“A combination of 3 events occurring over my lifetime led me to investigate and, eventually, to jump whole-heartedly into the college planning arena.

 “First, just after my junior year in college, my parents told me they no longer had any money to put toward the remaining cost of my education. I had little money, no much more than enough spending money for my senior year. I had all the scholarships I could get – academic and baseball. And, I was still $2,500 short. The only option I had was to contact the school’s financial aid office, letting them know my situation and ask if they could offer any direction. The school offered me a personal loan of $2,500, to be paid back over 5 years following my last year in school. Just like most other families, my parents ran out of funds during my junior year in college. And. I had 2 younger brothers.

 “During Spring Break 2013, on the beach with other basketball and volleyball families from the high school, a friend with a soon-to-be-graduating son commented that his children would ‘…each graduate from college $60,000 in debt and that’s just the way it is.’ I thought at the time that there had to be a better way, though I knew how expensive a college education had become.

 “While attending a baseball skills evaluation camp with my son 4 months later, I heard a gentleman speak about college planning, how the process works now, what expense can be expected…and more. What he said struck home, energizing my entire soul.

 “I now knew there was a better way, a way that would not subject our children (and ourselves) to overwhelming debt and a fractured, uncomfortable retirement. Immediately thereafter, he and I discussed the college planning business. Within the week, I had engaged his college planning services on behalf of my son and he became my mentor.”