“WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Personal Finance - WAFB.com” plus 1 more

WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Personal Finance - WAFB.com

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:30 PM PST

Employee productivity is a critical component of a company's overall benefits strategy

Produced for Prudential - According to a research brief stemming from Prudential's 5th annual study of employee benefits, 7 in 10 plan sponsors say controlling health care costs is "highly important" to them. And three of their top five benefits objectives in 2010 are cost-related, namely, employers are placing greater emphasis on productivity-focused strategies such as wellness initiatives, absence management and benefits integration.

New ways to sell your old car

Produced for Autotrader.com - Automotive Expert Courtney Hansen shares new ways to use online resources to your advantage when you're trying to sell your car. From online professional consultants who help you craft your listing to guaranteed price quotes that take the mystery out of the trade-in process to online resources for finding a charity to take your car away and give you a tax deduction, there are easy and effective options out there for every kind of seller.

Mission: Able aims to help paralyzed veterans

Produced for Paralyzed Veterans of America - Paralyzed Veterans of America's Mission: Able campaign helps our heroes fully live the lives they deserve and to receive what they need most: Care, Benefits and Jobs.

Short on cash? There's no need to cut back on Rx

Produced for Merck - If your unemployed or just under-funded, there's no need to cut back on your medications. Go to MerckHelps.com to see if you are eligible for Merck's Patient Assistance Program.

Contemplating a career change? You can do it!

Produced for Devry - Did you know that most people change their careers several times over the course of their lifetime? Recruiter and job search expert, Kimberly Bishop, talks about high-growth career fields, and how to get started, and how to gain the right experience.

September is National Coupon Month!

Produced for Sam's Club - This month is the 101st anniversary of the very first money saving coupon! Take a look at how coupons have evolved and how sometimes you can redeem them without actually clipping. Please note: special eValues trial offer for non-Plus members at Sam's Club was only for Labor Day Weekend. Miren el video en Español

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Personal Finance: When aid is grand yet backfires - Philadelphia Daily News

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 05:27 AM PST

Posted on Sun, Nov. 28, 2010

With college costs keeping parents awake at night, grandparents are stepping forward to help.

But the way in which they help their families matters.

Grandparents are being urged by tax advisers this year to think about insulating their savings from possible increases in income and estate taxes as federal and state governments grapple with deficits. A favorite strategy is to put money into accounts for grandchildren, which can be shielded from taxes.

While that can help many families pay for college educations that now total about $200,000 for four years at a private school and up to $80,000 for some public universities, gifts from grandparents can aggravate the burden for some families.

So grandparents are urged to consider their children's finances before helping grandchildren.

Here are some considerations:

Do grandparents have plenty? Before putting significant amounts of money into a 529 college-savings account or any account designated specifically for a grandchild, grandparents need to make sure they will have enough savings to cover their own medical and long-term-care needs.

A single grandparent can give each grandchild up to $13,000 a year, and a couple can give $26,000, without owing taxes. Over a lifetime, a grandparent can give away $1 million without paying taxes.

Do the children have plenty? Many grandparents cannot afford to give huge gifts to grandchildren. And if they are not going to set aside enough money to fund a grandchild's full college education, they need to understand how their gift will figure into their children's overall financial picture.

Many parents pay for college with a mix of savings, student loans, and grants. Even families with incomes above $150,000 might qualify for grants at private colleges. And yet gifts from grandparents can keep families from qualifying for the money, said Kalman Chany, a financial planner and author of Paying for College Without Going Broke.

Consequences of small gifts. Parents also have to be careful. The quirky formulas used by colleges to determine eligibility for financial aid assume that students can use virtually every penny they have to pay for college. Yet, there is a realization that parents need their money to pay for household expenses, retirement, and educational needs for multiple students.

Say, for example, a family has an income and assets low enough to qualify for $2,500 in grants from a college. If a student has an additional $10,000 in a Uniform Transfers to Minors Account, the family could lose the entire $2,500 of the grant money, Chany said. Yet if the same $10,000 were in a parent's account, the family would be able to access about $2,000 of the grant.

While that would not be a problem for a family with plenty of savings or a grandparent picking up the full college tab, it could be a burden for a family struggling to come up with tuition. The financial-aid formula requires students at public colleges to use 20 percent of their assets each year to pay for college; private colleges require 25 percent. For parents, only 5.6 percent are tapped.

Grandparents' alternatives. Grandparents who open 529 plans in their own name can also reduce aid substantially, although 529s have less effect on financial aid if they are in a parent's name. Before grandparents give gifts to grandchildren, parents should do a calculation to see if they are likely to get financial aid. Try the calculator at http://tinyurl.com/2cyeqkz and use the "federal" formula to see what would happen at public colleges and "institutional" for private colleges.

If the calculation shows that children will need aid and will qualify for grants, Chany suggests seniors put tax-cutting strategies on ice temporarily. A kind approach, he said, would be to help pay off loans once a grandchild finishes college.

Gail MarksJarvis is a personal-finance columnist for the Chicago Tribune. E-mail her at gmarksjarvis@tribune.com.

Personal Finance

Sunday, November 28, 2010