Shakespeare may have been right when he penned, “All the world’s a stage.” But as Sheri, her husband Dave and their youngest son Devon have discovered, an aspiring performing arts student will still find the college admissions process even more challenging as a result of extra audition and other specialized requirements. Following is Sheri’s advice for families of students who are interested in entering performing arts programs, like the one Devon...

In our last post, we described how a number of us here at SAGEbroadview have been on personal quests to send our kids to college … and have lived to tell the tale. Today, we share some of the key insights Lynn Iannetta Baker discovered as she, her husband Scott and their daughter Sarah looked into schools that seemed best suited for Sarah’s educational aspirations. Combining two parts of practical wisdom...

Planning for College It never rains but it pours, or so the saying goes. As it applies to sending our beloved adult children to college, many of us here at SAGEbroadview have been getting deluged lately. As Sheri described, Dominic flew the coop in 2014. This fall Devon, her youngest son, is entering the University of Hartford’s music performance and composition program via The Hartt School. Lynn has also recently completed “the...

The power of elegant simplicity is certainly nothing new. When explaining the Tao of the universe back in fifth or sixth century BC, Lao Tze is said to have said, “A journey of a thousand [miles] starts with a single step.” But when it comes to financial planning, we have a way of making things complicated, fast. Fortunately, we have noticed a movement afoot to redirect our efforts back toward that...

Perhaps I should have known on that day more than 18 years ago, when I caught my own breath listening to my son Devon’s beating heart for the first time: I was about to give birth to a talented and enthusiastic drummer. Regardless of where the future takes him, I hope Devon will always march to his own beautiful rhythm – the one that we celebrated recently at his Seniors...

I’m so proud of my niece Jessica Iannetta.  She graduated from Syracuse University’s S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in May 2015 with degrees in newspaper and online journalism, and political science. She is now working as a reporter and photographer at the Cecil Whig, a newspaper in Elkton, Maryland.  Today I helped her enroll in her company’s benefits plans, which got me thinking that some of my advice to her...

It’s official. Last week, my days as a legal guardian came to an end when my younger son Devon celebrated his 18th birthday.   Any parent can relate to my need for some extra oxygen just to share this news, let alone believe it myself. It’s also hard to accept that it’s been 19 months since my eldest son already reached adulthood. At the time, I used the milestone to remind...

Long-time readers of the SAGEbroadview Blog are already familiar with my story but permit me a moment to fill in our new readers. On May 4th, 2008 (just as the Great Recession got under way!) my family and I were in a serious car accident. My husband and two sons were banged up but otherwise fine; I had multiple abrasions and contusions and my neck was fractured in two places....

Never mind winter. If the heat is on for you to purchase your first home, you may be warmed by the excitement even as you find yourself frozen by indecision. This is not surprising. Finding your first home can be as enormously gratifying, but funding it can be dramatically daunting. A little financial life planning can go a long way toward making sound choices you can live with about the...

As consecutive blizzards continue to weigh heavy on the Eastern seaboard, it can be tempting to dream of the days that you don’t care if another foot or two comes down … because you’re RETIRED. Throw on an extra sweater, hire the neighbor boy to shovel, and pour that second cup of coffee. Better yet, escape to where 55 degrees and overcast qualifies as inclement weather. But before you surrender to...