Part 2: How Am I Going to Pay for College? With John Hupalo
College is CRAZY expensive. As a parent, where do you start planning for your child’s Higher Ed? There is so much competing for money. How much should you be saving? Should you prioritize college savings over retirement or paying off debt? How much should I take out in college loans to pay for college? What are ways that can plan for the cost of college other than loans?
In Part 2 of this two-part series, John Hupalo, founder of My College Corner and Invite Education, joins Erik Garcia, CFP®, and Dr. Matt Morris, LPC, LMFT to wrestle with these tough college planning and college funding questions.
Episode Highlights:
- John mentions the only factor that will not change around higher education. (3:59)
- John shares when the idea of the shifting sands started. (4:48)
- John shares that student loans should be the last resort and not the first option to pay for college. (9:14)
- Does John think that kids who work through college to help pay for college tend to outperform kids who don’t work through college? (13:20)
- What are some tools that families have access to that they can use to pay for college? (14:43)
- John mentions the program in Louisiana called the Student Tuition and Revenue Trust (START). (19:02)
- How does John help people make decisions around taking on student debt? (31:51)
- John shares why the federal student loan program is beneficial. (33:24)
- John shares the two reasons why student loan debt is good. (46:16)
Key Quotes:
- “There’s a myth out there that if you save too much, you’re going to be hurt in the financial aid process and there’s a myth out there because it’s a myth.” – John Hupalo
- “I think there has to be student loan debt because when properly used, you can apply that to get the leverage of the investment and get a return on that…I say though, student loans should be the last resort, not the first option to pay for college.” – John Hupalo
- “The young adults, no longer your toddler, have a responsibility here. Right? The more skin they have in the game, and the more it’s real for them, the more success I think that they can have. They can define that success how they need to, but the whole idea is making sure they have the right tools to do that.” – John Hupalo
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