Pay For College Without Busting Your Retirement Nest Egg

When your salary stops at retirement, will you have enough to pay your bills, travel and live the lifestyle that you want in your Golden Years? Sure, you may be one of the lucky ones with a pension. Social Security may even still be around. But if you want to live your vision of retirement, then saving and investing properly is important. And how you pay for college for your kids will impact your own retirement. Think about this: College tuition, books, fees and housing continue to increase at a rate faster than inflation in general. Based on current trends, the cost of sending just two kids to a private or elite college for a total of eight years will cost more than $360,000 if paid after taxes. This means that those in the 28 percent tax bracket need to earn more than $500,000 in order to meet the costs from cash flow. Regardless of where you send your kids to school, the bottom-line fact is this: How you pay for college impacts how much you save for retirement. For every dollar that you save on college costs means more for your personal retirement down the road.

There are a number of strategies you can use to improve your chances at a better retirement and a solid education at a lower personal cost. There are more than thirteen strategies for increasing needs-based aid. There are at least a dozen cost-cutting ways that any family can use to improve their bottom line. Ultimately, it depends on how well you know how to use the IRS code for your advantage to lower your own Expected Family Contribution (or EFC in financial aid parlance). Regardless of whether you expect to qualify for needs-based aid or not, here are some examples of cost-cutting strategies available to you.

Strategy 1: Get College Credit Through Exams By taking Advanced Placement exams or even a “challenge” exam for basic college courses, a student can get through school quicker potentially saving thousands in tuition and fees. Opportunities are available for Advanced Placement (AP), College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) or DSST exams for 37 different courses. For more information on these, check out the CollegeBoard or search “Get College Credit.”

Strategy 2: Stay Local In-state tuition and fees at a public higher education institution is a bargain compared to the elites and even crossing the border to go to another state’s public college. If you are considering going across the border or away, consider having your child establish residency in that state. Find out what the residency requirement are ahead of time by contacting the admissions office.

Strategy 3: Get the Credit You Deserve from the IRS Use the Hope Education Credit, renamed the “American Opportunity Tax Credit.” This was recently increased to $2,500 (from $1,200) and now applies to all four years of college, not just the first two. In addition, forty-percent of the credit is now refundable. Another helping-hand comes in the form of the Lifetime Learning Credit which is available for one family member and allows you to take up to 40% credit on educational expenses up to $10,000. Income limits apply so be sure to consult a qualified tax professional or visit the IRS website.

Strategy 4: Employ Your Child If you own a business, work as an independent contractor or own rental real estate, consider hiring your child to work for you. Maybe your child can provide administrative support or help with marketing or real estate related chores. By hiring a child and paying him or her, you will lower your own personal taxable income through a business expense deduction and provide income for your child. In addition, the child can use the earnings to open a Roth IRA, a tax-favored retirement account which is not assessed as an asset for financial aid purposes. And if needed, a child can withdraw a portion of the proceeds to pay for qualified educational expenses. There are certain limits and time restrictions that apply.

Strategy 5: Establish a Section 127 Educational Assistance Plan As a business owner you can establish a Section 127 employer-paid tuition benefits program for your employees. This plan allows the business owner to pay up to $5,250 per year to employees (including employed children) as a qualified tax deductible expense. This can be used for both undergraduate and graduate programs of study. Assuming that Junior was going to work in the family business during the summer and throughout the year, Junior can earn a wage (deductible expense for the business) which he can use for his own support and Roth IRA contribution (which may be eligible for paying educational expenses) and earn a tuition benefit (another deductible business expense). If you were going to give the child the money anyway, you may as well structure it to be tax deductible. Consider this: There are more than 110 different other strategies for you to consider. All the more reason to have a coordinated plan in place by speaking with a professional advisor who can help evaluate these options with you. Food for thought:

  • Encourage your pre-teen to open a Roth IRA with earnings from their paper route or other jobs.
  • Consider hiring your child to work in your business or help with chores related to your investment property.
  • Use a CollegeSure CD issued by an FDIC-insured bank to accumulate savings
  • Think about using a fixed income annuity to hold a portion of money for college to avoid the potential loss in principal that can happen with a 529 plan invested in mutual funds.
  • Pursue private and merit-based scholarships (For more information on some of these options, check out Fast Web, the CollegBoard and the Scholarship Experts or the Scholarship Coach on the web.

