TIP - The Magazine for Growing Professionals

The entrepreneur SURVIVAL guide Pg. 16

The Magazine for Growing Professionals

YES, I’m a DREAMER ! and you ?

APR-JUN14

The Magazine for Growing Professionals

still remember when I decided to start my

own business. I was convinced it was the right decision but sooner than later I realized, that it will not be an easy task to tackle.

So many questions, where to start? who to ask? was there a course? The list was so long…so scary.

It was then, when I realized the need to have a place where to find the many and many answers not even the small business courses available could provide.

The Magazine for Growing Professionals born that summer when the answers were so difficult to find and the painful learning experience opened up the new opportunity my heart and passion were looking for.

Here is a tool box we can use to ease our minds, to focus the efforts, to follow our dreams and passions in a very UNCONVENTIONAL way.

Is about sharing what works for ME and that will also work for YOU.

“See you on the other side of the river my friends !” - Vanessa

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PRESIDENT & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VANESSA OLIVERAS COLLABORATORS JUAN AGUAYO FREDDY AVILES IRADIZ ESCALANTE CARID BAEZ MICHELLE PEREZ DIGITAL www.tipmagazinepr.com http://issuu.com/sneakfm/docs/ apr_jun_14_edition www.publicacionessinpapel.com CONTACT US EMAIL: assistance@tipmagazinepr.com

EDITOR’S DESK

TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

I

Contents

“There’s never a dull moment on a speakers life.”

PG.

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LEADERSHIP

Successful Delegation

How to trust and let go ?

START UP

Features

The Entrepreneur Survival Guide

SPEAKERS

Treat or Trick

Say GOODBYE to the BUSINESS PLAN What’s new?

TRANSFORM FINANCE

Put your BOOTS on !

College Savings Strategies

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TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

INNOVATE

LEADERSHIP

find the best coach ever !?!

START UP

Got cows?

Let them GO !

LEADERSHIP How to Manage Organizational Changes

TRANSFORM

UP or DOWN?

START UP

Naming Your Company?

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TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

F e a t u r e s

How to

TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

CEO’s Most corporate execuIves see coaching as an investment their organizaIon is making in their success, and are even beginning to become informed consumers.

EXPERIENCE How to find the best coach ever !?!

Since there aren’t really any universally standards for executive coaching at this point, how do you know what “good” looks like? If you are fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to work with a coach, here are 5 qualities to look for that will help you assure it is the best investment, instead of a huge waste of time and money.

Clarity about the process

Really skilled coaches will be able to walk you through their process. That process should include helping you define your core challenges, see where you’re starting from, and where you want to go. It’s also essential that they can describe how you’ll learn new skills and behaviors, and how they’ll support you to transfer those skills back to work. If the coach is evasive, telling you that it’s “hard to quantify” or “up to you,” or if he or she is all enthusiasm and no practicality (“people love it!” “It’s lifechanging!” ), it’s a good bet there will be nothing to offer there.

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LEADERSHIP

More than your point of view A good coach will tell you that his or her approach includes a 360 evaluation that will gather feedback about you from those who work with you most and ‘patterning’ that feedback to draw a clear picture of how you’re seen by them, and then working with you to decide the areas where the two of you can have the greatest positive impact on how you’re viewed, your capabilities and your success. If the coach doesn’t include feedback from those around you, that’s a problem; we all have blind spots, and it’s important for you and the coach to get a sense of how others see you and interact with you.

Real skills If a coach, when asked how he or she will help you, says, “I’m a sounding board,” or “we can talk through the things that keep you up at night,” or “I’m the person who’s on your side,” odds are that you could have some interesting and/or moderately useful conversations with this person – but he or she won’t do much to help you grow.

Great coaches will let you know that they can offer you useful new skills, awareness and knowledge, and help you integrate what you’ve learned into your day-to-day life. They will be able to describe very specifically how they have worked with others to improve their leadership, management, and or business operating capabilities.

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LEADERSHIP

Confidentiality

This is huge. I recently spoke with an executive who started working with a coach provided by her organization – and later found out that person was sharing everything that happened during her coaching sessions with her boss and the head of HR. Good coaches make very clear agreements about confidentiality upfront with their coachees, and they keep those agreements. If a coach is at all evasive or unclear about what’s being shared and what’s held in confidence, or if you find out that he or she has shared confidential information – please end the engagement. Working with this person could materially damage your career.

