Thanks to my friend, Steve Rosen at the Kansas City Star for allowing me to speak my financial mind:

Why We Said ‘No’ to Our Daughter’s No. 1 College Choice – Kansas City Star

My oldest, Allison, is a gifted writer.  Allison is a rising senior in college and a creative writing major. Her writing has been commended for her frank, sometimes touching and often humorous insights into her topic. I asked her to submit the tips below to a writer friend of mine and this was the result.  I liked hearing these novel tips from the “boots on the ground” so to speak – where her insights were learned the hard way and very personally – as I am sure you will as well.

8 Tips for Landlords, Renters in the Under-30 Crowd – Money Under 30

I have always believed that it’s only when kids of any age spend “their” money that they pay close(r) attention to the cost.  And the recent article by The New York Times adds further support to this theory! 

So parents, partner up on the cost of anything with your kids to help them understand value.  All kids, at every age, need to have “skin in the game” to care – even when it comes to college. 

Parents’ Financial Support May Not Help College Grades – New York Times

My youngest is a gifted young woman.  From a very early age she has been able to be that pal or friend of a special ed kid and not have that child think they are any different than any other kid.  She is also completely turned on by mission work.  Her idea of fun is to spend an entire summer going from one desperately in need town to another helping other high school kids paint houses, build porches, change out flashing on a double-wide and so on.  Her dream career is to work with special ed kids in some way.  We haven’t gotten that all worked out just yet, but we are definitely seeing a trend here.

As she applied to colleges this Spring, we discovered that her gifts were not measurable by ACT, SAT or GPA. There was no box for “tireless special ed volunteer”, or “youngest member of church council”. Continue reading