MARCH 2024: College Planning
COVER STORY
Answers to Clients’ Most Taxing Education Questions
By Randy Gardner, J.D., L.L.M., CPA, CFP®, AEP (Distinguished); Julie Welch, CPA, PFS, CFP®, AEP (Distinguished); and Creyton Vincent
Today’s clients aren’t just saving for their children’s college funds. Here are tax-smart ways to help clients cover the cost of education throughout their lives.
Click HERE to access the DIGITAL EDITION
2024 Trends in Investing Survey
This survey asks about your use or recommendation of various investment products. Survey results will be reported in the June 2024 issue of the Journal of Financial Planning and as a research report from the Financial Planning Association. Please allow about 10 minutes to complete this survey. Take the survey HERE.
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Setting the Tone for an Excellent Client Experience from the Beginning
By Tammy Breitenbach
The quality of a relationship is among the top reasons clients leave their planners.
FEATURE
Beyond Financial Planning: Helping Families Prepare Young Adults for the Financial Independence of College
By Paulina Mejia
Financial planners can offer their clients added support by providing financial lessons to their children from an early age and emphasizing the significance of early communication and expectation setting.
FPA NEXT GENERATION PLANNER
Lead Article
Three Critical Considerations for New Planners
By Paul Saganey, CFP®
My Career Path
Mike Zarrelli, Information Sponge and Go-Getter
Skill Builder
Build Your Business by Building Relationships: Five Best Practices for Strategic Networking
By Kristine McManus
Planner Poll
The FPA Community Weighs in on Overrated Methods of Networking
Planning a STUDY GROUP? Check out suggested questions and other resources to make your study group a success!
COLUMNS
Digital Assets
Has the Tide Turned on Bitcoin?
By Ivory Johnson, CFP®, ChFC
Regulators and top investment firms appear to be softening on their stance against cryptocurrencies. What does that mean for financial planners?
Your Practice
Implementing Strategic Client Segmentation
By Charesse Spiller
Aligning client segments with a firm’s values and goals helps maintain focus over time.
Women in Retirement
Working with Widows More Effectively
By Alexandra Armstrong, CFP®, CRPC
Planners must treat grieving clients as individuals with unique needs in order
to help them cope.
RESEARCH
The Benefits of Behavioral Nudges: Using Choice Architecture to Improve Decisions and Shape Outcomes in Retirement Savings Programs
By Shon J. Eckert, CFP®, ChFC, BFA, and Megan McCoy, Ph.D., LMFT, AFC, CFT-I
Not enough people are saving for retirement. Auto-enrollment in retirement plans is a remedy, but some have called this paternalistic. However, some form of paternalism, or nudging, will be prevalent in any designed system, so it should be made to benefit the employee.
Earn one CFP CE® credit by reading this month's Journal and access past exams for additional credits.
DEPARTMENTS
STARTING THOUGHTS
Learning for Life
By Danielle Andrus
OBSERVER
Student Loan Debt Climbs, Home Office Advisers Inspections, and More Investors of Color Entering the Market
Stat Bank
Q&A
Mark Kantrowitz on Paying for College and the FAFSA Fiasco
JFP ACADEMICS
Upcoming Research
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
‘I Haven’t Really Thought About It’: Consumer Attitudes Related to Long-Term Care
By Sophia Ashebir; Alexa Balmuth; Samantha Brady; Lisa D’Ambrosio, Ph.D.; Adam Felts; and Joseph Coughlin, Ph.D.
Everyone thinks about retirement, but research shows that not enough people are considering how they will afford long-term care and who is going to provide it.