Actual success Effective coaching enables clients to be better at their jobs, and to create the future they want for themselves. Good coaches help their clients get clearer about how they can best contribute to their organization’s success, and then to achieve better results and become more highly promotable (if that’s what they want). If a coach can’t point to actual coachees who have improved in measurable ways as a result of being coached….why are you thinking about working with them?

Having an executive coach can be enormously helpful. A good coach can help you see yourself more accurately; get clear about how to best play to your strengths; and grow in the highest leverage and most feasible ways. He or she will be illuminating, strengthening and trustworthy. Make the choice carefully and you’ll benefit for years to come.

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TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

WHERE ARE YOU GOING? T R A N S F O R M

MCC & ADHD COACH

H

Carid Baez Prieto caridaida@gmail.com

ow many times do you

get into an elevator and ask going up or down? When someone answers where it is going, and you realize that it is going down, while you need to go up. In any case you get into the elevator and ride it while others wait for the elevator to return to go up to their desired floor. There is a say “Everything that goes up must come down, and everything that comes down must go up”. This also happens in all the stages of our lives.

There are times when we feel that we are in a lower floor and we are not giving a 100% or ourselves. Some other times we feel we have exceeded our expectations.

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Or the elevator of our life gets stuck in the same place when we do not live our lives in alignment with our true nature of who we really are.

We have been created to move up in levels, steps, and floors. We always hear about motivation and improvement, omitting the first button that is pressed in our elevator of life is the recognition of who we truly are. If you ask yourself now who are you? What would be your answer? Do you have a concrete definition of the essence that you are?

Evaluate this question as the decisive step to hop on the elevator of your new life. How can you cause that step to get you to press the appropriate button for that floor?

TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

“…and you realize that is going down, while you need to go up.”

Take a moment to be alone with yourself. Define who you really are.

The following steps will be useful to help you get there:

Where do you want to go?

Establish a definite plan of where you want to go. Divide it into short steps.

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Review your goals, assess them and perform corrective action if necessary.

Your elevator of life should always be ascending. Floors that descend only are used to review a lesson learned.

So, you choose up or down?

The author is a Certified Master Coach and coach for individuals with ADHD

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On a scale of 1 to 10, make a list of the things that excite you and truly defines your essence in all aspects of your life as a human being.

T R A N S F O R M

WRITER AND SPEAKER

Michelle Perez

511.michp@gmail.com

Y llega el tan esperado y apreciado viernes. !

Yo lo espero con ansias ¡¿Por qué? Pues además de todas las razones populares…

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…los viernes, puedo ponerme mis botas vaqueras para trabajar (es cuando el código de vestimenta me permite combinarlas a perfección). Y ese glorioso viernes por la mañana, salgo de mi casa con este aire de que el cielo es el límite, que podré enfrentar toda situación que se presente, que nada me podrá vencer.

Aunque usted no lo crea, ese hermoso par de botas vaqueras puntiagudas, produce ese efecto en mí. Llego al trabajo, y camino por esos pasillos cual si fuera el vaquero más auténtico que existió; como dice la canción.

Pero ¿a qué se deberá esto? ¿Por qué tendrá ese efecto en mí?

Ahora que lo analizo, logro entenderlo.

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El vaquero siempre ha sido relacionado con el trabajo fuerte, gran destreza, resistencia, valentía.

Acostumbrado a los retos en su diario vivir como parte de su trabajo. Pues esas cualidades no están lejos de la realidad en la cual vivimos nosotros los que trabajamos en un ambiente de manufactura. Donde se ponen a prueba a diario nuestras habilidades para manejar las demandas diarias y cambiantes de nuestros respectivos trabajos.

Todos deberíamos tener ese “algo”, que despierte en nosotros esa persona invencible, capaz de afrontar todos los retos del trabajo y de nuestra vida con valentía, pero sobre todo con determinación y entusiasmo. Que en momentos difíciles, pensemos en ese algo y nos brillen los ojos!...los reto…solo piénselo, por un minuto y lo encontraran….en mi caso

I just put my boots on !

en la próxima edición….Saddle up!!!!

TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

TRANSFORM

TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

START UP

The Entrepreneur SURVIVAL Guide StarIng a business without a partner? Here’s what you need to keep in mind if you decide to do it by yourself.

