Over the last week, when I run into parents from the school where I sit on the Board, they have started to ask if I know any good tutors. They’re thinking adults, often teachers.

I suggested to one parent, whose 8-year-old is just entering 3rd grade and needs a boost, that she call a math whiz 16-year-old I know. She was skeptical, but after we spoke, she said she had nothing to lose, and could always add an adult tutor, too. I said give it two weeks with the teen, then re-assess.

Here’s what convinced her: Peer help is often less threatening to a kid, and they like having an older new “friend.” Elementary school kids are often resistant to tutoring, but if it’s a teenager, they will cooperate more because they want to emulate a teen. Also, teenagers remember the math that elementary school kids are learning much more closely—they remember the emotions associated with the process of learning it. And they may have had the same teacher.

At our school, we have a buddy system. An 8-year-old will mentor a kindergarten buddy, and also have a high school student buddy mentoring him. They get together for activities, such as Spanish class, special arts projects. We’ve noticed that the 8 year old will start to be quite a mentor to the kindergarten student, watching out for them on the playground, bringing beginner books for them to read. And the teenagers end up teaching the elementary kids so much—they help out a great deal in Spanish.

Here’s the best part for the recession: The prices for a teen tutor are affordable. Adult math tutors where I live are $60 per hour. It’s very stressful for parents who know their kid needs a tutor but aren’t sure they can afford it.

So, if your teen has a particularly good subject—reading, math and languages are top needs—then tell them to start a tutoring business. But get to it, because the beginning of the school year, parents will be scrambling to find tutors. And hey, if your teen does well at this job during the year, they’ll have a job next summer all lined up, because by then they’ll have word of mouth reputation, and many parents have kids work on lagging skills during the summer.

Here are suggestions to get your teen started:

1. Start with tutoring elementary school kids at their own school, or feeder school. Set a price. Start with something like $10 to $15 an hour, so it’s not intimidating to parents. Start with an hour, even if the kid’s attention span doesn’t last that long. They may weave in and out of tutoring, talking, playing a game, etc. Teens are patient teachers. It’s one of the great things about them. Start with at least one hour per week, but two is better, because lessons reinforced more than once a week are digested better. And hey, at those prices, it’s affordable!

2. Your teen needs a spiel they tell parents. Have them explain the process of how they’ll tutor: First they will go to the kid’s teacher and have the teacher explain where the kid needs help, and what method they’re using to teach. Remember, your teen, unlike an adult, will have likely been taught by the same method. That’s what makes teen tutors so good. Then your teen will get assignments from the teacher before hand, weekly, so they can help by pre-teaching, which means the kid who needs tutoring sees the work and get used to it before it’s done in class. All they need to do is get a copy of the math book, for instance, and ask the teacher what lesson they’ll be working on that week. Your teen will touch base with the kid’s teacher once a week to see how they’re doing, and then will report to the parents.

3. A great method is to have your teen offer to go to the kid’s house and tutor there, starting by helping them with their homework in the trouble subject. They can use that time to launch into their tutoring session. Your teen can get extra worksheets from the kid’s teacher to use.

4. Games are great and teens are great at coming up with them. But there are many online resources, too. Encourage your teen to really become a pro. They should research games in the subject they’re tutoring, ask the teachers at school for direction.

5. If your teen feels like they’d do a good job with their peers, then have them talk to their teachers about tutoring other teens. This is much less research for them, since they’re studying the same thing. However, the payment gets stickier. It may be wise to tutor teens they don’t know. I would strongly suggest starting with tutoring elementary school kids.

Please share stories about teen tutors. I will also post a guest blog by teens who have done it.

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My father, a very successful entrepreneur, had a saying about finding business partners as a brand new business: Before you approach people that don’t know you from Adam, check out the people who demonstrate an interest in you, or the type of person you are. Make yourself a going concern, then widen your circle bit by bit.

He had another saying: The people who can get their hands on money easiest are always those who need it least.

When it came to paying for college for my brother and me, my father borrowed against the equity in his house, put that money to work in a vibrant stock market, earned more than the loan finance charge, paid for school, paid the loan back, and took a cut.

This is not the time for that.

It is the time to find the institution that finds your kid attractive. Hard to imagine, I know, but my father assured me that there’s always someone out there who is interested in you. So, after being asked by my college students to write a post about finding student loans, I sat down to do some extensive research. I know why my students asked. They wanted a secret weapon, something other than the standard advice about going to their college admissions office and applying for all the financial aid and student loans available. That’s common knowledge.

They wanted more than me telling them to apply for an unsubsidized federal student loan, which, depending on the school year you’re entering, could make you eligible for $5,500 (freshmen) to $7,500 (seniors). Not all students are eligible for the full amount, but all students can apply regardless of financial status. Nope. None of the standard advice seemed good enough for this economy, when promises for more student money are still outpacing the actual writing of loan checks. Even with the unsubsidized federal loans, you can’t cover the cost of many tuitions, public or private.

Then I found it: the marketing campaign that proves Dad’s law of attraction. Credit Unions, it turns out, are now actively looking to establish lifelong relationships with Generation Y. It’s a perfect time of course, in the wake of TARP, because disillusionment with banks is at an all time high, and even my students have tuned in to the news.

What do you need to offer to win over Generation Y and their budding financial lives? You got it. Student loans.

There is an initiative of 60 credit unions participating in a program called Credit Union Student Choice. Check out this site, explore this option. Make sure to look at the full list of participating credit unions, but don’t be daunted if your state isn’t listed. Some of the participating credit unions are offering members these loans based on where they live, work, or go to school, so the residency options are fairly wide.

I think even my Dad would have liked this.

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Sometimes the worst times make for the best lessons in resourcefulness. Not just for ourselves, either. If we can pass on resourcefulness to our kids, it’s so much more than a money management lesson. It’s a life skill that can help in everything from relationships, to work, to, yes, even parenting.

Over this past week— at end of the college semester parties, and at an award event at the high school where I sit on the Board—there was a lot of talk focused on Fall college tuition and how to come up with it over the summer.

Some folks were worried that even though they have the tuition now, if just one thing changes, they won’t. That change doesn’t necessarily have to be a job loss, maybe just a job reduction. Or for self-employed parents, it could be a big contract that gets put on hold. People were talking and bonding, in an effort to come up with backup plans, to pick each other’s brains for solutions.

I found out that many people don’t know about IRA withdrawals for college tuition. And we all should. There are two big catches—in most cases you need to liquidate the entire IRA, and you will pay some taxes— but as a last resort, it’s a trigger we should be okay with pulling this year. Once I explained it, the stress level in the room shot down, like a hot thermometer run under cold water.

There are some catches, so be clear what they are, but in many circumstances this year, it may be the only option, and even a decent one, especially if your household income has dropped significantly from its norm. Explain this whole following scenario to your kids, too. It will really teach them some essential lessons about how taxation works, and what a zero sum game is.

Here’s the deal: You can always take money out of an IRA for college tuition. You will get taxed on the withdrawal as if it were regular income. But you will not pay the traditional 10% penalty for early withdrawal. You must use the withdrawn money, called a distribution, to pay for school directly. You can’t remove money, for instance, and place it in a 529 college fund. The IRS doesn’t like that. If you reinvest, it is considered a change of investment vehicle, and not condoned. You will be taxed and penalized. And in most cases, you must liquidate the entire IRA, though there are some exceptions.

How to know if you’re the profile who should tap your IRA. You may see yourself in one or more of these characterizations:

1. If you have no other choice, and it’s a matter of your kid going to college, or not.

2. If you’ve already cashed out of investments at a loss in your IRA, and the money is sitting there, dormant, in cash. Many people have done this over the last year. If you’re already in cash, you stand to lose a lot less than those that are still completely invested in the stock market. They may have shares that are deteriorated, but shares can come back. Cash doesn’t.

3. If your income is so deteriorated— and will be for a couple of years—that the tax hit may not actually hit you that hard. This is especially true for people who contribute heavily to IRAs, with a lot more than the annual allowance of $2,000 pre-tax dollars.

Here’s how to figure out if you can wiggle out of the tax bite: First and foremost is whether you have contributed to your IRA with after-tax dollars. If you have not, then you will pay taxes no matter what; you may not offset losses against that money. So, those $2,000 contributions made right before April 15th, which lop the money off your gross income, and lower your taxable income out of the gate—you can’t get out of paying taxes on that money. The IRS doesn’t like giving out double benefits to people. Remember, if it looks like income, and smells income, they’ll tax it. And if you’ve wiggled out of tax on the way in, there’s no wiggling on the way out. You can, however, still take the distribution without the 10% penalty.

But if you have made contributions with after tax dollars, then crunch some numbers. If your income this year is lower than last year—from a job loss, job reduction, losses from stocks or mutual funds you’ve cashed out— or in the red altogether, it will offset that tax liability, at least in part. Remember, the tax they levy is regular income tax. All normal deductions apply.

There are limits to offsetting investment losses with your qualifying IRA withdrawal gain. You can only take up to $3,000 per year of stock losses against the capital gain of your IRA withdrawn money. But, if you actually have more losses than that on the stock market, you can take $3,000 of those losses in future years.

To explain this concept, do show your kids your original buy-in dollar amount for the equity, or mutual fund, or whatever the investment was. If the original purchase price is higher than your stock cash out price, then you get a loss, which is a deduction against regular income.

So, investment losses are one small advantage. But job loss is the big advantage here. Remember, the IRA withdrawal is added to overall income. So if the IRA is equal in amount to what your salary would have been if you had one this year, you might break even with taxes.

Or, if you have a job now but anticipate that your income will be lower next year—your job is going to come to an end, or be reduced— wait until Jan. 1, 2010, and then take the IRA distribution to pay for college. The game here is to play the tax liability against overall income. You want to calculate your losses in wage, and losses from cashed out investments. Have your kids help you figure out the best timing to come up with a zero sum tax liability.

Withdrawing from your IRA may not be your first choice. But, if you’re so strapped you can’t find another way, it’s definitely an option, no penalty. Do consult an accountant or other tax advisor before pursuing this option. Situations vary.

And please share college tuition backup plans that you have in place.

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As the Secretary of the Board at a private school, of course I’m hearing more and more stories about parents struggling to pay for private school (see Private School Bailout post). But what I’m also starting to hear are creative ways people are coming up with to keep making those private school payments.

It’s inspiring, especially the cases where the teenagers whose education is at stake are proving to be incredibly resourceful. There’s one case so striking that I’m starting to believe we should all set our teenagers to the task of playing treasure chest detective.

Let me explain: The principal at the school where I sit on the Board is an exceptional human being. He took an old Jeep Cherokee in lieu of one student’s tuition, because the math-smart kid was blossoming at the school, after a tough time in a public elementary school. Of course word spread, and the joke on our campus—and it’s a beautiful campus, open fields against a mountain backdrop—is that soon people will be bringing in goats.

So one parent called and said her daughter, 16, had spent the entire weekend in the attic, taking inventory, wondering what she could try to sell on eBay. Her mother didn’t have the heart to stop her; she was so organized and industrious, so mature in her thinking that goods could be liquidated and put to good use.

So the girl finds these gold coins that the mother had all but forgotten about; they had been handed down from grandparents, not wealthy ones. At second glance, and after much prodding from the teenage daughter, the mother called the school. Our principal referred her to another Board member who happens to deal in antiques. One of the gold coins was worth $59,000. And there were several of them. The teenager not only saved her private high school education, but found her college education as well.

This story gives me goose bumps because it’s in the fairy tale realm, but it’s also true. Yet I hesitated telling it to the kids in my life because it could be disappointing to send them on a mission that will never result in such glory.

Still, I couldn’t shake the thought that systemizing what that 16-year-old girl did would be of great benefit to any teenager. First of all, taking inventory of family valuables teaches kids to assess a dollar value for goods— a great skill applicable to so many things, from comparison shopping to being responsible about taking good care of valuables.

Even the act of going online to determine what something is worth by finding comparables that have sold is a great skill. And of course just knowing what things in this world cost, and how quickly they lose value, is important.

Want to teach the kids something? Have them look at what your car cost new, and how much its value dropped to the minute you drove it off the dealership lot. It will help them learn how to spend wisely, assess what they really need versus want in goods and services.

So, I decided to give kids a chance to flex their research muscles while earning a commission. First, they assessed the goods in my house. Then I sent them to my brother’s, and other relatives willing to participate. They were allowed to set up an account on eBay, and they got a commission on whatever they sold.

eBay requires the seller to do a lot of monitoring, so it enforces the lesson of following up and following through on things. Of course the commission keeps them motivated. Teaching them eBay also teaches them how to deal with online transaction settlement, which of course leads to the question of what to do with their commission. I think setting set them up with a reloadable prepaid card is a great idea. In some cases, the stuff they sell on eBay can be paid to their card, and then they can take out cash to pay the seller, keeping a commission. They end up running a business.

