As humans, we tend to avoid making the difficult decisions. We research them to death as a way of not making the decision and committing to an action plan. We hide behind the notion that “research the problem until we find the best solution”. All while time is passing us by.
Think about where YOU would fall in the following survey results!
A survey was conducted by a website known for its information surrounding the college savings and admissions process. The respondents to the survey were a self-selecting group of people with a real interest in 529 savings plans and saving for college in general.
45% of the respondents said that they had no intentions to opening up a 529 plan. The remaining 55% said they were interested in opening an account.
Of the respondents interested in opening up a 529 plan;
• 86% admitted that they did not know the steps involved in opening an account.
• When asked about which investment options they would likely choose, 45% responded that they didn’t know.
• When asked if they would consider consulting with a financial advisor for help, the majority (64%) said no, citing the top reason as “I’m comfortable researching and understanding investment options on my own”.
• Of those who did intend to consult a financial advisor, the top reason selected was “I need help understanding my options“.
There are some lessons to be learned from this survey.
1. Even the people that responded that they did not have and would not open a 529 plan were spending time “researching their options”.
2. Of those that intended to open a plan, they were also “researching their options”.
3. “researching their options” is a time consuming activity.
Here are two of my observations concerning the survey:
1. “I’m comfortable researching and understanding investment options ……” This is a true statement if we allocate the time and energy to do the research, build a plan and follow the plan…. while Life is happening all around us!
2. If we ignore the problem long enough, maybe it will go away without us having to make any decisions!
A little sarcastic point of view for the second observation, but the message is the same for both cases. Time is either your friend or your enemy.
By putting together a plan and following it, Time becomes your friend. Your investment can have the opportunity to grow and compound. Should you ignore or procrastinate then Time will become your greatest enemy. In reality, Life happens and before you realize it Time passes by and your options become limited.
If you are still “researching your options”? Visit our website to see what a team of experts will do for you.
If you want to see where you would fit into the actual survey to continue “researching your options”, visit our website (www.collegeplanningcapecod.com/contact) and contact us with “529 Plan survey” in the contact subject line.