Encourage your student to think about their future financial self. Mid-August is the time of year that our kids pack the U-Haul and head to college. And while they’re excited about a brand-new semester, it can be frightening to see the cost – and rising college debt – that comes with the college experience. What can our college students do to ease the price tag?

Many people perceive trusts as a complex subject better left to their attorney. As a matter of fact, they often think trusts are available only to the wealthy. However, when stripped of all the “bells and whistles,” a trust can be viewed as simply a written contract between one individual, the trustee (or grantor), and another individual called a beneficiary(ies). The trustee’s job is to see that the terms of the trust are faithfully carried out according to the grantor’s wishes. The word “grantor” is another term for the person who sets up the trust and decides (with the help of his or her attorney) what the terms of the trust are going to be.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to financial planning: