3 College Funding Mistakes
If you asked someone what the oldest college was in America, you might get three different answers. Harvard University, The College of William and Mary, and The University of Pennsylvania each claim the title. Regardless of which university is actually the oldest, this much is true: The struggle to pay for higher education in America is older than Harvard, which was founded in 1636. Perhaps billions of parents have endured the struggle, and many of them have made deadly mistakes in the process. Here are three to avoid in the 21st century. 1. Having your CPA or tax preparer fill out your financial aid forms. Not all technical paperwork is created equal. CPAs are experts at tax preparation, not financial aid planning. They might make mistakes that can kill your chances of getting it, like filling out forms in a pen instead of pencil, using white out to cover mistakes, or omitting Social Security numbers. Those might be acceptable practices in their work, but not in financial aid. 2. Waiting until January of your child’s senior year to work on financial aid for college. Since financial aid is based on your previous year’s income and assets, it’s crucial to start planning sooner than that. We recommend starting at the beginning of their junior year of high school, not midway through their senior. It also gives you enough time to save for your “expected family contribution.”
STUFFED JACK-O-LANTERN BELL PEPPERS 3. Going through the financial aid process by yourself because it’s cheaper. When you send your child to school, you’ll spend between $20,000 and $55,000 a year. Skimping on the planning will make a much bigger difference then than it does for your wallet now. We call that being “penny wise and dollar foolish.”
HAVE A LAUGH
INGREDIENTS
• • • • • • •
6 bell peppers, any color 1 pound ground beef
• •
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
4 slices whole wheat bread, cubed 1 small onion, chopped 1 small tomato, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced
•
• •
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. 2. Lightly mix together the ground beef, egg, bread cubes, onion, tomato, garlic, chili sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a bowl. 3. Wash peppers and cut jack-o’-lantern faces into peppers with a sharp paring knife, making triangle eyes and noses and pointy teeth smiles. Slice off tops of peppers and scoop out seeds and cores. Stuff peppers lightly with beef stuffing and place into the prepared baking dish so they lean against each other. 4. Bake in the preheated oven until peppers are tender and stuffing is cooked through and juicy, for about 1 hour.
Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com.
Call us! 713.422.2720 • 3
Published byThe Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online