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This is always a tricky question. After I advise my students, and they’ve left my office, their new decision awkwardly in their minds, a piece of paper with a contact or two jotted down, I often feel like calling after them: “Or you could….”

This year, this economy, even more college tuition hikes staring them in the face for fall semester, I feel downright guilty touting the high-brow virtue of internships. Maybe I should be sneaking a call to their parents and asking how they’d like me to play it. (Not a bad idea.)

There are always tradeoffs, even in a thriving economy. But for this year in particular my advice to students is divided like this (There are variations on this for younger teenagers as well. I’ll do a separate blog post for them.):

If you are paying for college yourself, and you need the money: Go for the highest paying job you can in the summer, sock away as money as you can. Use this Savings Calculator to see how much money you’ll save by September. The idea is if you can avoid working during the school year, it’s best. That way, during the school year you can pursue student clubs, extracurricular activities, Fall and Spring internships that will expose you to your fields of interest, and supplement your resumes when you graduate.

Also, in summer, there’s always time to volunteer in some capacity that can enhance a resume and test out a field of interest, to see if it’s something you really want to pursue. Even if your college kid volunteers instead of officially interns for a Political Interest Research Group (PIRG), for instance, it is a memorable, life-changing experience.

Volunteerism is important, too, for perspective. Sometimes a good paycheck is so intoxicating to kids, they get completely money focused, and they don’t think about the long-term implications of devoting themselves to menial labor. All they want to do is work for money. But they need to really understand that what looks like a lot of money now won’t in five years. If they volunteer in an environment that’s more of an investment in their intellectual and professional future, they’ll be exposed to seeing longer term payoffs—which is a great money lesson, of course.

PIRGS, incidentally, exist in every state and have some of the most valuable internship programs in the country. Your kid will lean about grassroots democracy, political canvassing, how a Congressional Bill works, what issues are important to the state, who the political players are, how laws are made, and how purse strings are pulled. Talk about teaching kids valuable lessons about money at an unpaid job.

PIRGS are my number one recommendation for students, even if they’re not going into journalism, political science, or law. Intelligent citizenship creates thinking that is applicable to every career.

The best part: PIRGS always need volunteers. So even if your kid must work year round, encourage them to volunteer for a PIRG, to get the same richness of experience and boost to the resume. I’ve had students tell me that their work for a PIRG changed their thinking, opened their eyes to interests they never knew they had, incited passion about issues they didn’t know mattered.

If you are going to be a freshman or sophomore in the fall: Even if your college kid doesn’t need the money to pay for college, this is a great summer for these ages to have a paid summer job. First of all, internships are harder to get for kids entering college, or even soon-to-be sophomores, especially if the kids are trying to get those internships through their universities.

Most universities give priority to juniors and seniors because they need to prep them for the job market and they’re running out of time. Many students don’t think about internships and valuable volunteerism until well into their junior year. (Big mistake.)

For freshman and sophomores, this summer is a great time to learn the value of earning money and what to do with that money. Job fairs are happening all over the country. Just Google job fair to find out where, and look at local university postings. Have your kid check them out. Sometimes there are paying jobs at university job fair events that are as high caliber as internships. Definitely have them start looking for a job now.

Whatever the job, encourage the kids to start a savings program with a portion of their earnings. If they aren’t paying for their college education, then introduce mid-term savings vehicles: CDs and bonds, for example. Remind them when they do graduate they’re going to want cars, apartments, vacations, more material goods than they imagine. Socking away money now is something they’ll be happy about later. It teaches them envisioning and planning, very important money management skill.

To show them how their money will grow in different savings vehicles, use the same Savings Calculator I mentioned above. You can key in different interest rates to show accumulation over time. I’ll also do a blog post on learning what interest rates mean, and how interest is calculated, so kids can understand what the deal is, and how it’s determined.

And, of course, encourage them to volunteer somewhere, particularly if they think they’re interested in a field but aren’t sure if they’re cut out for it. For instance, many kids who think they want to study medicine spend some time in a hospital and change their minds. If your kid has a set goal already, try to help them get exposed to the environment they’re interested in on a volunteer basis.

Volunteering at freshman and sophomore age can sometimes translate into internships the following summer.

If you are going to be a junior, senior in the fall: If you can at all afford to, focus on an internship, especially if you have never had one.

