Student loan debt in the United States is estimated to total an astonishing $1.7 trillion. Most parents aim to help their children cope with college tuition fees but this goal is getting harder with increasing costs across the board. According to Fidelity Investments’ 2020 College Savings Indicator, although the average parent hopes to cover 65 percent of their child’s college expenses, they typically only manage to cover 33 percent of the costs.

In addition, the average college tuition cost continues to rise in both public and private schools. The average cost of tuition and fees in the 2021-2022 academic year for a public, in-state college is $10,338. The cost is $22,698 for a public, out-of-state college and $38,185 for a private institution. On-campus accommodation and meals will add another $10,000-20,000. On top of this, parents must budget for 1-2 percent inflation each year.

Therefore, parents must start saving for their child’s college education early. The sooner you start, the more compound earnings you will gain over time. There are also specific programs that make paying for college easier. Here are some of the most popular options.

529 Plans

A 529 plan is an education savings plan that uses after-tax money. Many states allow you to deduct your contributions from your income tax. Interest earned and withdrawals for education purposes are tax-free. If the account is owned by the student or their parent, students need not report any withdrawals on FAFSA, so they can continue receiving financial aid.

529 plans have several other advantages. Other people such as grandparents or family friends can set up an account for a student’s education. Certain states offer prepaid tuition plans which allow parents to purchase tuition for the future at current costs. Some plans also allow the money saved to be transferred to younger siblings if it is not used by the beneficiary.

Roth IRAs

A Roth IRA is a retirement savings account that uses after-tax money and allows account holders to earn interest tax-free. If parents already have a Roth IRA in place, they can use the same account to save for their child’s college expenses as well.

The benefit of using a Roth IRA is that parents do not have to set up a separate savings arrangement. If their child does not end up going to college, the money saved can then be put towards their retirement. Furthermore, funds in a Roth IRA can be withdrawn at any time without a specific reason and there is no early-withdrawal penalty if the funds are spent on higher education. However, taxes will have to be paid on any funds transferred to children or grandchildren.

Custodial Accounts

A custodial account— Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gift to Minors Act (UGMA)—is an investment account that acts as a trust for a minor child. Both accounts can hold assets such as cash, stocks, and mutual funds. In addition, UTMAs can hold physical assets such as real estate. Parents are essentially custodians of the account until their child reaches the age of maturity, which ranges from 18 to 21 depending on the state.

The major benefit of a custodial account is that there is no limit on the investment sum nor any limitation on where the money has to be spent. However, beneficiaries may not use the money for education after they gain rights to the account. Custodial accounts can also reduce the amount of financial aid that beneficiaries are eligible for.

Grants and Scholarships

Grants and scholarships are good ways to defray the high costs of a college education. There are a wide variety of grants and scholarships available from colleges, the government, and private and public organizations. There is an estimated $24 billion in funds from five million scholarship opportunities available to college students every year.

That said, grants and scholarships are competitive. It can be hard to win a scholarship with the large number of students applying for each opportunity. Some scholarships are split between several applicants, reducing the sum that each student receives. Students hoping to receive scholarships are advised to submit as many applications as possible throughout the year.

Federal and Private Loans

If your savings and your child’s scholarships cannot cover the full sum of their tuition expenses, consider paying for college through student loans. Parent PLUS loans are issued to parents of students, so you can shoulder the debt instead of your child. Your child may also be eligible for a subsidized federal student loan which does not accrue interest while they are still in school.

Private student loans are another option. There are many different private student loans available and it pays to be prudent when selecting one. The best private student loans should offer flexible loan terms, zero fees, a low interest rate, and a generous grace period. A private student loan should not replace financial aid but complement it.

With the high cost of education, parents can understandably be worried about the future of their children. When you start saving early, you can have your finances in order by the time your child is ready for college. Otherwise, grants, scholarships, and loans are available to help you make up the difference.

Eco-friendly initiatives are important, but they can be difficult to get started in an office setting. It can be hard to change the way things have always been done, and it’s often easier to stick with the status quo. However, there are ways that you can influence your colleagues to become more eco-friendly. Here are some of the best ways to do so.

We all have a role to play in looking after our planet – whether that’s by recycling more, eating less meat, or taking steps to reduce our energy consumption. And while some people might be more passionate about environmentalism than others, we should all be doing our bit to make a difference. It has now been widely declared that we are in a climate emergency, as humans have made drastic changes to the planet and its climate, some of which are irreversible.

The scale of the problem seems so huge that many people don’t know how they can make a difference. Thinking too big can paralyze people into doing nothing at all. Many people find it more helpful to think on a smaller scale, finding easy changes they can make to reduce their carbon footprint. Once you get the hang of making some small but important changes, it can quickly become a way of life you’re happy with.

If you want to have a wider influence, your workplace might be a good place to begin. In general, companies are responsible for more carbon emissions than individuals, so influencing the people you work with could have a larger knock-on effect.

Here are some ways you could influence your colleagues to be more eco-friendly, without being too forceful about your opinions.

Lead By Example

One of the best ways to influence your colleagues is to lead by example. If you’re making an effort to be more eco-friendly, your colleagues will likely take notice. If you’re constantly bringing in reusable water bottles, taking public transportation, or recycling, others may begin to do the same.

Of course, you don’t need to be perfect – nobody is – but try to make eco-friendly choices whenever possible. Every little bit helps, and your colleagues will take notice of your efforts.