Pay Per Click Advertising and Pitfalls

Internet marketing, as its name implies, is the promotion of a product or service using the Internet. This is one of the marketing outlets today that entrepreneurs are taking advantage of because (1) the Internet captures a wider audience (think worldwide), and (2) it is a cheaper than television, radio, newspaper and magazine advertising.

But as the demand for the Internet as a marketing vehicle becomes grows, it becomes a new battlefield where various businesses compete for attention of a prospective customer. Whoever is persistent and is on the top of the search engine gets the sale.

To be on top, Internet marketers employ various strategies and ties together all the aspects of the Internet – its design, development, advertising and sales into one moving force to engage customers and get the sale.

If you want to venture into making business in the Internet, you must know the basics of how you will be able to make your website, your products and services remain visible to web users.

Pay Per Click Advertising

The Pay Per Click advertising model involves a trigger that generates a payment from the merchant. The trigger is that the ad is clicked and the merchant pays the affiliate.

The advantage of this set-up is that even if an affiliate does not generate clicks, and therefore no sales, the merchant has no costs at all. Follwing the main business Models

Bid-based PPC In a bid-based PPC, an advertiser competes with other advertisers in an automated fashion in a private auction of the publisher or advertising network. The bid is the amount that an advertiser is willing to pay for a given ad spot, which is usually a keyword.

Flat-rate PPC In a flat-rate model, the advertiser and publisher agree upon a fixed amount as payment for each click. Advertisers can negotiate a lower fixed amount committing to a long-term contract.

The flat-rate PPC model is popular in price comparison services. Price comparison services present the various list of prices for a specific product or service. Examples of this are PriceWatch and Streetprices. An advertiser do not pay to be listed, instead pays for every click on a price.

Automated bid management systems are used to maximize success and cover as many areas as possible.

Getting Started

The following are what you need to remember in getting started with PPC advertising:

  1. Choose 10 to 15 keywords and expressions of different categories related to your product or service. You must use quality keywords to get the target audience. This is the trickiest part of PPC advertising and must be the subject of a study before finalizing the keywords. Reach-out to those who really wants to buy and no one else.
  2. Use selling words, such as sale, guarantee, delivery, etc. in the composition of your advertisement to eliminate non-commercial inquiries.
  3. The three important components of an ad for a PPC are the header, the advertisement text and the link to the website of the advertiser. The ad must be interesting and able to convince a buyer. It must also be concise, without stops, and precise.
  4. You have to bid if you want the most desirable keywords. The higher the bid, the higher is your ranking.

PPC Advertising Pitfalls

A problem with this online advertising method is that it is open for abuse. Click fraud, which generates a charge using a simulated user of a web browser maliciously, clicks on the link without having a genuine interest in the target of the advertisement. This type of Internet crime is a cause of controversy because the fraud benefits the advertising network. It has since been considered a felony in a number of states in the USA.

Pay Per Click Advertising is only one of lots of other possibilities to make your web visible on the Internet. There are other similar models like PPV (Pay Per View) or getting found naturally with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques.

More on Internet Business Basics?

How To Pay Off Your Student Loan Before You Graduate

Here are the HARD facts that most college graduates will be facing after school.

Not having a job or not having the job that they want, because the days of graduating from school and staying with the same company are dead and over.

“Most college graduates will have up to 3 careers or more in their lifetime”.

Well, at least that is what the economists out there are projecting.

With that being the case.

I would recommend you to start your entrepreneur career while in school.

