Recently Released!!!
Date Published: March 29, 2023
Summary PowerPoint Deck: 199 Slides
Reference PowerPoint Deck: 1,097 Slides

The purpose of this research is to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of college planning & the college savings market. This research summarizes a series of context setting factors, the history of college planning & the college savings market, the key products in the college savings market, and future predictions for college planning & the college savings market. This research is incorporated into Tiburon's broader research coverage of financial planning.

This research begins with a context setting for college planning & the college savings market, including consumer confidence, financial advisors' modest role today, and the evolving college planning situation, with a particular focus on the evolving college planning situation, including:

• Number of College Students Declining
• State Funding Shrinking
• Tuition Rates Rising
• Value of a College Education Being Questioned
• College Admissions Processes Being Challenged
• Leading Colleges Evolving
• Financial Aid Becoming Increasingly Complicated
• College Majors & Career Choices Evolving
• Student Loan Defaults Rising

This research addresses the historical phases of college planning & the college savings market, including:

• Haphazard Phase
• Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts Phase
• 529 College Savings Plans Introduction Phase
• 529 College Savings Plans Maturation Phase

This research highlights the market's growth and leading college savings market managers.

This research defines several distinct products in the college savings market, including:

• 529 College Savings Plans & State Pre-Paid Tuition Programs
• Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts
• Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) & Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) Custodial Accounts
• Other Tax Deferred Accounts
• Taxable Accounts

This research makes several future predictions for college planning & the college savings market, including:

• Continuing Complicated Nature of Planning & Paying for College, Including the Re-Emergence of the Community College Option and the Emergence of Online Options
• President Biden Proposal for College Debt Forgiveness & Even Broader Calls for College to be Free Likely to be Unsuccessful
• Broadening Role for Financial Advisors in College Planning
• Substantial Growth in the College Savings Market
• Fastest Growth in 529 College Savings Plans (with Collapse of Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts into 529 College Savings Plans)