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START UP Starting ALONE? Most entrepreneurs need a partner to prevent loneliness, distracAons and excuses. SAll, if you prefer to go by yourself you should idenAfy a mentor who will help you through the tough Ames.

Integrate a board with outside advisers You will need a sounding board to talk you through criAcal decisions, and peers can’t afford to be as sincere as you ‘d like

Be ready to prove your vision and talent Many investors are skepAcal of solo founders.

To win them over, you will need to show then you are beIer than the rest

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START UP

Naming YOUR Company Iden+fy the MESSAGE of Your Brand

What is you vision?

How would customers benefit from your brand?

What is the message of your brand? What is your concept about?

Is this about YOU?

Keep it SIMPLE

If you think the name of your brand to be complicated or hard to remember, just find their abbreviaIon and acronyms. This may result in the perfect remedy for long and challenging names.

Search for an INVITING name

When it comes to the company name, search for a friendly, inviIng name to aZract everyday people.

Make it about you.

Your passion, what really inspires you everyday !

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START UP

Got cows? Let them GO !

Several years ago, while reading a very interesting book called La Vaca, by Camilo Cruz, I made an astonishing discovery. I had been invaded by cows!

They were multiplying, and worst of all, I was feeding them and keeping them fat and happy! These cows were everywhere! They were blocking my path, limiting my sight and draining my energy until there were no more.

“They keep us inside the boundaries of our own comfort zone, making the world out there look like such a scary unreachable place”

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President and Founder of Mujer Empresaria de Hoy “I was feeding them and keeping them fat and happy!

These cows were everywhere! …”

Idaliz Escalante Empowerment Neuro-­‐Coach, ManifestaIon Trainer and Founder of Mujer Empresaria de Hoy www.idalizescalante.com www.mujerempresariadehoy.com

This book arrived at just the right moment in my life. On the outside, I was a happy wife and mother of four, but on the inside I was desperately seeking answers as to why I had not accomplished much and felt so unsatisfied with life in general).

The cows in the book represent our limiting thoughts and beliefs, and the stories we tell ourselves to keep us from facing what we fear.

Unfortunately, these cows also keep us from the life we want. They keep us inside the boundaries of our own comfort zone, making the world out there look like such a scary unreachable place. Thoughts like: I’m not good enough; It’s too hard; I can’t do it because I don’t have the money, time, skills, knowledge or my family’s support; are all cows. They come in the form of excuses, victimization, self sabotage and poor self esteem.

Real change in life requires that we let go of our cows. When we feed our dreams instead of our fears, and we realize that we have the power to decide, our fear turns into hope. That hope, in turn, feeds our dreams, and soon, that massive herd of cows begins to diminish, lose strength and fade away.

Think of whatever it is you want. If it is possible for someone else, it is possible for you too. And the only thing standing in your way… is a cow.

To a life free of cows!

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LEADERSHIP

SUCCESSFUL DELEGATION How to trust and let go?

I remember the time when the daily meetings and micromanagement style of the upper management was killing my own strategic plans to take my department to the next level of performance. This is when I decided to coach and delegate. It was, by far, the best decision or should I say strategic move I ever done.

How did I start the risky but necessary move?

Did you ever heard about the SWOT, Strength – Weakness – Opportunities – Threats? well this is where I started. I identify the strengths of my team members and delegate based on it.

For me there was no use to focus on the weakness, opportunities or threats because this is what you do in their individual development plan (IDP).

This was a moment to start running the show from other perspective, is about to split the grilling agenda, coach and trust my team!

“When you are working in a micromanaged environment, the daily details you have to monitor can be grilling to your time and strategic plan.

This is when you have to identify the talents in your team, coach, trust and delegate! “

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1. Keep an agenda You need to be a big fan of keeping track of tasks in an organized way.

Take daily notes of your team progress. From there you can figure out the best way to use and maximize your team talents.

2. Allow participation to all people reporting to you Allowing participation from all team members will boost their confidence and commitment to make it better and collaborate with each other. The sense of responsibility is the best recipe to transform your team.

3. Know your people (honestly…)

I went with the SWOT, it seems like it takes a lot of time, but really how do you expect to deeply know your team strengths and for your team to better know themselves. By doing this (or similar approaches), you can canalize the participation in the right direction.

4. Be an excellent coach Each employee is different, right? So delegate differently, and evaluate their talents just like a good coach would. One employee may excel the first day on the job. Others may need you to stay involved longer. Think of delegation as a strategy. You are launching the most important strategic plan to the floor and the benefits will be visible sooner than later !

