A single father writes, “I work two jobs. My first job starts at 7:00 AM and ends at 3:00 PM. Then I have a lawn-care business in the afternoon—all to pay for college for my daughter. And now I’m wondering how I’m going to be able to save enough for my retirement.”

A mom wrote, “My oldest child will be ready for college before I know it, and my second child isn’t far behind. How will I handle the expense? I mean, $10,000 per year—per child—doesn’t grow on trees.”

Finding the money for a college education can be a daunting prospect. For too many parents, it means paying for college with money that should go to finance their retirement.
It’s a choice no parent should have to make:

• Will you rob your retirement account, and risk that someday you’ll end up depending on your children to pay for your care?
• Or will you let your kids go forward on their own, knowing they’ll be saddled with student loans they may need decades to pay off?

“I’m from the government, and I’m here to help”

Right. Over the years, the government has come up with scads of ways to pay for college—all the while ignoring a powerful solution that’s been available for more than a century. Beware, because government plans all have strings attached. They have “Gotchas!” galore.

Government “help” comes in three main flavors:

1. 529 Plans are named after a section of the tax code. Once you put money in a 529 account, it grows tax-free. When the money is withdrawn for college, it’s not taxed at the federal level, and most states don’t tax withdrawals either. But every dollar in a 529 account reduces your child’s potential grant of federal student aid. And there are six other “Gotchas!” to watch out for.
2. UGMAs and UTMAs let you contribute to an account in a minor’s name without setting up a trust. You can buy and sell securities in the child’s name, and any growth is taxed at the child’s rate— which is undoubtedly lower than yours. But all that liquid cash in Junior’s name again means your child may be eligible for less federal student aid. And because the money legally belongs to your child, they can spend it however they want when they turn 18. In addition, there are five other traps to be aware of.
3. Loans¸ such as Parent PLUS Loans and Federal Stafford Loans, charge interest rates as high as nearly 7%, plus an origination fee that may exceed 4% of the amount you’re borrowing. And too many borrowers end up like Diana Jackson, who had no student debt when she got her bachelor’s degree in 1982. But when her daughter graduated some 30 years later, Diana was stuck with $33,000 in parent loans. “I’ll be in my mid-seventies before I get that paid off,” says the part-time college professor. That kind of predicament, plus six other pitfalls, make traditional loans something to avoid.

Enter Bank On Yourself Plans

The Bank On Yourself method relies on a specially designed, little-known type of dividend-paying whole life insurance policy with specific riders added to it that grow your cash value significantly faster than a traditionally-designed policy. These policies have increased in value by guaranteed and predictable amounts every single year for more than 160 years.

In contrast with traditional college savings plans, your Bank On Yourself plan lets you know the minimum guaranteed value of your plan on the day your child plans to start and graduate from college. You’ll never lose sleep wondering what the stock market will do next and whether you’ll have enough when the big day comes. Using Bank On Yourself to finance a college education gives you flexibility, plus advantages you won’t find elsewhere, including:

• You don’t have the risk of loss due to market fluctuations
• You can make your cash value do double duty. Take a policy loan to pay each year’s tuition, and your policy continues to grow just as if you never touched a dime of it—if it’s from the right company
• As you pay back your loan, you’re recapturing the money into your policy, to set yourself up for a comfortable retirement—or anything else you want!
• And the interest you pay on your loans benefits you

Ask These Seven Vital Questions

This chart lists seven vitally important questions you should ask when considering how to pay for college:

Where to Get the Answers and Help You Need

I can help you get all your questions answered and find out if a Bank On Yourself plan makes sense for your college-bound kids. Click here to request a FREE, no-obligation College Funding Analysis.