Tonight's webinar, Finally!  Your Financial Aid Questions, Answered is for families with class of 2024, 2025 and younger kids who are tossing and turning at night over how the bejeesus they'll afford college tuition for their kids without selling a vital organ or plundering their retirement.

If you have questions about how to get your mitts on the scholarships and grants you need in order to pay for college --  comfortably, without changing your lifestyle-- consider this your Last Call.

We're assembling pre-submitted questions from everyone who registered, and there's a LOT of 'em already in the cue (we're currently at 153 registrants if you must know).

But if you sign up and submit your Q now, we can use our best efforts to deliver an A, live, tonight!  Here's where to sign up:

REGISTER FOR LIVE Q&A

Carpe college :)

- Andy Lockwood

P.S.  I bet you have friends and family who need this information.  Please share this invitation with...

Yesterday I threw out an email about tomorrow's webinar, asking you what questions you wanted answered.

The webinar, cleverly enough, is called, Finally!  Your Financial Aid Questions, Answered.

...and said questions have come in, fast and furious.  (Well, not "furious." "Inquisitive" is more like it.")

But that's a good thing, for two reasons:

1. We know that we'll be delivering information that YOU want (not what Pearl or I think you want);  and

2. We don't have to do anything to prepare!  I can just sit back on my tush and watch 'em come in.

Some of the pre-submitted questions are really good, and definitely not the same-old, same-old you'd hear from your guidance counselor.  I've reviewed questions about the CSS Profile, 529 accounts in grandparents' names, the accuracy of those Net Price calculators and a lot more.  I'm tingly with excitement! 

Seriously, I am excited, because I love hearing how we can help you demystify the...

Top of the morning:

I speak publicly about college-related topics 15-20 times per year, but this Wednesday, I'm doing something different.

Instead of moi deciding what you need to know, I'm putting YOU in the driver's seat with a live Q&A:

Finally!  Your Financial Aid Questions, Answered

i may think that I know what YOU should know when I'm prepping for a "normal" talk, but I'm frequently dead wrong, and leave out important information.  So I'm doing something about it.

This Wednesday, it's your chance to ask me and/or Pearl, our resident Financial Aid Maven, any of your questions about paying for college, including but not limited to:

• How do you apply?
• When do you apply?
• What are the big changes this year?
• Is it worth my time to apply for those random scholarships for left-handed oboists of Viking descent with spastic colons?
• What's the deal with the 529?
• How do I know if I'll qualify?
• What is the maximum income you can have and still qualify?
• I heard from my...

There's a lot of chit chat about applying Early Decision, the "binding" (not) way to apply to college, versus all of the other 47 ways to apply (Regular.  Early. Restricted Early. Direct.  Double-Secret Platinum VIP, to name a few.)

I \recorded a quick podcast episode on this topic, because I know, from past and present experience, that your guidance counselor will never, ever, never ever never tell you what I'm about to learn ya.

It's less than 10 minutes long, I think you need to hear it if you are wondering if you/your kiddo should apply ED:

PODCAST EPISODE

Happy listening,

- Andy Lockwood

P.S.  Yeah, I have a podcast.  I'm that cool.  I thought the world needed one the way it needs another lawyer (I'm one of them too, but in remission).

If you are part of podcast culture, you can subscribe to it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don't miss this type of information.

And you can see if you agree with the mediocre 3.7 rating,...

Last night, at a workshop I conducted down the road at the Manhasset Library, a mom asked me a simple question that I hadn't heard in a while:

Do colleges prefer that you take the SAT or ACT?

I suppose that I hadn't heard this question recently because of the temporary test-optional fad that we're currently experiencing, like Pickle Ball.  Here is a quickie summary of my answer:

• College are agnostic, they accept either the SAT or ACT
• Figure out which test is best -- for your child -- and get that score as high as possible
• There is a difference between APPLYING test-optional and getting ADMITTED test optional
• SAT and ACT scores are still very good predictors of academic performance in college
• Good, not "perfect" predictors.   Almost as good as a student's high school academic record
• The phenomenon of "Great grades, poor test-taker" can be partially explained by rampant grade inflation across the country.  I can't remember the last time I met a kid with a C...