Try not to let your kids wait until they’re seniors for their first internship. It’s very competitive, and often when students apply for internships, it takes a semester or two to land one.

Also, once a student is a junior, their coursework is of course major-focused. What if they decide, after a summer internship related to their field of study, that they don’t like that path? Better to know before the fall semester.

If you are going to be a freshman or sophomore and REALLY know what you want to study: Often in the fields of science, law, and medicine, kids know early. If this is the case, and they can afford it, definitely try for an internship in that field, or simply volunteer. First of all, these fields are intensely competitive, so the more experience you have, the better.

But more important: Your kid needs to make sure he or she is cut out for the field. I know too many students—and adults—who ended up in careers because by the time they realized they didn’t necessarily like what they were doing they had a degree and a first job in that field.

It’s not a tragedy if that happens. It’s why many people go to graduate school. But testing waters, and learning about who you are, versus what you think you should be, is perhaps the greatest life lesson a college age kid could hope to get.

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I serve as Secretary of the Board of Trustees for a private school, and as such I feel the tension and anxiety among parents. Some can’t help but wonder if they can continue to afford a private education for their kids.

In many cases it depends on how their businesses and careers are going next fall.

Another sticky problem is the private school/college quality trade-off. If the kids continue in private high school, does it jeopardize the quality of college you’ll be able to afford for them? Those college fund statements are painful to look at these days. Even if you start thinking, okay, there will be a rebound next year, so if I earn back this much….it still could be a while before that college fund feels full again.

But no one can wait until next fall to see what shakes out. So while it’s still March, and there’s a little time before the next school year, do some contingency planning.

First thing to get into your head: It’s okay if private school is no longer an option. But before you get to that:

1. If you can, apply for financial aid at the school. Sometimes you have to wait until very late in the year—May or so—before getting an answer for the following school year, so that can’t be your only plan. But do it. It doesn’t mean you’re any less supportive of the school. I know some school environments can add that social pressure. I say, forget that!

2. Barter, defer payment, cut a deal. Also, if you have an imminent situation—you’re not sure you can afford the rest of this year—go now and talk to the school about your financial situation. It may take some pride swallowing, but often schools will work something out with you. There is no shame in this economy. And in that same vein, offer to help out at the school in return for deferred payment, discounts. I know a very skilled computer programmer out of work right now who is handling the computer needs for his daughter’s private school in return for a discount in her tuition.

3. Borrow against your house equity or life insurance. Neither of these are bad ideas if you think your financial hardships won’t be long lived.

4. Look into tapping 529 or 401K money. Check with your investment advisor about these options. There may be situations where you won’t be taxed, or it may be worth it.

But if all the bailout ideas don’t work, you’ll need to plan for public school. You may have more choices than you think. If you hate the local public school in your tax district, apply for a variance.

Visit all local public schools within reasonable driving distance from your home, get familiar and comfortable with them. One of the luxuries of being laid off is you have business hours to do research. If you like a school out of your tax district, you can apply with the School Superintendent’s Office to get a variance.

A variance means permission to go to a school out of your tax district. There is a fee associated with a variance, which will vary, but it’s less than private school. When I looked into it in my area, the variance for the public school I liked was less than half the price of private school. Variances are usually granted if the school grade your kid will be in is not at its class capacity limit. Do bear in mind that you will probably not have school bus service.

If the class capacity generally comes close to filling up each school year, the school may make you wait until very late in the game before granting the variance—late summer, right before school starts. So you’ll be in limbo. But they are worth exploring, and applying for early. It’s March, apply now. Variances are granted on first-come, first-served basis. You find out the details by calling the principal’s office of the school you want to attend, but essentially the procedure is that you write a letter.

To visit local schools, you have to call and ask for a tour. Call the principal’s office, not any other administration person. Pester if you meet a little resistance, explain your situation, and that applying early for a variance will be important. Sometimes they’ll start by asking you to wait for a new student open house orientation, often held in April or May. You can push past this. They’ll be flattered that you want their school, or at the very least the principal will accommodating because variance students bring extra income to the school.

In general, you have nothing to lose. If they turn you down for a variance, then your kid simply goes to the district school.

Also try to involve your kid in some activity—without them necessarily knowing—that involves the public school community they may be a part of next year. Often there are community center summer camps that your kid can become a camper, counselor-in-training, or a full counselor for, depending on age. Community camps are great because they’re inexpensive, and they include kids from a lot of local schools, not just the one in your tax district.

