For many people (especially those with Executive Function challenges), managing money can be really stressful. If you can relate to this challenge and are thinking of sending a kid off to college, then learning how to plan your finances accordingly is something that’s worth being really proactive about. According to the Education Data Initiative, average tuition and fee rates have increased 130% since 1990 - and that’s after adjusting for inflation (yikes!) So, what can we do? Is there a way to approach saving for college that is less stressful and more effective than just wingin’ it or waiting till the last minute? Luckily, today’s guest is Shannon Vasconcelos, the Director of College Finance for Bright Horizons College Coach, and she joined me to discuss saving for college in a very executive function-friendly manner. In other words, she was the perfect expert I needed for this topic. Listen to learn from this college finance expert how you can approach this new exciting yet expensive chapter well prepared! Show notes: Bright Horizon’s College Coach www.getintocollege.com Getting In: A College Coach Conversation https://getintocollege.com/Resources/Getting-In-Podcast You Need a Budget (Hannah’s favorite budgeting tool) www.ynab.com Saving For College https://www.savingforcollege.com/ Roth IRA and 529 Explained https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/which-is-best-529-college-savings-plan-or-roth-ira Making College Affordable: 5 Tips for Securing Scholarships https://www.beyondbooksmart.com/executive-functioning-strategies-blog/making-college-affordable-5-tips-for-securing-scholarships Contact Us! Reach out to us at
[email protected] IG/FB/TikTok @beyondbooksmartcoaching Transcript Hannah Choi 00:04 Hi everyone and welcome to Focus Forward, an executive function podcast where we explore the challenges and celebrate the wins you'll experience as you change your life through working on improving your executive function skills. I'm your host, Hannah Choi. So this episode is about saving money for college or whatever post high school plans you or your child might have. And for many people, especially those with EF challenges, managing money can be really stressful. And because college is very expensive, it's something that is good to be really proactive about. Starting to save early is what we would do in a perfect world. Actually, in a perfect world college just wouldn't be so expensive, and we'd all have the means to pay for it without worrying about how we're going to do that. Unfortunately, this is not our reality. Today's guest, Shannon Vasconcelos, who is the Director of College finance for Bright Horizons College Coach told me that going to college is a lot more expensive than it was 30 years ago, I did a little research and according to the Education Data Initiative, since 1990, average tuition and fee rates have increased 130% And that is after adjusting for inflation. That's crazy. So what can we do? Is there a way to approach saving for college that is less stressful and more effective than just winging it or waiting until the last minute. Luckily, Shannon approaches saving for college in a very executive function friendly manner. So, she was just the expert I needed for this topic. We focused on college savings as college does end up being the most expensive option that people choose to do after high school. But even if you or your child have other plans, many of the lessons and tips about saving that she shares are still applicable. I met Shannon through my experience being a guest on Bright Horizons podcast called "Getting In: A College Coach Conversation". Their expert hosts and guests have created an absolute wealth of information about pretty much every aspect of the college admissions process. Although every week they come out with a new episode. So apparently, there's more to learn. I was so thrilled to have Shannon share her knowledge on Focus Forward. So listen to learn more from this college finance expert. Now on to the show. All right. Well, thanks so much for joining me, this is gonna be fun. Talking about money is a little stressful for me, I find I find finances stressful. So I'm actually really looking forward to this. I've got kids that are in sixth and ninth grade. So we are definitely the audience for this episode. Good. Would you introduce yourself for our listeners? Shannon Vasconcelos 03:02 My name is Shannon Vasconcelos. And I am Director of College Finance for Bright Horizons College Coach. We are a company that helps families prepare for college and all different ways from saving to college through the college application process. And how to get through the those college payments. Hannah Choi 03:24 Yeah, that's great. And I got to be on your podcast. A few months back, I was talking about college and how to find success in college if you're going to college with some executive function challenges. So that was really fun. I really enjoyed that. Shannon Vasconcelos