From the desk of Renfield
Personal assistant to Count Andrew Von Fafsala Lockwuud

Hello. I don’t have much time, so I’ll cut to the chase while Count Von Fafsala Lockwuud and Countess Pearlticia are slumbering in their coffins. They're pretty heavy sleepers, but the sun will set shortly and I’ll be busy tending to their sick needs the same way I've been doing for the last three centuries...

I didn’t see your name (or even your soul) on the list of victims, um, “people” signing up for the 10% off Financial Aid Consulting promo that ended last night, midnight.

But come a little closer, so I can whisper something in your ear (sorry about my breath, big breakfast of insects today):

I can still get you in for the same deal that expired yesterday.  You just have to sign up before the Count and Countess rise again.  If you keep this between us, they won’t know anything about it, so they won’t punish me. 

Which is a bit...

Good eeeeeve-a-ning (it's dark somewhere in the word),

At midnight tonight, our offer expires as abruptly and savagely as a stake through a heart...

10% off our Financial Aid Warrior, financial aid consulting service (plus a "wicked awesome," fast-action bonus worth $497 - see below).

Financial Aid Warrior is our "silver bullet" financial aid consulting and applications prep (FAFSA, CSS Profile) service that gets you every last bloody dollar that you deserve to get, possibly even more…

…steering you clear of the horrible, blood-sucking monstrous mistakes that lie, lurking in the shadows for poor, sweet, unsuspecting you…

…ready to POUNCE and rob you blind of the financial aid and scholarship money you otherwise should have won!

This limited-time, about-to-kick-the-bucket promo allows you to enroll for an instant, tuition-SLASHING scholarship of 10% off (if you beat the devil, and countdown clock):

...

It's Friday the 13th and I'm super busy, so I’ll make this quicker than a scurrying rat - you're looking at only two days left to take advantage of our “Halloween” special.

Until the Witching Hour, midnight Eastern time, Sunday night, you get 10% off our Financial Aid Warrior financial aid consulting program...

...and a $497 Early Action BONE-us that we just dug up from the vault :)

To get your double discount (on our service and on college tuition!), simply go here right now.

**************************

This just in: we added a budget-friendly payment plan to your cash flow, discounted as well:

<<<<<<< Payment Plan Option >>>>>>

***************************

Each discounted option expires suddenly, without warning 10/15 -- Midnight!

(Don’t worry that I’m telling you two days in advance that something will expire without warning. It makes perfect sense to me. But then again, I...

Good eeeeeve-a-ning...

(I know it's morning, just go with it.)

My undead but lovely Countess Pearlticia and I have never done anything like this in our 350+ years together, but right now, you can invite us (careful!) into your corner to help you conquer the FAFSA, CSS Profile and all other of your financial aid demons for 10% off  - AND claim a big fat bonus (see below)!

Why are we doing this goofy Halloween sale and gutting our prices?  

1. It’s our way to say “thank you” for being part of our community and helping refer and otherwise spread the word about our college planning services
2. It’s indisputable that this is one giant, MONSTA of a deal!  We actually lowered our prices...how many businesses do THAT????  (There’s a recession out there in case you didn’t notice.)
3. Pearl, the mother of our four “Children Of The Night,” prepares approximately 400 of our clients' financial...

Tutoring

Apparently First Son Hunter Biden used about $40,000 of his daughter's 529 college savings fund for drugs and prostitutes, according to the IRS. 

These are not "Qualified Higher Education" expenses under the Department of Treasury Rules, so I can see why they're miffed.

Here are some other, non-qualified things you can do with your 529:

• Fund a Super PAC
• Purchase jet skis
• Buy crypto through Sam Bankman-Fried

Proper use of the 529 is pretty much limited to direct college expenses, such as tuition, rent, books and even laptops. 

I don't know if Hunter used his 529 for The Laptop.  He would not turn my calls.

But here's the thing about the 529...

In financial aid, it PENALIZES, meaning, reduces your eligibility for aid.   Pretty weird, right?

One one hand, the government incentivizes you to save for college by creating the 529 plan.  

On the other hand, if you actually DO save money this way, you'll receive less financial...