You can start an online business or side business right out of your dormitory room and work on it around your class schedule and then turn that business into a cash cow for YOU.

Which you can then use to pay off your student loan.

I mean, you would think this would be a no-brainer for most college students but you would be thinking wrong.

Most of them are too busy using these 4 years away from home to party like crazy and follow the crowd!!

The other thing is you can use this experience to get the job that you want before you graduate.

Okay, now let’s get into a few business models.

These are just the outlines for each one.

You will have to adopt, adapt and expand on the one that you choose, and make sure that you do some research and model your business after other great businesses that are in your market.

Don’t try to re-invent the wheel.

Learn from other businesses’ mistakes and test out ideas that you think may work for your own sales funnel.

The business models are.

1). Reverse e-commerce.

This is when you set up a site or use eBay and list items that you think may sales.

First step.

You take quality pictures and list the item.

If and when they sell, you then go back and buy the item and ship it to the buyer.

This is a great way to do business because you don’t need any inventory.

This will give you the freedom to test out the market in your niche and see what is selling.

2). eBook business model.

This is when you write up a pdf and format it into an eBook with graphics.

Keep in mind though, you don’t need to create anything if you don’t want to.

Of course.

If you have a passion for an idea, try to create an eBook around that passion.

And if not.

You could just interview an expert and then turn that interview into not only into an eBook, but also an actual book and an audio product.

So, you could end up with a home study course or a membership site and earn monthly passive income from it.

Those are just 2 business model you can use and start from your very own dormitory room.

The great thing about both of these business model ideas is that you don’t need that much money to get started.

Now, can you see how this could and should work?

I would like to stress to you guys… really think about using this idea to pay off your student loan and at the same time build a successful online business!

Affiliate Marketing – Using Pay Per Click to Sell Products

Cost Per Action (CPA) online internet businesses sign up affiliates to promote products for other businesses. Some CPA network businesses are Affiliate.com, RevenueLoop.com, Clickbooth.com, and ClickBank.com. The CPA affiliate networks are paid by a publisher who in return pays the CPA network. Then affiliates are paid by the CPA networks for selling these products to consumers. Affiliates promote business offers by using pay per click (PPC) advertising search engines such as Google AdWords, Yahoo Search, Microsoft Adcenter, Miva and etc.

Affiliates join PPC search engines and write ads to promote CPA affiliate network offers. Ad formats vary by PPC businesses but each always contains a headline.

The headline is used to attract the attention of potential customers. It is important for the headline to immediately grab the attention of potential internet customers. The headline needs to be relevant to the product or service you are promoting. Also, it is important that the first letter of each word is capitalized because this makes the headline easier to read.

Keywords are used to attract potential customers. Affiliates bid on keywords to attract potential customers. This is accomplished by affiliates paying PPC businesses to put ads on their networks. Relevant ads are displayed on the computer based on data entered in search engine by internet users. When someone clicks on these ads, the sales page is displayed and the customer has the opportunity to comply with the offer requirements.

Generally, the higher the keyword bid amount, the higher the page rank and page position will be. The page rank is the page number on which the ad appears. Page one is the coveted ad position because this is the first page displayed in a Google search. The page position is the position the ad appears on the page. The affiliate pays the PPC business the bid amount or a lesser amount each time someone clicks on the affiliate’s ad.

The ad also contains a description. The purpose of the description is to show a benefit and have a call to action that results in converting the ad to a sale. The description benefit could be something like Discover Weight Loss Secrets. Get Your Free Weight Loss Sample Here would be an effective call to action for this example.

It is important to capitalize the first letter of each word in the headline and description. Capitalizing the first letter of each word in a sentence helps to grab the attention of the reader.

Attention grabbing headlines are important. Some internet gurus suggest that the headline should contain a relevant keyword to improve the page rank and page position. Others believe that relevant content in the headline is more important.