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TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

innovate

Say GOODBYE to the BUSINESS PLAN What’s new?

“Focus on your team and on geJng to the market as quickly as possible” – conAnue on page 19 APR - JUN 2014 . TIP . 24 TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

Great ideas can be created every Ime. As entrepreneurs we are usually great at a couple of things, such as having vision and being willing to take risks. Entrepreneurs-­‐-­‐especially tech entrepreneurs-­‐-­‐come in one of two flavors: Either they're like Steve Jobs, visionaries who understand the market but aren't technically proficient, or they're like Steve Wozniak, technical geniuses who don't understand how to market to customers.

In either case, having great team members can fill in any areas where the entrepreneur lacks strength. When working on our start up, keep in mind three things : market, team, and concept. The team is by far the most important element, and the second is market. The idea itself is the least important.

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1. Think people, not ideas.

2. Think speed, not perfecAon.

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Whatever hypothesis you have about the market, it's probably wrong by definiIon. One out of every 30 venture start-­‐ups succeeds-­‐-­‐and that's a8er gecng funded. What that means is that entrepreneurs need to take a product to market as fast as they can in any form, even if it's 10% of the original vision. They have to test it to see if it’s a market fit, if it makes sense with customers needs, and is something they'd eventually pay for."

Then you have to adjust and reconfigure based on that market response. In other

words, you have to literate run as fast as you can. I don't mind if a new business has a 10% success rate or if you have to go back and forward to the drawing board and start all over again. The more chances you have, the beZer. So the team that can execute the fastest and build the most relaIonships with customers by listening to them will win. Because of this need to literate quickly re-­‐adjust, you should build an in-­‐ house “war-­‐zone” that will have all the design, technical, and product capabiliIes you need. As an entrepreneur, you don't want to outsource these types of funcIons, because it means there will be a cost in dollars to each new update that will drain capital. Every adjustment should get you closer to success, rather than closer to failure."

3. Think vision, not plan.

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TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

Usually, the entrepreneurs have a perfect deck of slides, a perfect business plan, and a perfect financial model. But that's all they have.

We think starIng a business is having a business plan. But being an entrepreneur is about creaIng the future one step at a Ime. Does that mean you should never look ahead? Not quite specially, when you have two or more business partners, it's important for everybody to put down on a piece of paper, or a whiteboard, the key elements you all agree on. You all have to agree what the vision is and what the path to success will be. But don't spend Ime trying to put that into a 40-­‐page document. Remember, this is Ime you can spend talking to new potenIal customers instead.

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These +ps will help you cra8 a presenta+on that you can deliver with confidence, no ma?er how great your fear of public speaking.

Got to try it !

TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

The Magazine for GROWING Professionals

TRICKS or TREATS?

Here are some tips on how they mastered the art of public speaking and how business leaders can improve their own presentations:

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Remember You're Telling a Story

The best speakers are the ones who realize that [speaking] is telling a story. It's not strictly academic. You have to be a little entertaining. When crafting your speech, remember to focus on the elements that you would be interested in hearing. Be brutally honest with yourself about whether the content is compelling or not.

Tip one: Try videotaping your speech to see if it holds your attention.

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Do you ever wonder how they do it?

How they make it seems so easy and fun, until is your turn and suddenly it doesn’t look or feel fun anymore?

Keep it Simple

Every speech should be reduced to the simplest point so your audience will be able to retain the information. When you see someone with 100 different bullet points on the slide, that’s boring.

Tip two: Follow the rule of three…a simple grouping of things is much more powerful.

Learn From Others

Learning by doing is one thing. Learning from the masters is how you improve. In my case, watching a series of videos on Steve Jobs's presentations. He was the master on getting a good feel of what audiences want. He was slow, simple and intentional. He also knew how to deliver the wow-factor that makes a speech memorable. In many ways, he was the perfect speaker.

Tip three: Keep it simple and right to the point

Pushing every bit of information into a speech should never be the objective. So besides going over the main points, be sure to repeat yourself, constantly. Repetition is one of the things that make humans good storytellers. John Maxwell is one of my favorite speakers; he will tell a joke at the start, it’s his way to break the ice. As he continues with the teaching lesson, repeating himself – and sometimes the jokes too- you will remember his speech and laugh practically at the same time.

Repeat yourself, this will make the audience more conscious and always remember what you are saying.