If anyone has a changing schools story to tell, please share it.

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We need this like a hole in the head right now.

College tuition hikes, to the tune of about 20% on average, are in place all over the country, effective immediately. For parents and students out there who have just paid the first larger bill, feeling the pinch has hit home. Families whose college kids must pay their own tuition are hit the worst, because percentage-wise it’s such an enormous part of what they could possibly be earning as waiters or bartenders.

Some states haven’t enacted the tuition increase, but plan to soon. Adding to the problem is less availability of financial aid, scholarships, and student loans.

The silver lining is that college kids I speak to and teach are potentially interested in tuition. Instead of just their usual obsession with entertainment news, they’re talking about both. Granted, hip hop star Chris Brown, who beat up his superstar singer girlfriend Rihanna, still evoke more passionate discussions, but tuition is on their radar.

Let’s take advantage of their piqued curiosity, even if it is in their inimitable partial continuous interest sort of way. (e.g. Their ears flare slightly and their eyebrows raise at the mention of tuition increase, while they continue to read their email).

Getting them to understand and grapple with tuition hikes can teach them about living with their means as cost variables change, while income stays the same or gets reduced. It can also teach them about budgets and prioritizing spending.

The biggest challenge isn’t explaining it all, it’s getting their undivided attention.

I had no luck when I just put a dollar amount on the increase. “It could be $600 extra, but it also could be $6,000!”

Flatline.

I tried upping the ante by running through the whole scare scenario: “It’s threatening the ability for some kids to continue their education, or do so without needing a job, or even extra jobs. And of course those jobs are harder to find.”

Still a flatline.

Then something occurred to me. A price tag is something they’re far too used to “coming up with”. If your teenage son wants a Wii, he’ll find a way to come up with $250, or he’ll shove it in that Christmas or birthday level of present. Your 20something daughter who “needs” that Chanel purse will do the same with that sticker shock $500 price tag (on sale now, making her even more greedy for it).

So I tried speaking in percentages. “People need to devote another 22% to this item. That’s like being told one day that your “A” grade in a class is now suddenly a “C”, unless you can solve this puzzle….”

They looked up! Ladies and gentleman, we a collective pulse!

Triggering math class and the dreaded grading system worked because they understand if they get 20% of something wrong they’re in the B- C+ range. Also, it turns out that they’re not threatened by percentages like they are with money. Grades are one thing, stuff they want to buy is another.

Kids are used to pie charts, so to move things along I made one of an entire family budget. I started with all other pie pieces being the same—particularly the amount of income coming in—just to keep it simple.

I told them that in order to increase the college pie piece by 22% we needed to reduce other pie pieces by the same amount. They could take some of the percentage from multiple pie pieces, or just one.

I went further: In order to save 22% more for college tuition, we actually need to earn an additional 30%, which will be eaten by tax.

At the mention of the tax, they were aghast. It was too much, too overwhelming. I almost lost them, until I pulled the rabbit out of the hat. There was one chance to avoid the tax: Opening a 529 college savings or tuition paying account. We’d pay no tax. That not only kept them from giving up, but they actually opened their eyes more than half mast. The game was afoot. It was like one of the “free stuff” offers on the Internet they like so much. We were back to only needing to find 22% from other pie pieces.

If you have a puzzle-loving kid in your family, it will be easy to get him or her engaged. If not, try to get them in the headspace by asking which of their friends is suffering from the recession. I overheard a 20-year-old college girl tell this to a friend: “When I went home and visited my old best friend over the weekend, we had to watch movies under a blanket. The house was freezing. They were turning the heat way down.

Be careful to create pie pieces that affect everyone, or they’ll gouge you each time. For instance, don’t make a parent clothing allowance pie piece. Make a family clothing allowance pie piece.

There’s an additional benefit to speaking in percentages. There are many parents who do not feel comfortable telling their kids what their incomes are. (We’ll do a blog on that issue, too, but feel free to chime in now. It’s a very difficult issue with a lot of tradeoffs and repercussions). If you speak in percentages and not dollar amounts, you never have to reveal your income, yet they’ll still grasp the family budget.

And if you’ve never had a family budget, this will get you started.

What are some of the stories you’re hearing from your kids about college costs in the recession?

- Anne