t learn the value of money.

I don’t have any kids and don’t plan on having any for some time. Hypothetically: Would I pay for their tuition? Let’s see what the pros and cons are:
Pros:

• They won’t have any student loan debt.
• I can invest $5,000 when they’re born to pay the entire tuition bill.
• They can concentrate more on school.

Cons:

• They won’t learn how to handle money.
• They’ll take school for granted.
• They won’t learn a good work ethic.
• I have to pay for it.

Tuition is increasing at an enormous rate. I would never want my kid to take on $100,000 in debt right out of school. That’s almost unbearable. I want to help my kids but I don’t want them to use the money as a crutch. I want to help them out as well as teach them to help themselves. I think a compromise is in order.

The Hybrid:

• I’ll pay for your tuition BUT if you want to eat, you’re on your own.
• You pay your tuition BUT I’ll match you dollar for dollar.

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