Customer Reviews

Financing College: How Much You'll Really Have to Pay and How to Get the Money (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I think the author was treated unfairly in the some of the earlier reviews. They must have been referring to the older editions of the book. The current edition of the book does talk about the new 529 plans without becoming an accounting textbook. What I like about Davis' treatment of the subject is the "you can do it yourself" approach instead of being a referral tool to financial advisors. Especially valuable is the worksheet on federal financial aid which gives one the ability to see how changes in one's finances can change computed financial need. Most financial aid websites just give you a grand total without explaining how the numbers were calculated. This isn't a book for those who love mind-numbing detail, but it is a good basic guide for getting started with a college savings plan.

This book is terrifically up to date. I wonder how the three people who gave it one star reviewed it five months before it was published. If they'd read the current edition (or any. I wonder just who these three people were who all happened to have reviewed the book on April 6. I smell a rat.), they would have found it to be wonderfully current, well written, comprehensive. Anyone with kids--whether teens approaching college or tots--would benefit from this book.

Kristin Davis puts it all into perspective in this easy-to-read guide. Her emphasis is on helping you start early to develop an overall plan -- so that without too much grief, you can pay your share and find the rest elsewhere.

Many of the college savings plans as well as the rules for qualifying for financial aid have changed substantially since this book was written three years.

This old book caused my kids to lose out on money that they could have gotten:

1) It doesn't even mention many of the new and improved college savings and investing plans that are now available.

2) And the rules for qualifying for financial aid have changed significantly since this book was published so this book omits viable options.

I didn't notice that this insipid book was published more than three years ago and a lot has changed since then!

Tax-advantaged college savings investments have improved--some have even been created--since this stale book was written. Even qualifying for financial aid isn't what it was back in the old days when this book was published.

This author should either update this relic or stop selling out of date advice. In the meantime check out the multitude of free web sites that give better and also current advice.

Should be called "Financing College in the 1990s." But it's now 2001 and a lot of the suggestions in this old clunker of a book just don't hold water any more. Lots of free web sites run by state treasurer's office will give you current advice on newer college investing plans and it's free. Also check out Nellie Mae or Sallie Mae which are not-for-profit organizations that arrange for money so that kids or adults can afford to go to college. Skip this book however because it's N-O-T worth it.