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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Morningstar, Inc. announced its fifth annual study of the best and worst 529 college savings plans. The study is based on an evaluation of the plans’ diversification, fees, flexibility, and the quality of the underlying funds. The managers, strategies, and stewardship of the underlying funds is also considered in making the evaluations.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Recent Savingforcollege.com research explored the fees attached to 529 plans nationwide, resulting in a list of the lower- and higher-cost plans. According to the study, the least-expensive 529 plans available are offered by Utah, Oregon, Ohio, Illinois, and North Carolina, while the most expensive plans are offered by Montana, Nebraska, and the District of Columbia.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

According to the College Board’s Trends in College Pricing 2007 report, tuition and other costs, excluding room and board, increased on average to $6,185 at public four-year colleges this year, up 6.6% from last year, while tuition at private colleges hit $23,712—an increase of 6.3%.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

The College Board announced that it is ending its role as a lender in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and will not accept new loan applications after October 15, 2007.

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DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

A hot-button issue this time of year that brings clients to advisors is funding their child’s college education. “The reason is just plain, old cost,” explains Susan Hirshman, managing director for JPMorgan Asset Management in New York. “College is just so much more expensive now.” In fact, the rate of increase in college costs has outpaced inflation by as much as 6% to 8% in the last decade.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

On July 18, by a vote of 273-149, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation for an $18 billion college aid package, which its sponsors say will help millions of students and their families pay for college at no added cost to taxpayers. Those sponsors claim that the legislation will pay for itself by cutting federal subsidies paid to lenders in the college loan industry by $19 billion.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

On Monday, May 21, 2007, Columbia University released its financial aid director, David Charlow, after documents became available showing that he promoted a student loan company in which he held a financial stake. Charlow had sent letters to parents and alumni on three occasions praising the lender—Student Loan Xpress.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Some are concerned that this is further evidence of the growing gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in America. To be sure, recent evidence points to the fact that the children of college-educated parents are more likely to go to college than the children of non-college-educated parents. Further, there's overwhelming evidence that having a college education leads to higher incomes. This is a predictable cycle and probably the intended outcome of higher education to begin with—more education leads to higher incomes and better educated parents both prioritize education and are able to provide the funds to support that priority for their children.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

On May 10, 2007, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Student Loan Sunshine Act, H.R.890, to ban gifts and payments by student loan companies to universities. Representative George Miller (D-California), who leads the House education committee, joined Representative Howard McKeon (R-California) in co-drafting the legislation, exhibiting a bipartisan determination to get the $85 billion industry cleaned up.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

oseph Hurley, founder of Savingforcollege.com, has published the Family Guide to College Savings, an 88-page manual that delves into the planning and savings options available to families for a child's college education. The guide covers areas such as affording the college of your choice; comparing college savings alternatives; transferring assets between accounts; financial aid considerations; and putting your college savings plan together.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

here have been some significant recent developments affecting 529 college savings plans, with substantial changes in state and federal tax benefits that should serve to increase the appeal of the plans. The most notable change was the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which made permanent an investor’s ability to withdraw earnings from 529 plans, free of federal taxes, for qualified college expenses.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

According to a survey commissioned by Hartford Life, a large percentage of people are interested in 529 plans. However, the percentage of people that are actually offered a 529 program by their advisor is much lower. Conducted in early fall of 2006 by Opinauri, Inc., the survey interviewed 300 parents and 102 grandparents, all of them well-educated and with annual household incomes above the national average.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

The College Student Relief Act of 2007 (HR 5), introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-California) with 211 cosponsors, would modify the Higher Education Act of 1965 by cutting in half the fixed interest rates on need-based Stafford loans for undergraduates over a five-year period. The bill passed the House on January 17.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

As a bumper crop of teenagers makes its way through high school, many parents and grandparents are losing sleep over getting them into college. A good college education probably tops the list of hopes and dreams your clients have for their children. But this pressure, inside and outside the family, can lead to emotional and financial challenges that

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

While a number of the provisions in the recently passed $70 billion tax package, the “Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005,” will have a direct effect on how advisors plan for their clients—namely repeal of the Roth IRA limits, extending the Kiddie Tax to age 18, raising the AMT exemption for 2006, and extension of the 15% long-term capital gains rate

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

The 529 college savings plan market is booming—particularly among plans sold through advisors. At the end of 2004, 82% of 529 sales came from advisor-sold plans, according to Financial Research Corp. (FRC) in Boston. By the end of the first quarter of 2005, total assets in 529 savings plans reached $55.4 billion. FRC estimates that by 2010, combined sales among both prepaid and savings plans will hit $300 billion.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Don't forget income shifting and gifting when helping affluent clients plan their kids' education funding

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com

Despite the fact that regulators and lawmakers continue to scrutinize 529 college savings plans, parents and grandparents alike continue to pour money into the plans. According to Financial Research Corp. in Boston, assets in 529s jumped from $35 billion in 2003 to $52 billion by the end of 2004.

Sponsored By:

DWS Scudder, the U.S. retail brand name of Deutsche Asset Management, provides financial advisors with a comprehensive selection of innovative investment strategies.
www.dws-scudder.com