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Parents want what’s best for their children and while it’s normal to help students navigate the college application process, but there’s a fine line between aiding a child and taking over completely. Kaplan Test Prep’s 2010 Test Prep and Admission Survey, which includes admission officers at 387 of the nation’s top colleges and universities, found that 77% of officers believe parental involvement is on the rise in the college admissions process. (http://www.kaptest.com/) As a result, 61% admitted to developing new initiatives to keep parents informed, including social media outreach, separate tours of the school for students only and students with parents, and [...]

Dear Dr. Don, I recently purchased a home and moved my elderly mother in with me. She relies on Social Security and has been dealing with old collections from unpaid credit card bills and other debts. What is the best way for me to protect my mother from creditors? I’m worried that if something happens to me, she could lose the home. I’d like to leave my mother the house in my will and make her a beneficiary of my life insurance. But I’m wondering if that would make it harder to collect her Social Security benefits, and I’m worried [...]

Managing a household’s finances can be challenging for parents. Admit it—no matter how organized we may try to be, figuring out what you’ve already paid, which bills are paid automatically and what needs to be paid by when can be a headache. On top of it all, you have to manage your checking account, savings accounts, investment accounts, and college savings accounts. It can be a huge job, but there are some tools that parents can use to make managing their finances so much easier. Here are five fantastic techy financial tools for parents: NeatDesk At around $ 400, the [...]

After saving since your child was in preschool, you celebrate euphorically when your son or daughter is accepted to the college of his or her choice. You’d always imagined that your math whiz would become a chief financial officer (CFO), but are surprised when Junior says, “I’m leaning toward majoring in history.” My friend Karen describes a similar scenario: Our daughter worked hard throughout high school, earning nearly straight A’s and assuming leadership positions in sports and clubs. Her passion for and success in speech and debate tournaments seemed to position her well for a career as an attorney. Now [...]

College students may be away at school, but their liability is still living at home. Parents tend to list a college-age child as away at school on their insurance policies or co-sign their credit cards but if something goes awry, parents are on the hook and could put their hard-earned nest egg at risk. While at college, children are still a member of the household and considered covered under home and automobile polices, according to David Spencer, vice president of Premier Client Services at ACE Private Risk Services. General industry practice is that policies cover the person named, their spouse [...]

I’m headed toward one of those parental milestones to which many of you with multiple children either remember fondly or look forward to with something like desperation: all of my boys will be in public school as of next Monday. September 10th is my independence day. I’m of mixed feelings about this coming date. I, rare among work-from-home moms, love summer and having my kids around all the time, but it is true that managing my new magazine and my literary writing life will be so much easier with all my boys out of the house six hours a day. [...]

Dear To Her Credit, I read your article about who has to pay credit card debt when someone dies, and I have a question: Why do you have to tell the credit card company that the person died?  Why even go to probate or have an “estate”?  When my dad dies, I am not planning on doing probate or anything like that.  I got his ATM code and his online banking information already. So when he dies, I am just planning on withdrawing all the money or just transferring it to my account.  How would anybody but me know if [...]

It’s not just college tuition costs or the price tag on afterschool activities that have parents seeing red — the rising cost of daycare has the majority of working American parents feeling “overwhelmed,” according to a new study.  Nearly one-fifth of American families pay for weekly care for a child between the ages of 3 and 17, and 86% admit they’re having trouble paying the bills, according to a survey by budgeting site Although the majority of parents — 53% — said that childcare costs cost them less than $ 500 per month, 12% said they pay more than $ [...]

Incoming college freshmen can’t wait to get on campus, meet new friends and get their first taste of independent living. Their parents, however, might be feeling a little apprehensive, still wanting to be involved and to play an active role in their student’s college life.  ”Helicopter parents,” which refer to parents who hover and get overly-involved in their children’s lives, are blamed for indecisive and overly-dependent students. Experts agree that parents should still play a role in their college students’ lives, but it’s how they execute their role that is key to creating mature, independent kids. Parents need to let [...]

The birth of a new baby is a major milestone in anyone’s life. But ask any parent, and they will tell you raising a kid doesn’t come cheap.  “New families aren’t prepared financially,” says Will Smayda, Southern California regional sales manager for Merrill Edge. “For starters, they don’t know how much it’ll cost both immediate [term], as well as over the next 18 years.” A new baby can cost almost $ 10,000 during the first year, according to BabyCenter. “You don’t finance this, it’s out of pocket or on a credit card,” says Smayda. Since parents’ lives change after babies [...]