Every year, the College Board releases new college cost data and trends in its annual report. Although costs can vary significantly depending on region and college, the College Board publishes average cost figures, which are based on a survey of approximately 4,000 colleges across the country. Over the past decade, average tuition, fee, room, and board costs have increased 11% at public colleges and 14% at private colleges over and above increases in the Consumer Price Index. Here are cost highlights for the 2021-2022 year.1 Public colleges: in-state students Tuition and fees increased 1.6% to $10,740 Room and board increased 1.9% to

Bashar Qasem, CSAA, President and CEO “If the son of Adam had a valley full of gold, he would like to have two valleys.” – Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) As a financial advisor going on twenty-five years now, I’ve seen and heard a lot. This ranges from inspiring stories of financial success to stories with less fairy-tale endings. The latter cases often involve those who just can’t seem to grasp what it means to be wealthy.  There’s a difference between being rich and being wealthy, of course. I’ve seen many clients with large account balances who are unable

You know how important it is to plan for your retirement, but where do you begin? One of your first steps should be to estimate how much income you’ll need to fund your retirement. That’s not as easy as it sounds, because retirement planning is not an exact science. Your specific needs depend on your goals and many other factors. Use your current income as a starting point It’s common to discuss desired annual retirement income as a percentage of your current income. Depending on whom you’re talking to, that percentage could be anywhere from 60% to 90%, or even

If you’re self-employed, you’ve probably considered establishing a retirement plan. If you’ve done your homework, you likely know about simplified employee pensions (SEP IRAs) and savings incentive match plans for employees (SIMPLE IRAs). These plans typically appeal to small business owners because they don’t require much administration other than simple bookkeeping. What you may not know is that in many cases an individual 401(k) plan [also known as a solo 401(k) plan or employer-only 401(k) plan], may offer a better combination of benefits. What is an individual 401(k) plan? An individual 401(k) plan is a regular 401(k) plan combined with