New CCH Book Helps Professionals Add College Savings Expertise

(RIVERWOODS, ILL., June 13, 2003) -- New options for funding the high costs of college offer attractive opportunities both for parents and their professional financial advisors, according to CCH INCORPORATED (CCH), a leading provider of tax information and software. To help accountants, financial planners and other financial professionals guide their clients through what is often a confusing maze of programs and procedures, CCH has published the Education Savings Planning Guide, Including 529 Plans, by Karen P. Schaeffer and James L. McCoy. (318 pages, $59. For more information or to order, visit the CCH Online store at onlinestore.cch.com.)

In recent years, new types of college savings programs have been introduced with improved tax advantages, but they have also brought tremendous complexity to the education financing and planning equation. CCH's brand-new Education Savings Planning Guide, Including 529 Plans provides insightful guidance for professionals working in the growing, but complex, college savings planning area.

This practical new guide covers the important financial planning topics, describes the many savings and paying opportunities, and illustrates the processes and tasks with an abundance of special tools. It begins with fundamental concepts and approaches, such as the need for early planning, and proceeds through estimating future college costs, understanding the financial aid process, financial aid resources available and cash flow considerations. The book also covers other important topics such as:

    • Strategies for developing a savings plan
    • Section 529 Plans
    • Coverdell Education Savings Accounts
    • Private prepaid tuition plans
    • Hope scholarship credit
    • Lifetime learning credit
    • Investment options
    • Asset allocation strategies
    • Trust strategies
    • Educational savings bonds
    • Planning with retirement plans
    • Employer-provided educational assistance
    • Considerations in titling assets

Helpful Examples and Tools

This new volume is loaded with planning tips, pointers, examples and cautions. Planning tools include a financial aid phone directory, glossary, college preparation checklist, campus visit checklist, client budget worksheet, special data sheet on saving bond exclusions, worksheet for Lifetime learning and Hope scholarship credits, client information gathering tools, client budget worksheets, loan payment and repayments analysis aids, illustrated federal tax forms, useful website directory, life insurance needs worksheet, state higher education agency directory and more.

About the Authors

Karen P. Schaeffer, CFP, is President and Co-founder of Schaeffer Financial, a financial consulting firm in suburban Washington, D.C., and Vice-President of Financial Services Advisory, an asset management firm specializing in no-load mutual funds. Ms. Schaeffer is a popular lecturer and seminar leader and is often asked to design and teach continuing education courses for CFPs, CPAs and other financial services professionals. Schaeffer is an adjunct faculty member at the College for Financial Planning in Denver and George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she regularly teaches courses on estate planning.

James L. McCoy, MST, CPA is President of Garverick McCoy Tax Seminars, a firm specializing in CPE course development. He is a highly rated discussion leader known for his ability to communicate complex technical issues in an easy-to-understand, practical manner. McCoy has more than 20 years of experience in local and national firm tax departments specializing in taxation of individuals and closely-held family businesses.

Availability and Pricing

For more information or to order a copy of the 318-page Education Savings Planning Guide, Including 529 Plans, call 800-248-3248 or visit the CCH Online Store at onlinestore.cch.com. Single copies are $59, plus applicable shipping, handling and tax. Quantity discounts and school adoption prices are available.

About CCH INCORPORATED

CCH INCORPORATED, headquartered in Riverwoods, Ill., was founded in 1913 and has served four generations of business professionals and their clients. The company produces more than 700 electronic and print products for the tax, legal, securities, insurance, human resources, health care and small business markets. CCH is a Wolters Kluwer company. The CCH web site can be accessed at cch.com. The CCH Federal and State Tax group web site can be accessed at tax.cchgroup.com.

 

EDITORS NOTE: Editorial review copies are available upon request. Contact Leslie Bonacum, 847-267-7153 or mediahelp@cch.com; or Neil Allen, 847-267-2179, allenn@cch.com