College Planning and the Financial Planning Professional

It has become cliche that the United States has transformed from a manufacturing to a knowledge-based economy, and that the jobs of the future will require advanced education and critical thinking skills. The assumption is that this will continue to place a premium on, at the minimum, college-level education and ideally, a college degree with on-going professional education, whether in the form of an advanced university-based certification or degree e.g. MBA) or a professional designation (e.g. CLU).

If price is an indicator of demand, then it would appear that the value -- indeed, the necessity -- of a college education is recognized in American society. Mary Mederios Kent, senior demographic writer at the Population Reference Bureau, notes in a recent article that the cost of two-year college in the 2009-2010 academic year ranged from less than $8,000 (for a public college with the student living at home) to an average of $20,000 per year for a two-year for-profit colleges. A degree from a four-year private university averaged $24,000 per year for students living at home, and $34,000 for those living on campus. Advanced degrees cost even more (or rather, "require a larger investment.")

The High-Powered AdvisorOne Website

A product of Summit Business Media, AdvisorOne website, launched in early October, provides content from the industry publications Investment Advisor and Research, but goes far beyond simply offering a digital platform for these publications. AdvisorOne aggregates relevant content across the Web, including AP Financial Wire, Bloomberg, Business Week, WSJ ... well, we could go on, but you get the picture. James J. Green, group editor-in-chief of AdvisorOne, states in the company press release that "[w]e have news, expert in-depth analysis and commentary, market data, tools and networking opportunities in targeted content areas of critical interest to advisors. Not only can investment advisors benefit from our 30+ years of experience serving them, but we filter relevant content from across the Web to ensure that advisors can go to one site for all of their information needs.”