SECURITY CENTER
COLUMNIST / BLOGS
TOOLS
PODCASTS/VIDEOS
How To Invest and Save Money
Britt Erica Tunick is an award winning financial journalist who has spent the past 17 years writing about virtually every aspect of finance. She has mastered the art of boiling down complicated financial topics for readers to understand. |
The majority of Americans plan to cover a good portion of the cost of their child's college education. Most will fall short of their goals if they do not seriously step it up Few Americans' College Savings Match Their Goals By Britt Erica Tunick When it comes to saving for college, though the majority of Americans plan to cover at least 70% of the cost of college for their children, most will fall short of their goals if they don’t seriously start stepping up the amount they are saving each year. According to the results of Fidelity Investment’s 10th Annual College Savings Indicator study, even though the number of parents saving for college is the highest it has ever been, based on the amount most Americans are actually squirreling away for the future, most will only be able to cover 29% of their children’s college costs. Fidelity’s study, which surveyed families with an annual income of at least $30,000, found that college is one of the top savings goals for most families, second only to saving for their own retirement and significantly higher than paying off their own student loans or even their mortgages. Despite the importance families place on saving for college, however, nearly two thirds of parents saving for college are saving only about $300 per month. Most parents do not start saving for college until their kids are close to 7 years-old, another factor that will leave many short of their ultimate savings goals. When it comes to what is driving parents’ desires to help their kids pay for college, one of the biggest factors is their own student debt. Fidelity found that 34% of parents who finished college with outstanding student loans are hoping to set their children up so that they can be financially independent after they graduate. On the bright side, a growing number of parents are establishing savings plans for their children’s education and more and more parents are waking up to the fact that the earlier they start saving the better off they will be due to the power of compounded interest. Roughly 41% of families are using financial advisors to help with their planning and about 61% of the people in that group are investing in 529 college savings plans to help with their efforts. |
Archive |