Ed Bove-Beacon Blog

I'm not just the president...

Remember those old commercials for Hair Club For Men?  The narrator always said: "I'm not only the president, I'm also a member."  Well, I can say much the same think about my college planning practice.

If you're reading this blog, it's probably because you have a high school student who's planning to go to college.  And for what it's worth, you should know that I am in the same boat as you.  In fact, that's how I got my start in this business.  When it was time for my daughter to go to college several years ago, I dutifully went through the whole college financial aid process on my own, and thought I did an okay job.  It was only later when I happened upon a presentation by a college planning expert that I found out that what I didn't know was costing me to lose thousands of dollars!

That motivated me to learn everything I could about the entire college process.  Not only how to pick the most suitable schools and maximize my aid eligibility, but also how to pay my portion of the cost without driving myself into the poor house.  And I've made it my mission to share that knowledge with others who face the same daunting task that I did.

Now, three years later as my sons graduate from high school, I have a plan in place to get all my children through college without going broke!  I'm taking advantage of every available strategy at my disposal and I'm sharing those same strategies with my college planning clients.

Are you ready for the college process?  Don't you owe it to yourself and your college-bound child to get every edge you can find.  After all, what you don't know can hurt you.  A lot.

I should know.  I've been there and done that.  But I'm not making the same mistakes this time as these guys get ready to head off to college.

Congratulations to my twins, Michael and Eddie, on their high school graduation!  Looking forward to a very bright future for you both.

There but for the grace of God...

I flew to Charlotte on US Airways twice in the past 4 months.  I'm glad I didn't today.

Bravo to the pilot for keeping his cool through extraordinary pressure and making a near-perfect emergency landing into the Hudson River.  Kudos as well to the fast acting emergency personnel and ferry boat crews who were on the scene within minutes to pluck the passengers from the frigid waters.  Their incredible heroics turned what easily could have been a major tragedy into a miraculous feat.

Thank goodness there was no loss of life.

Side note: I've noticed that when they refer to people on a plane or a boat they call them "souls." For example: There were 155 souls aboard the plane.  Anyone know why that is?  If you do, please let me know.

Another side note: While I am delighted about the outcome of today's harrowing aircraft incident, I still have to say: The three words I never want to hear on a flight are Brace for impact.

Born on this day...

Here are some notable people who were born on Jan. 10th:

• Former Boxing Champion George Foreman
• Rock Star Rod Stewart
• Singer Pat Benatar
• Singer Frank Sinatra Jr.
• Musician Donald Fagen of Steely Dan
• Baseball Hall of Famer Willie McCovey
• World-renowned tax professional and college planning expert Ed Bove

(Sorry...I couldn't resist having a little fun)

Murphy's Law Strikes Again!

I've been attending a great conference in Kansas City the past few days.  Fantastic information.  Great exchange of ideas.  I can't wait to get home and implement some of the terrific new concepts I picked up.

Anxious to get home, I thought about moving up my afternoon flight to an earlier one.  Ultimately, I decided not to; I didn't think it was worth the additional $150 the airline was going to charge me just to get home a few hours earlier.

BIG MISTAKE!

My flight, which was scheduled to leave at 3:11 p.m. Central Time has been twice delayed.  Now I won't get in the air until 7:30.  That means I won't get home 'til around midnight.  And that's assuming there are no further delays!!!  Lesson I learned: Always follow my first instinct.  It's usually the right one.

Why the delay?  Well, I'll tell you:  It has been pouring rain nearly the entire time I've been here in KC. Today is the first day I've seen anything resembling sunshine.  Ironically, it seems that same storm system has moved east and is causing big delays at Newark Airport.  Some days you just can't win.