Our goal is to educate our attendees on how to find the best schools that will award the most, free money to your student; reducing the out of pocket expense to students or parents to a bare minimum.
To formulate the best strategy to fund the unmet or unrewarded balance of college cost without large loan debt, change of lifestyle or dipping into retirement savings.
LEARN THE ROAD MAP TO BUILDING A PLAN
We help our clients decipher a myriad of funding sources, alternative options, and investment strategies. Discover, calculate, plan and protect.
DISCOVER YOUR OPTIONS
- Grants vs. Scholarships
- Gift Aid vs. Self Help
- FAFSA, SAR, EFC
- Alternate ways to fund college
STUDENT SERVICES
STUDENT COUNSELING
- ACT/SAT testing prep.
- In-depth, one-on-one career counseling with an assigned counselor.
- College planning checklist with all timelines and deadlines that is updated electronically and emailed every time something is completed and/or missing.
- Advanced search of colleges based upon chosen career major and student credentials to maximize merit/need-based financial aid
- Student assessment.
- Personalized private student interview – by our on-staff counselors that are extremely knowledgeable about admissions practices.
- A written report of all student interaction with an assigned counselor.
- Automatic emails submitted monthly to both parents and students covering what they need to be doing that month to maximize their college admissions and Financial Aid results.
- Access to an interactive online page for each parent/student.
- Feedback on specific colleges.
COLLEGE FUNDING STRATEGIES
We provide you with a complimentary financial planning strategy session with our preferred partner which will:
- Calculate the expected family contribution (EFC).
- Provide planning recommendations to reduce EFC.
- Provide recommendations for the best way to pay your share of college costs.
- Provide cost-efficient borrowing strategies to help keep financial goals in line, along with cash flow strategies for college years and beyond.
- Provide a complete financial overview for college, cash flow, retirement, and develop a plan to improve each area.
- Provide strategies that legally protect your savings and retirement accounts from the financial aid formulas.
- Provide strategies on how to possibly use your home equity so that it helps rather than hurts.
FINANCIAL AID DATA GATHERING AND PROCESSING
- Complete the free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
- Register your student for the CSS profile.
- Complete any additional forms required by the individual schools.
- Confirm the accuracy of the Student Aid Report (SAR).
- Make any necessary adjustments to the SAR.
- Advice and counsel on Stafford and PLUS loan applications.
- Provide protection from being overlooked for grants, scholarships, or loans due to mistakes in your financial aid forms.
APPEALS
- Spreadsheet up to 3 award letters and professionally evaluate if your offer was fair.
- Provide tested appeal letters if you were under-awarded.
MEET TONY
TONY DEVECHT
College Planning & Funding Strategy Advisor
Tony DeVecht serves as President and Director of Operations for College Planning Advisors of Michigan, LLC, a firm specializing in the optimization of student services and funding strategies with parents to ensure that their student’s dream school is a reality but not at the expense of mom & dad’s retirement. Tony lives in Grand Haven, Michigan where he and his wife Julie raised their daughter Hannah and son Aris, whose college educations they have successfully funded and now are enjoying their empty nest status.
Tony has served West Michigan and Mid-Western businesses and clients in a variety of capacities in the financial services areas in his 35-year career. He spent many years as a turnaround business consultant assisting struggling businesses to profitability or ascending to their next level of progression. Over time, many of these clients began to call on Tony for help in business succession planning or liquidation in order to begin planning for their retirement.
Tony’s past work led him to the realization that most financial advisors lack a holistic approach (coordination between funding college educations, retirement savings, and tax planning) to retirement planning. Tony’s 10 years of experience allows him to offer you a holistic and coordinated approach to College Planning and Funding with an eye toward preserving your retirement and minimizing any threat to it.
Tony’s goal is to educate you in this very complex process in hopes that he can help you avoid many of the costly mistakes that he made in this process with his own children.
CONTACT
OFFICE: 616.456.0794 ext. 700
for reservations: ext. 702
EMAIL: Tony@CollegePlanningAdvisorsofMi.com
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Make the gift of education more affordable. Don’t wait. Get informed and learn your options. Develop the best possible college funding strategy for your family.
