Part 1: Where Do I Start in Planning for My Child’s College? With John Hupalo

by Erik Garcia

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 1 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 shares his background. (2:41)
John mentions how Invite Education started. (4:07)
Why is borrowing from a 401k a bad idea to pay for college? (6:50)
John shares his understanding of how to afford college. (7:52)
John mentions the piece of advice that Erik said to Matt. (8:26)
John shares the benefits of saving. (9:05)
Does John have any kind of rules in terms of how parents and students should make decisions in terms of what’s next for them? (11:09)
John mentions why emotion is the problem. (11:17)
John mentions the three aspects to identify if a college is a good fit. (15:21)
John mentions his book entitled, Plan and Finance Your Family’s College Dreams. (17:00)
John shares how to utilize their website. (25:37)

Key Quotes:

“I think a lot of parents have that perspective that we’re going to do the best we can and we’re going to kind of figure it out. The problem for some families is, when they get to that “we’re going to figure it out” point, that’s when they start over-leveraging, right? And then the emotion overtakes the reality” – John Hupalo
“No matter how old your kid is, I don’t care if they’re like six months from graduating from high school or they’re six months old, just open a savings plan and start saving. So I say, it’s never too early, never too late to start saving.” – John Hupalo
“You have no idea if a college is affordable for you until you get the financial aid award letter in your hand. Right? Because it might be that you’re going to get a full ride…and what you think is the most expensive school that you could never afford may be perfectly affordable.” – John Hupalo

Resources Mentioned: