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The FAFSA Mistakes Costing Families Thousands in Financial Aid · Healthy Happy Wise Wealthy

• [Mary Meyer] Well, welcome back to healthy happy wise wealthy. We have with us again Shelly Howard. She is a CEO of college ready college ready plan.com is how you reach her and she just had some amazing accolades 2026 global educational consultant of the year and 2026 100 women to know in America. So congratulations on that Shellee. That's fabulous. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. So we had a video in one of our short videos on social media and Instagram and TikTok just went viral. So thousands of questions on there and shares. And so I want to start with that to give some more information for people and the whole thing was on the free application for federal student aid or the FAFSA. So yeah, so I know I'll just start out and say go to fafsa.gov and it'll redirect you. Good. You tell us what else? What else on there? I know it's the time of your people are looking at that. [Shellee Howard] So I think it's really important for families to first understand what is the FAFSA? What does it mean to them? What does it look at? Like, some people look at is almost getting a speeding ticket like it terrifies them like they have this heart palpitations. And I just want to reassure families a few things. If you plan, it's super easy. If you don't, it's like anything else. It's like if you don't plan to retire or plan for it until you're 70 to retire at 75, it's not going to go well. Same with the FAFSA. So what you want to be doing is as your child continues to become a teenager, the FAFSA looks, it's called a double look back. They look at the second semester of the sophomore year and the first semester of the junior year. So where most families aren't even talking about college at this point, they're looking at your scholarship opportunities. That's terrifying because you haven't prepared. So if you're putting money and assets in the wrong category, it's going to affect your financial freedom for the rest of your life. And I don't mean to be dramatic, but that's the reality. I talk to families who are still paying off their own college loans. And now they have kids who are trying to apply to college. That is terrifying. And it doesn't need to be like that. So the FAFSA is free. It should not cost you a dime. If you click on the wrong link and they're charging you, you're in the wrong place. The FAFSA is looking at your income and your assets for one person, one adult. So the child completes the FAFSA application. They open it up. It's not even an application. They sign their name. They say, I'm a senior. I'm going to do this, right? You don't apply until October of your senior year. So if you're a senior right now, your heart's probably beating pretty fast. But if you're a freshman, you're like, Ooh, I'm getting some good secret stuff here. You are. So the FAFSA, the important thing to know is the student creates their ID. Then they invite one parent. Now the FAFSA says it's the parent who pays 51% of that child's needs. They've never looked, right? So it is based on what you, the parents, if you're divorced, that's going to be a challenging conversation. If you're married, it's just one conversation. So bottom line is, it affects people differently. And that adult, so if you're married, it doesn't matter who fills it out. If you're divorced, it's supposed to be the parent who pays 51% for that. So what you're doing is you're saying, I would like to connect my taxes prior, prior year to my students to see if we qualify to get any money. That's it. You're not giving them any new information. You're not telling them anything about your taxes. It is strictly, you've already filed your taxes. You're connecting them. That's it. If you do not do this, big things could happen. One, you're not going to get scholarships unless you do them as an independent scholarship. But the university, they're not going to even talk to you about money because you didn't play the game. So step one, you got to play the game. Step two is there's four buckets of money. So the FAFSA opens up one, maybe two buckets of money depending on your situation. So Mary, there's a lot of money out there. What do you think people are seeing? Where do you think, how can I best help them understand their opportunity here? [Mary Meyer] Yeah, probably understanding all the buckets of money. All right. [Shellee Howard] The buckets of money. Four buckets of money. The first one, which most parents are probably not going to tap into, is the need-based money. If you make under $100,000 a year, you are considered need-based. That's full household. That's not one parent. That's full household. Now, if it's the CSS profile, it is different. So let's just talk the FAFSA. I don't want to confuse anybody. If you can get into an Ivy League school, they allow it up to $200,000. So if you're like, Shellee, we make more than that, that's just not going to work for us. Okay, one bucket's gone. We have three more buckets. The next bucket is the most important and biggest bucket, and that is institutional money. That is, does that student want, does that school want your student? [Mary Meyer] Right? [Shellee Howard] Think of it as a business. And college is the business, and your student is what they are deciding, do I want that or not? And so they're looking at your student. What is their GPA? What is their test score? What is their community service? Do they have passion? Do they care about their community? What about leadership? What about extracurriculars? Who's their letters of recommendation? And what did they write their essay about? These all affect the institutional money, but nothing affects it more than picking the right school. There are 10 colleges that are tuition free. They're all in my first bestselling book. And there are so many schools that are generous. But if you don't know what schools are generous and what schools are not, now you're in a predicament. You're allowing your child to apply to a school that may not give you a dollar. If you can't afford it, go ahead, Mary. [Mary Meyer] So how do they find these schools? That is the biggest challenge. [Shellee Howard] Not on Google, not on AI. I've been doing this 18 years, and I've been tracking it for 18 years. I've helped over 2,700 families navigate this. And for over the years, we've come up to see consistent, very generous schools and very stingy schools. And so if a family doesn't want to go into debt, they want to pick the generous schools, or at least some of the generous schools, so they can have choices. So then it comes down to, well, if they're not accessible, what do I do? That becomes the biggest challenge. And the honest answer is, there's no document. There's no anything you can research. It's super hard because colleges do not want you to know if they're generous. Colleges are business and they want your money. They're not going to tell you that they gave 47% of their incoming class 50% reduced tuition. They're not going to do that because then you would expect that. That's where the problem is. And that's where it's very frustrating for families. And all I can say is I'm sorry. You can, you know, do a lot of research, and you can ask a lot of people, and you can listen to podcasts, and you can meet with people who understand this. But it does take a lot of time and energy. And it just depends. Do you have that and do you want to do it? When my firstborn went through this, I knew that I, even if he got into Harvard, how was I going to pay 63,000? That was then. Now it's up at 100. How was I going to pay $63,000 a year for child one and I had three more children? Like how does one family do that? It makes no sense at all. And so I was determined to crack the code because I wanted a return on investment of his education and I did not want him to go into debt. And this is a big one, Mary. Families don't realize your child cannot get alone on their own. This is scary one for me. I had a mom literally started crying today. Because her child wouldn't listen to her or let her be part of this process, but was expecting that he was just going to go get his own loans and forget about her. Well, when I told her that he has no assets or collateral, it dawned on her, how is he going to get a loan? He can't. So adults, that's on you. That's your retirement. That's your future. Even if the student passes away or doesn't finish college, you still owe that money. It can't even be bankrupt. So I want families to know if you plan for this and you're proactive, this is a beautiful thing. All four of my kids got into college and graduated debt free. This past year, we had 29 students earn $11.8 million in scholarships and one of my students earned $627,000 on her own with our help, but on her own. She's making money. She's making money while attending university. [Mary Meyer] Wow. So the whole concept of negotiating with a college is not something when I was working with my kids, getting them in college, ever considered. So is that a new concept to most people that you can actually negotiate and how do you do it? [Shellee Howard] Yeah. So it's not a new thing. It's kind of like knowing tax code, right? You could do your own taxes or you'll hire a CPA and you're like, wait a minute, how did you do that? Legal, ethical, they just know, right? So it's unfortunately, we just are not privy. The wealthy, they know how to do this all the time. They've been doing it for years and years and years. So the thing about it is, is I'm exposing it because it worked for me. Right? So my son got a full ride to USC, University of Southern California. He dreamed of going to Harvard and I said, well, I'm not paying $63,000 a year when you could have a full ride to USC, a perfectly good school. And so he was like, mom, you've got to help me. And so I did what I would do in business and that is, I wanted to negotiate. And because he was 18, they weren't going to negotiate with me because I'm nobody, right? He's no an adult. So I had to teach him how to negotiate using his full ride at USC to ask for a full ride at Harvard. And he did it and he got it. So it's just the art of understanding that college is a business. It's like buying a home. Would you walk up, grab the flyer and say, I'll pay that? No, you would not. I don't think maybe in California, but not most places. But why would you do it for college? It's a business. It's a negotiation. It's an opportunity. If they want your student, guess what? They've got to pay for your student. [Mary Meyer] Nice. I think that's just in and of itself is just as such a great concept to use. So I know you had mentioned, so there's, I know there's people who are like, and I know, I know some really good people in my, you know, family, friends, they missed the deadline for money or they, they're just thinking about it right now. It's October. It's time to, if you're a senior, you need to be applying. Is it usually the student who does it? I feel like it was always me who did it. Is it normally the parent who goes in there and then the student kind of figures it out? [Shellee Howard] It's all over the place. I have some parents who are driving the process. I have some students who don't want, they won't talk to their parent, not one bit about it. They're just like, it's my, I, it's the craziest thing. I have a mix of, I have some parents who got their education in another country, came here for a better life. And they're like, whoa, this is nothing like it was in the country that I went to college. And they're shocked when it comes down to, I just spoke to a mom right before this call. And she said, Shelly, I'm a doctor. You would think that I would have figured this out. My son is a senior and he hasn't done anything. And I'm terrified right now because my friends are saying that their kids have already getting, been getting accepted. Where did I lay him down? And I said, you know, you're a busy working parent. And she said, I thought his school was going to help him. Unfortunately, the schools don't have that capacity to be able to sit down and help your child. And if they're a good student, they're like, they've got it. They're fine on their own. And then finally, they have no idea what your family can or cannot afford. And so are you going to leave this up to a 17 or 18 year old? It would be like asking them to buy you a home without understanding real estate. They have no idea how to do this. And a lot of the procrastinators are the ones who are trying to adult, trying to show you they're ready to adult and they don't want to ask for help, but they need help. Either you or me or somebody, but they need help. They cannot navigate this. And so waiting until the senior year is like planning retirement at 75. It's just not easy. It's possible. You can still do it. You can still make it happen, but it's not going to be easy. So starting sooner is a much better plan. [Mary Meyer] I can totally appreciate that. And I, I think for, for seniors, um, if they're headed into college or so much, they're thinking about already getting ready and parents just the like, Oh, the emotions of my child is leaving and what is it going to be like without them? And are they going to be okay? And we're probably thinking about some of the emotional things, but I think after talking to our second podcast now, my thought is, and this had never occurred to me as a parent is you plan for them going to college in a similar way of planning, uh, for retirement. Like we, we spend a lot of time thinking about that and putting money away for that or making a plan for that. Uh, but we don't spend much time. Well, at least some people do. Um, some people don't, and I know life gets busy. So like, I don't even say that with judgment and gets crazy cause I think it crazy. Uh, but in order to do that, and then also like, or even planning to buy a home, there's a lot of planning going into that, but a home can be as much as college. And we can be sad about that. You know, the prices are what they are for college, but we have the situation and, and how do we navigate it? So, you know, yeah. [Shellee Howard] Yeah. So picking the school is the critical piece parents. If you, if you could just hear one thing and everybody should complete the FAFSA. I have multimillionaires in my program and I have need based and everybody in between and everybody should complete the FAFSA because if you don't do it the first year and you lose your job, somebody passes away, you cannot do it the following years. You cut yourself off from future opportunity. And remember the FAFSA is just connecting to your taxes. It's really, it's honestly like a 30, 45 minute get your stuff together kind of thing and do not have your child do it because I have parents do it wrong. I definitely don't want a teenager trying to navigate your finances. The number one reason why people don't get money is they complete the FAFSA wrong. [Mary Meyer] So what can they do differently? I know we mentioned this earlier, but what are, what are the things they're doing wrong with a FAFSA? [Shellee Howard] So number one is you don't want to approach the FAFSA like you're applying for a line of credit, right? Where you're saying, I have the asset of my home and I have all these houses and I have these rental properties and I have all this stuff. No, no, no, no, no. You're, you're totally going the wrong direction. It does not ask you if you own a home. So people are putting this huge asset in there and they don't ask for it. Well, no wonder why you're not going to get anything. You just told them you have all of this and they didn't even ask for it. So that's a huge number one big mistake. Number two is they just don't understand what they're asking. So in other words, when I review somebody's FAFSA, I will read it and I'm like, wait a minute. Why did they answer that? And what, what they read and what they thought they read had to be two different things because it says on the day you're completing the form, how much money does your child have in their savings and checking and how much do you? Well, let's think about this. Would you not want to do the FAFSA the day of or day after you pay all your bills? Right. I mean, makes total sense to me, but many are people are like, Oh, I wish somebody would have told me that because students are assessed at 50% more than what the parent is. So if somebody passes away and gives a huge lump sum of money to your child and it's in their name, guess who wants it? The college. [Mary Meyer] Oh, the college. Yes. Oh yes. Okay. [Shellee Howard] So understanding and working with people who understand what's on the FAFSA, what assets, they only look at some of the assets. They don't look at all of your assets. So again, be mindful, be ethical, be real. Don't cheat. Just follow the code. Follow the code and read it carefully and go slow and don't try to over advertise how much wealth you have. [Mary Meyer] That's really good advice. Because I think, because I think usually it would be like, I like your analogy of it's not applying for a loan where you would say, I got this, I got this, I got this. Can I get a loan? So it's not like that. You're asking for money you don't pay back. So you don't, and they are not asking for everything. So don't tell them everything. Tell them what they are. They're not asking for it. Just that. [Shellee Howard] Yeah. And that's where so many people are getting this wrong, or I take it back. The number one problem is people just don't complete it. They throw up their hands and they're like, nope, I make too much money. I'm just not even going to do it. And I'm like, do you know that you are missing out on more than just need base? Some schools will not even give you a merit scholarship if you don't complete it. [Mary Meyer] Wow. [Shellee Howard] So now your child did all of this hard work and they can't tap into it because you didn't do step one. [Mary Meyer] Okay. So step one is whatever can come on the FAFSA for the free stuff that's need-based. And then the second bucket after that is merit based from the college. [Shellee Howard] Institutional money, knowing the generous versus the stingy. A large public institution is going to be stingy. Why? They're subsidized by the government. A private school has endowment. They have buckets of money, right? Are you starting to understand? Like there's some, it's not one way or the other, but in general, those are some thoughts to be thinking about. And then the next one is going to be the true merit base. So that would be for athletics. It would be for visual and performing arts. It may be for band. It may be for a GPA or a test score. It may be for art. That student has worked hard and shown really great success and they deserve a scholarship for it, right? That's free money. They'll never have to pay back, right? Then there is independent scholarships. Now you can start applying to these as young as fourth grade. And so for families who don't talk about this to their junior or senior year, it brings tears to your eyes. I get it. [Mary Meyer] That's a the interesting ones that are out there for a child. [Shellee Howard] So think about what makes your child interesting. That's the first place to start, right? If you have a child who wants to be a forensic scientist, right? That's not a common, not every child wants to do that. And they have been working with the police force volunteering and they have been doing research about psychology and the criminal mind. And guess what? There's a scholarship for that. But you have to tap into the student. You don't want to just go online and put college scholarships. You're just going to get a bunch of bait and switch. They're going to take your information and go, okay, great. Here's an email to refinance your home, another email to buy a new car, another email. That is disaster. There's a scholarship if your child has one green eye and one brown eye. There's a scholarship if your child's a vegan. We're not talking hundreds. We're talking like 10,000, 15,000. My son got a scholarship. It was the Coca-Cola scholarship, $25,000 a year because he was in leadership. Guess what? He was in leadership well before he got applied to the scholarship. All he did was say, this is the leadership I've done. And he got $25,000 a year for it. [Mary Meyer] Yeah. I can see how it would be so helpful as parents as you're like just to be thinking of this from early childhood, really. And usually if you think about it, I know for me, it's just like, well, there's an account you can put some money in. So there's some money for college, but you don't think about this. I didn't. So I can imagine it's something that it's just like, oh, wait a second. So knowing and helping your child know themselves early in life, and that's something you talked about a lot. And reading to them young. So there's all the things you can do that really is in the bucket of parenting. And I'm not judging anyone on anything, but there's things you can actively do with helping them with their grades, with reading, with whatever things they might be needing, but also just realizing who they are. Because the leadership pieces, what drives them, what makes them tick, all the different things for