Ditch Plastic Bags

Everyone has bags they need to carry their stuff in, and if you look around, most of your colleagues will bring at least one or two bags with them into work each day. But how many of those bags are reusable?

If you want to reduce the amount of plastic your colleagues use, suggest ditching plastic bags in favor of reusable ones. You could buy a stack of reusable bags and keep them at work, so your colleagues always have one on hand when they need it. You can even get custom grocery bags with your own bespoke designs – made from recycled and recyclable materials. It may even catch on so your company starts producing these kinds of bags too!

Recycle More

One way to make your workplace more eco-friendly is to recycle more. This can be difficult if your office doesn’t have a good recycling system in place, but it’s worth trying to make it work.

You could start by speaking to your colleagues about recycling more, and see if there’s interest in starting a recycling program at work. Make a point of looking at product packaging to see if it has any recycling information in it. This can be a less obvious way to strike up a conversation with colleagues about which types of materials are recyclable. And if there are no recycling trash cans in your office, speak to your more senior colleagues to see if this can be introduced.

Run Meetings And Events With Sustainability In Mind

If you occasionally have to chair meetings or host events that your colleagues will attend, take this as an opportunity to bring sustainability to the forefront of people’s minds.

You could start by sending out invitations and agendas electronically, rather than printing them out on paper. And if you do need to print something, use recycled paper. You could also try to source sustainable and eco-friendly catering options for any food served at the event. This can be difficult, but it’s worth doing your research to find caterers that use local and seasonal produce, as well as sustainable meat and fish.

Most importantly, make sure everyone attending the meeting or event knows what sustainability measures you have incorporated. This is a great way to show others how anyone can think about being more eco-friendly in any given context. Hopefully you’ll influence the meetings and events they host in the future too.

Be Patient

Changing long-standing habits can be difficult, so it’s important to be patient when trying to influence your colleagues. If you push too hard, you might find that people are less likely to listen to you. Instead, try to have open and honest conversations about sustainability, and explain why you think it’s important.

You might not see an immediate change, but if you keep at it, eventually your colleagues will start to come around. And who knows, you might even end up enjoying working together to make your workplace more eco-friendly!

Websites are a dime a dozen on the Internet. Some websites have amazing results and convert a large percentage of customers while others have a high bounce rate and little marketing value. What are the differences between an effective website and an average one? And what are the characteristics of a great website?

It looks good

First and foremost, your website needs to look good. Humans are visual creatures and we love looking at aesthetically pleasing things. Your visitor has formed an impression of your business within the first three seconds of your page loading. When your site looks outdated and unprofessional, your brand will seem similarly unappealing.

Research shows that 38 percent of people will leave an ugly website. If you want your prospects to stick around long enough to read your content and consider converting, then you have to ensure that you invest in quality web design. Do not go overboard with the images though, as that can lead to slower load times.

It works well

Speaking of load times, 39 percent of people surveyed indicated that they will abandon a site if it takes too long to load. Three seconds is considered the optimum time for a page to load. Any longer than that and you will face significant bounce rates. In fact, load speed is such an important search ranking factor that Google launched a PageSpeed module for webmasters.

Another key aspect of a good website is its ease of use and navigation. If a user has to make multiple clicks to find the information that they desire, they are likely to lose interest. Ensure that your navigation options are always clear and easily accessible. Similarly, make sure that there are no broken images or dead links.

It is informative

Quality content is the cornerstone of good marketing. Visitors come to your site seeking information and you want them to be satisfied with what they find. Do your research and find out what your target audience wants to know more about. This could be solutions to their pain points or general information about a topic that they are interested in.

Creating useful and educational content can help establish your business as an authoritative and reliable voice in the industry. This will increase brand trust and lead to more conversions. Furthermore, great content is likely to be shared by your viewers, improving brand awareness and reputation.

It is search-optimized

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerful technique that enables your website to rank higher on search engine results pages. You must invest in SEO to make the most of your website as an effective marketing tool. Technical SEO ensures that search engine robots will not face any errors when trying to index your site.

On-page SEO actions ensure that pages are formatted appropriately in adherence to search engine best practice guidelines. When you create content with SEO in mind, you can focus on the critical keywords and guarantee that every aspect of your page is designed to improve your search ranking for those keywords.

It works on mobile

With 80 percent of people using mobile devices to search online, your website should work just as well on a mobile as it does on a desktop. Mobile-friendliness is also a ranking factor for Google, so a site that does not work properly on mobile will be penalized in search rankings.

At the very least, your website should be responsive enough to display well on mobile devices of different screen sizes. However, there are other considerations with mobile-friendliness such as ensuring that the most important content on every page appears ‘above the fold’ or in the first load screen without the user having to scroll down.

It generates leads

Aside from providing prospects with information about your company and its products or services, your website has another crucial function: generating leads. If your website looks good and has fantastic content but does not have a compelling call to action, you could be losing out on potential customers.

There are many ways for a website to generate leads. One way is to offer discounts to people who subscribe to newsletters. This will allow you to gather their contact information and use it for email marketing. Another way is to request that visitors leave their emails in exchange for access to exclusive content.

It earns links

Finally, a strong indicator that you have a good website is that your website earns links from internet users and other websites. Reputable sites are careful about who they recommend to their readers. Therefore, if your site is receiving backlinks from established sites, you know that you are doing something right.

The process also includes building relationships with editors and pitching your content to various publications. There are many tactics to earn backlinks such as reclaiming brand mentions and submitting your site to directories. However, the most effective way to earn a valuable backlink from an authoritative site is to create unique and educational content.