Key Takeaways
- College planning is not just about saving money—it’s about aligning goals. CBRG helps families find schools that fit both academic and financial needs while preserving long-term retirement plans.
- Collaboration between financial advisors and CBRG strengthens family strategies. The partnership ensures college costs fit into the broader financial picture without derailing parents’ future security.
- College is often the second-biggest investment families make. CBRG brings expert structure and emotional clarity to an otherwise overwhelming and high-stakes process.
Video Transcript
If you’re one of the 78 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964—don’t touch that dial. You’re listening to the Boomer Financial Radio Network, and I’m your host, Frank Jaffe.
The baby boomer population is defined as the 78 million individuals in the United States born roughly between 1946 and 1964. And those baby boomers have one thing in mind: they want the best for their kids.
They’re used to aiming high, having the best things in life, and always thinking that their life is going to be better than their parents’. And naturally, when it comes to college, they want to have the best experience for their child.
And oftentimes, a child shares that goal. Yet, we’re also looking at the other side of the equation—which is, we don’t want them to spend too much money, more than they can afford, to the point where it impedes their ability to retire well.
Financial Planners
As a financial planner, I’ve always kind of seen myself as a quarterback. But I don’t think that I have to do everything myself. I just want to make sure that it gets done in the best way.
Just like we work with lawyers, and we work with accountants, and we have mortgage specialists that we work with—we want to help assist our clients to get to whatever professional person or advisor can help them in a particular area.
So as I got to know Steven and David and CBRG, I saw that they had a process that could really analyze the college planning process on a very granular level—and help the parents ascertain not only how they could perhaps save money on their child’s education, but actually find the right college for that particular child.
We take the information that the client gets from CBRG, and we bring it back to the table and put it back into the framework of the financial structure that they already have—and work together to formulate a plan that the parents understand and are willing to take responsibility for.
College Planning
College planning is not realistically something that can be fully funded by most families—so they’re paying as they go, from their income and their assets, through college.
One of the things that Steven emphasized was the importance of the student—or the child—actually taking ownership of the process. Can loans be taken out in the child’s name to some extent, to assist the parent in retaining their goal of retiring in a comfortable lifestyle?
Otherwise, it could be that the parent is going to have to come back to the child and ask for assistance in their old age—and no child really wants to have that responsibility.
I think that parents have to make adjustments and do what fits the new reality today. And I think Steven and David at least give us a way to take a second look at that.
Conclusion
I found it’s very compelling for me to have somebody such as Steven and David and CBRG to send my clients to—and also to take some of the emotion out of the process, because these are very emotional components to financial planning. They’re not purely dollars and cents.
The one thing to remember for the parent is that this may be the biggest investment—perhaps outside of your personal residence—that you’re going to make in your lifetime.
So it may be worth it to get somebody to assist you to make an intelligent decision.
Related CBRG Blog Resources
- The Power of a Personalized College Plan
- Avoiding College Funding Pitfalls
- CBRG Simplifies Financial Aid for Families
Schedule Your Free Consultation
College is a major financial investment. Don’t go it alone.
Schedule a consultation with CBRG and discover how our trusted process—endorsed by financial professionals—can help you make the smartest choices for your child and your future.