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Repeat Yourself

President & CEO Traikon Associates, LLC

Juan Aguayo

How to Manage Organizational Changes

Actions that generate changes in our daily routines are inevitable. It is part of our everyday living in our homes, with our family and friends and especially in our workplace. Some changes are simple and do not require much effort. Perhaps some adjustment of time in our common tasks or any amendments necessary to comply with our responsibilities.

For the past few years, the corporate world has also been changing rapidly forcing businesses to rethink economic strategies for business development and expansion. It is a known fact that companies worldwide are experiencing a shortfall of qualified professionals to fill important jobs and the shortfall will increase as talented employees reach retirement age. In order to stay competitive, business owners are adjusting or changing their business models to help decrease financial burdens and modify their costs of doing business.

When changes are self-imposed the human being is more receptive to them; particularly if there is support from friends or family members.

You just make the necessary adjustments and life continues. However, in businesses, changes forced by management personnel without proper planning could be contributory to the difference between a successful expansion of a business with increase of profits or, an accelerated pathway to failure, loss of customers and corporate prestige, and financial disruption towards bankruptcy.

The importance and justification of an organization’s perspective on change depends greatly on who makes it and who suffers from it. If the management staff of a business decides to impose drastic changes without receiving input from employees affected by the new guidelines, such imposition may cause great discomfort in the business culture and generate a sense of mistrust from the employees towards management staff. However, if new changes in a business are based on a well thought-out plan which includes recommendations and suggestions by all affected employees, the necessary changes could be executed in a more cost-efficient manner.

Before applying any changes, all business owners should ask themselves this question: “Are we implementing changes because it will bring profit to the company or, are we making changes just because everyone else is doing it?” If you are not sure on how to answer the question and you are thinking about implementing changes into your business, the following five simple recommendations will help you decide your course of action before disrupting your business environment.

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How to Manage Organizational Change

Do not copycat a business Every business is unique. Even franchises, which follow a specific business model, have internal philosophies that differ from store to store. Many business owners fall in the trap of “if everyone else is doing it, then we must do it!” Not necessarily so. Do not change your business model just because new marketing gizmos and technology innovations “seem” helpful. Do the research, find out if that trendy feature fits your particular business model and you have the resources to support it before implementing the change.

Interview your employees If there is something wrong with your business or sales are not increasing, your employees should be your first line of contact for information. If you intend to establish changes in your business structure that will affect your employees, make sure you receive feedback from them prior to establishing the changes.

Employees will tend to follow and support managers perceived as more concerned about their needs than managers who impose changes without establishing first a rapport with those affected by such changes.

Business owners do not plan to fail but often fail to plan Unless your business has been affected by an immediate environmental disaster or climate-related event (where changes occur very rapidly), you should take proper time to plan thoroughly the changes intended for your business. How will these changes affect all of your business processes? Do you have the internal resources to implement the changes or will you have to outsource the job? How will the changes affect your suppliers and their business models? What are the phases for implementing the changes? Is everyone aware of the workplan? You can find several checklists on the Internet that will assist you in planning your steps to a successful and smooth transition.

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How to Manage Organizational Change

Stick to your plan, be flexible and communicate Once you have identified changes required for your business and you have a plan, follow its guidelines and keep everyone informed on progress. If you need to make changes to the original plan outside the scope previously discussed with your staff and employees, make sure they understand that the modifications were necessary due to unforeseeable situations not previously discovered. If employees perceive that their recommendations were excluded from the plan without proper justification it could cause a sense of mistrust against management and hinder the planned changes and continuity of work.

Supervise, Evaluate and Adapt Not all changes in a business environment are unsettling. However, if recently established changes are not supervised accurately, they can disrupt the development of any business and modify its course, usually with dire consequences. With a well-implemented and supervised plan, you should be able to experience favorable activities for your business. If a new business scenario needs to be adopted and corrective actions are required, make sure to document the changes and disseminate the information so that all stakeholders are kept informed.

Businesses need to change to keep up with the competition or with regulations. This principle applies the same from small businesses to large multi-national corporations.

The difference on their level of success depends on how well each business manages changes with a planning process for continued improvement based on feedback.

If your business requires adjustments, I encourage you to do it soon but only after careful planning. Seek professional advice or go online for assistance. Maybe the next level of success for your business requires only a small change.