You can find more relevant keywords by using free tools available on the internet. Perform a Google search on “Free Keyword Tools” and use them to obtain more relevant keywords to promote CPA network offers. Then promote merchant products and services by purchasing keywords on CPA networks.

CAUTION: When bidding on keywords be sure to set a daily or monthly dollar limit. This is important to limit potential losses. Individuals not familiar with how the PPC businesses work risk having substantial PPC costs. This can happen when keywords that are not relevant to the product being promoted have numerous hits but no sales conversions.

Determine which keywords are converting, then write different ad headlines using these keywords. Try limiting headlines and the sales message to contain one keyword.

It is possible to promote CPA network offers by only using search PPC provided by Google AdWords, MSN Adcenter, Miva, etc. However, most internet gurus believe that an individual really needs a web site to effectively promote CPA affiliate network offers. This allows your site to display the offer landing page, provides the opportunity to pre-sell the offer, and this potentially makes the customer more prone to act on the offer.

Landing pages also allow the opportunity to have a squeeze page that provides the customer an opportunity to look at another offer. Squeeze pages are also used to get subscribers to newsletters, other offers, etc. Additional offers can be sent by email to persons who subscribe to your newsletter. However, be sure that you comply with the laws pertaining to unsolicited emails.

Another reason for having your own web site is that you can use landing page ad rotators to promote several offers at one time. Offers are rotated sequentially as customers visit your web site. This is a good way to determine which offers have the best conversion rates and then you can concentrate on promoting offers with the highest conversion rate.

Affiliate marketing can be effectively implemented using PPC search engines to attract internet users to CPA offers. Advertising ads placed on search engines can either be directed to the CPA network offer or directed to your web site and then subsequently being redirected to the CPA network offer.

Why Workers Comp Fraud Doesn’t Pay

Ask any business owner and he or she will tell you that insurance is not just about commercial general, professional, and employee liability or property coverage. Generally, it is legally mandatory for a business to acquire workers compensation coverage so that employees will be able to claim benefits in the event they incur a work related injury.

So, it’s a fact – workers comp is an important factor in any company’s insurance portfolio.

The problem lies when a worker files a fraudulent claim. And, unfortunately, it happens fairly often. But contrary to what many believe, workers comp fraud does not just impact businesses and bosses, and the employees that go about life in a totally honest manner, it also affects the faker. File a fake workers comp claim and you risk losing your job, spending time behind bars, and paying expensive fines. Trust those in the industry: crime – as it relates to workers comp – surely does not pay!

Below you will find some examples of employees that thought they could earn some bucks while fooling the system. In the long run, the hoax turned on them.

Fake Workers Comp Claim – True Scenarios

1. Marc was employed as a gardener. One day, he slipped and fell on the job. Complaining about associated pain that rendered him unable to work any longer, Marc submitted a workers comp claim. The process went rather smooth and it did not take long for Marc to begin receiving his disability benefits. Unbeknownst to Marc, however, the insurance company was after his tracks. After viewing surveillance video showing Marc actively doing gardening work for two other properties, Marc was called to task. Not only would the disability checks be curtailed, but he was sentenced to four months of jail time and ordered to pay over $39,000 in fines.

2. Jack complained about injuries he incurred at work. He said the resulting back pains made it impossible to continue his employment. Jack told the attending doctor that he had not experienced any pains prior to his work injuries. It didn’t take long for the insurance to offer proof that Jack was lying about his inability to work. The surveillance camera caught him working as a landscaper in the family business following the claim he made, resulting in a 3-year prison term and a $14,500 fine.

3. Sarah filed a workers comp claim after she received injuries to her back and leg while walking up a slope at the business’s outdoor facilities. When filing, Sarah failed to reckon with the ability of the insurance company’s investigation department. The department’s thorough work uncovered the true nature of the injuries: the injuries had been incurred before the date given on the claim and so were the discussions fellow employees had with her about them. Sarah was given 120 days jail time, plus 5 years of probation, plus a fine of $28,000!

Exit mobile version