Monthly Archive for September, 2009

Saving For College Not Adding Up Financially

Several significant trends are signaling a reset of how families plan and think about college costs. The evidence suggests that creative solutions will be required as key economic factors are conspiring to make a college degree financially more elusive.

Let’s look at the new realities of saving for higher education:

  • Trend # 1 – College costs are spiking due to reduced funding
    College costs have traditionally escalated 5%-6% per year already doubling the normal rate of inflation.  But now in many States, budget shortfalls have taken fees increases to a new level.

    California is a particularly dramatic example.  University of California Regents will soon vote on a 32% fee increase which is in addition to last year’s nearly 10% fee hike. This story is being repeated in varying degrees throughout the country. 

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Published by bbenedict on September 28, 2009

Rethinking the 401(k) Pitch

For nearly 30 years, employees have been coached that the best way to save for retirement is to take advantage of tax deferred investing, most prominently through their 401(k) plans. This strategy has always been anchored in the hope that lower tax brackets await us during our retirement years. But current economic realities are causing many in the financial community to question whether tax deferred saving remains a healthy long term strategy for employees.

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Published by bbenedict on September 14, 2009

The Health Wellness – Financial Wellness Connection

It’s been well documented that effective corporate health wellness programs have produced positive results for employees and employers over the past twenty years. Probably the most studied, extensive and longest running program is Johnson and Johnson’s “Live for Life”(now called the “J&J Health Wellness Program”) which was rolled out in 1979. Incredibly, due to both financial incentives and a corporate culture that actively promotes healthy behavior, 90% of J&J’s US employees have participated. And considering this includes a pool of 45,000+ employees, the statistics derived from the study are significant.

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Published by bbenedict on September 1, 2009