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The POWER to do

Feliciano, Gonzalez and Co., P.S.C. CerAfied Public Accountants and Consultants

Condominio Torre de Oro, 2175 Ave. Las Americas Ste 100 Ponce, PR 00717-­‐0760

Wilfredo Gonzalez, CPA CMA, MBA Parter

P.O. Box 7727 Ponce, PR 00732-­‐7727

Phones: (787) 840-­‐5875 (787) 840-­‐ 6875 Fax: (787) 259-­‐4412 Cel: (787) 487-­‐7977 email: wilfredo14@prtc.net

Contact: Areli Nieves PH: (787) 315-0447

Email: areli.nievesgarcia@us.aflac.com

Registered Rep JHFN & Signator Investors, Inc Freddy Aviles Cell 787-645-1516 Fax 787-905-7929

College Savings Strategies

If

you're like most parents,

you want to give your children the world. You have so many dreams for them, but are probably overwhelmed by the financial obligations needed to help them achieve those dreams. In 18 years, the cost of a four-year private college education will cost over $440,000.1 Will you be ready?

No matter what the age of your child or loved one, it's never too late to start saving. Below are ageappropriate strategies that you can put into place today to help benefit your loved one's college savings plan for years to come.

Infancy Start saving from day one.

The sooner you start, the better.

You could be paying part of the bill with the interest that your money earns.

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Consider college savings plans that include automatic investing.

This is an easy-to-implement process in which you have a predetermined amount of money regularly withdrawn from your checking account. Then, it is automatically invested in your college savings plan. The result is a disciplined and focused approach that can deliver tremendous longterm benefits.

Plan for a lifetime of rising incomes.

A sound strategy is to increase your contribution to a college savings plan every time your income increases. As your expenses change, see if you can add more to your college savings plan.

Will you be ready?

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College Savings Strategies

Encourage loved ones to give the gift that keeps on giving.

When family members and friends celebrate your child's birth, subsequent birthdays, holidays, and religious events, tell them about your child's college savings account. Every monetary gift they give will be part of a legacy of learning.

Turn to your parents.

Often, grandparents are the ones who are most aware of how difficult it is for parents to manage the college savings burden alone, especially if more than one child is involved.

Elementary School

Raise your contributions to your 529 savings plan every time your expenses are lowered.

If your child is in daycare or a private nursery school, you can expect to save a sizable amount when kindergarten begins. To build your college savings, why not take a significant share of daycare costs and direct it towards a college savings plan?

Look for new opportunities to save when you become a two-income household.

If you waited until your child entered kindergarten to become a twoincome household, consider putting a portion of one spouse's income into your child's college savings account.

You'll be pleased that even a small amount has big potential to grow over time.

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Freddy Aviles TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

Middle School Involve your child in the savings process.

Encourage your child to put a portion of his or her allowance into a college savings plan. When relatives and friends give gifts for education, make sure your child is aware of its significant and enduring value.

Talk to your parents about estate planning and college savings.

Talk to your Financial Consultant about how you can help your parents remove assets from their estate and help save for your child's education at the same time.

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College Savings Strategies

When grandparents open an account and make contributions to a 529 savings plan for a grandchild, they remove assets from their estate, which means they won't pay federal estate taxes, and they still retain control of the assets.

A special provision applicable to 529 plans allows for up to five years' worth of contributions at one time. This is $70,000 from each donor filing separately or $140,000 per beneficiary if the donors are married and filing jointly.2

Freddy Aviles TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS

College Savings Strategies

High School Now is the ideal time to begin to involve your child in the savings process.

Most likely, there will be money from a part-time job during the school year or employment in the summer. Soon your child will be able to contribute a sizeable portion of his or her income to a college savings plan.

Continue to put money from holidays, birthdays, religious, or other celebrations into your child's college savings plan.

Make saving for college a family affair. Tell relatives and friends that it is one gift that will never be outgrown, discarded, or forgotten.

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College Involve your child in the savings process.

Encourage your child to contribute some, or all, of his or her high school graduation gifts toward his or her college education. Every contribution helps.

Continue to research financial aid options.

Continue to work with your child's financial aid office to make sure that you are not missing any aid opportunities. Loans, grants, scholarships, and even work study jobs, can all help to contribute to your child's education, and can change from one year to the next.

Remember that saving is an ongoing process.

Freddy Aviles TIP. THE MAGAZINE FOR GROWING PROFESSIONALS