Loftis: Paying for College Among Key Financial Questions Families Should Discuss

Conversations over where to go to college and how to pay for it can be among the most difficult talks families can have. Especially when facing both the rising cost of a four-year degree and the potential impact of student loan debt.

In fact, according to a new survey from Consumer Reports, forty-four percent of those who have left college say they have had to cut back on daily living expenses, 28 percent have had to delay major goals like buying a house and 37 percent have put off saving for retirement.

Still, parents want their children to have the brightest future possible and for many the key to that future continues to be higher education.

“That’s why I encourage parents to begin talking to their children about financial literacy and saving for college early,” Treasurer Curtis Loftis said, explaining that financial literacy is important on so many fronts.

“Whether it’s understanding how interest works or what it means to take out a loan, the more you can prepare your children for their own financial future, the better off they’ll be.”

And opening a Future Scholar College Savings Plan is a great way to get started, Loftis added. “It really is the smart, easy way to save for college.”

For more key questions every family should discuss, read on: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/student-loan-debt-crisis/having-the-college-money-talk