GoMamaGuidance | GoMamaGuide

Are you freaking out about college tuition?

Wondering how to pay for college without losing your home or your retirement?

For many of us just thinking about it brings up feelings of dread and inadequacy. Perhaps downright denial as the cost of college tuition keeps spiraling upward at an ever increasing rate.

Folks, rather than bury your head in the sand, it’s time to get pro-active and take a look at where you stand and how to optimize your financial situation – whatever it is – to get the most out of the college financial application process.

And while I’m an expert on navigating K-12 public school options, I’m still learning when it comes to financial planning towards college. That’s why I went to SmartTrack College Funding to work with the experts, who reviewed my financial picture and set me straight.

For instance, here’s a little shocker I learned.

Did you know that the generous savings account your grandparents set up for your kids and fund every year will actually be factored into your Expected Family Contribution (EFC – the amount you will be asked to pay for tuition based on your entire financial picture) at 20%, but if it was held in YOUR name it will only be factored at 5%?*

(Oops, sorry kids. Your account is MINE now!)

That’s just one of the many things I learned after working with my SmartTrack College Funding Coach, who helped me know which assets to move around and where, in order to minimize the sting of what colleges will expect me to hand over to them for tuition.

*Caveat: Before you start moving money around, you really need to check in with your SmartTrack College Funding Coach for the best strategies that work for your particular financial situation. To get started with your FREE assessment, use this special link.

I can hear you now, “But it’s WAAAAYYYYY too early to be thinking about that stuff, I mean, I just got my kid into middle school. We don’t even know where he’s going to high school, let alone college!!”

Folks, the prep time comes earlier than you think. (Are you listening my middle school families?)

So I sat down with Cyndi Menegaz of SmartTrack and had a little chat about all of this college financial planning intel. She’s got a lot of great info and a special deal for my GoMamaGuide families. Take a look:

Video Link: https://youtu.be/6-iK2GAmetM

Don’t despair, get prepared. Get SmartTrack.

They’ll help you figure out:

• How to pay for college
• How to pay LESS for college (yes!)
• How to maximize merit and financial aid

Don’t pay “retail” tuition. Learn how to mitigate red flags in your financial profile and lower your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) tuition calculation. Get help with your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Utilize SmartTrack’s online suite of college funding tools and handy resources, and work with a personalized SmartTrack College Funding Coach who will walk you through the financial process to save you money.

Schedule your FREE 15 min call! 818-552-0800 and mention GoMamaGuide.

To get started, sign in to your FREE SmartTrack account at:

https://collegefundingkit.com/gomama

**Specifically targeted for my 8th-10th grade families, but it’s never too early to prepare. Call for your FREE assessment today.

Guys, your kids will be doing SAT/ACT test prep, they’ll be doing college essay prep, and parents if you’re smart, you’ll be going to SmartTrack to do financial prep.

Or, you could skip this step and just hand over all your hard-earned $$$$ to tuition!

Hi Folks!

Came back to offer you that tour I promised. So, if you haven’t already, take a look around. Need the highlights? Okay, since you asked…

Well for starters, the site’s wider, more horizontal. Less scroll. Room to grow and add all sorts of goodies.

Then there’s the maps. You all LOVE my maps. I know because it’s the most trafficked page of my site. Almost 10,000 hits on the Westside Elementary Schools map alone since I launched it in ’08. I’ve organized all my maps in perfect little rows and added a few new ones too. See how neat and tidy? Just click on the image to launch a full-screen color-coded map. Go on. You know you want to.

Many of you ask about the name “GoMama“ and how this whole thing got started. Sort of by accident actually. The name’s not exactly business-speak, is it. Nor was there a business plan. Born from my mama blog with just a good ole desire to share information and help people, who knew it would grow into as much as it has. So GoTanya and GoMama! We’re just gonna go with that. But now you can read all about it here.

I don’t know what you did on your summer vacation, but I spent a good part of July migrating this website. I also learned iLife- especially how to edit audio in GarageBand and how to shoot/edit video in iMovie. As a result I’ve got a bunch of new ideas hatching… but most currently, I’ve cut all my radio segments and embedded them on audio players right here on the Media page. No more off-site downloading. Or opening up your iTunes or other media player. Now with a click, you can hear just a snippet or the whole segment of the radio shows I’ve done without having to listen to the entire hour. Take a listen. Can’t decide where to start? How about this clip, “Three Things You Should Look For in A Public School (Four Actually).”

I’ve also linked up all the press I’ve done since 2007. It’s all arranged by year. How tidy.

But mainly, I’m super-excited to have an embedded GoMamaGuidance BLOG right here on the same site. Now I can post and rant all I want in any size format without having to wait for the monthly newsletter. And, all my previous GoMamaGuidance newsletter articles and PS Smart Tips are categorized and archived here. Now you can search by category or tag. YAY. One home. All the content. And with the new school year just about to start, there’ll be plenty to talk about. That I’m sure of.

Plus now there’s space for your comments too. So share. Talk back. Ruminate. You’re all invited. We’re building a community school yard!

Come by and say hello.