them. [Shellee Howard] You learned a lot from our podcast. I'm so proud of you. [Mary Meyer] I was listening the whole time. [Shellee Howard] And that's what scholarships are about, parents. If you really think about, I have my students do a couple of fun exercises where we do self introspection and reflection. And, you know, we raise our kids, don't brag, don't boast. People don't like it. And so we kind of taught them to kind of push down their gifts, their talents, their core values, and the things they deeply care about. And I'm saying, let's bring it back. What makes you you? Why would I want to get to know you? Why would I want you to come to my college? What about you would make my college successful? And you start to think about, wait a minute, think about your children. I know you have many like I do, but think about each one of them. And my mind goes directly for each one of them. They have something special that's uniquely them. There's a scholarship for that. [Mary Meyer] That's where in just to be, you know, honest, because I did adopt some children also who were teenagers when I got them. Not every one of my kids went to college. So some of them I just I just read something about, you know, trade schools and those jobs can also really bring in a lot of money. So if your child is one who needs to be doing something besides going to college, I just also want to say like this, I get that too. So we are we are speaking right here to families who are they have a child who needs to go to college to do what they need to do in life. So for sure. And that is really a lot of people. And possibly the majority of kids, I am a believer in college for many reasons, right? [Shellee Howard] And doing it without debt, how could you not agree that it's going to give them so many gifts? I mean, the major complaint is the cost. Take away the cost. And now tell me why they shouldn't go. [Mary Meyer] Yeah, for sure. Well, it's just it's such a good life transition to between, you know, being at home and being ready to fully being adult with a, you know, with an apartment and a car or home and and all the things you got to pay for that there is a there's a ramp up to all that, too. So to being a financially responsible adult. And what you're offering is such a big piece of that, which is, you know, not having the debt piece. [Shellee Howard] Absolutely. And it all starts with getting your financial house in order. So I talk about this often families, that doesn't mean waking up one day. It means making that choice. Do you sign up for the 529 or not? And I'm not going to debate that on here because for some families, it is a legit opportunity for other families. It's disaster for me. Personally, it was disaster. So I have a little sour taste in my mouth. But for other families, it has worked out great. But most families are stuck. Well, if not the 529, then what? Because that's the only government backed college fund there is. And so families are left to, well, now what do I do? Well, that's the part of being educated and understanding what's on the FAFSA. Because if it's going to take, you know, if it's going to include something that's going to hurt your chances for financials, put your money the other place. [Mary Meyer] Oh, so you're saying that is asked about on the on the FAFSA. [Shellee Howard] Yes, it's where you're held. It's like, oh, that's a big part of it. It's not just your income. It's where your assets held. So like retirement, they don't consider retirement why they can't touch retirement. They can't get ahold of it to pay for college. So they're like, okay, we'll leave that over there. But if it's something that they can get, like a 529 that you saved for college, they're like, thank you very much for saving up for college. I really appreciate that. And so it's, it's really families understand that not all the assets are created equal. Right. Life insurance treated very differently if it's term or cash value. Right. Rental properties, very different depending on how you have it titled. So assets are more than just a thing you own. It's how it's going to be assessed that's going to affect your family. So I can get into the weeds. I've actually read the FAFSA three times. I'm not going to lie. The first two, I fell asleep. It's not reading for enjoyment, but after having four kids, it has saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars and it saved my clients hundreds and thousands of dollars. So that's why I was incentivized to get through it. So you can read it. It's free. It's online. Dive into it. And if you don't fall asleep, I promise it will help you. [Mary Meyer] So you're saying dive into it and read it before you need to apply. So you're saying like, do that when your kids are little. Oh, why not? Just so you can have your assets in the right place, because you know, when they get there, the government isn't going to be asking about the asset. So how is it? [Shellee Howard] It's not going to be asking for it. The government is not part of that. The school is not going to be asking for it. If you've saved for a college fund, the school is going to say, yes, I would like your college fund. Do you understand what I'm saying, Mary? [Mary Meyer] It's like that is insane. [Shellee Howard] Uh, that's, that's why I understand. That's why I have been doing this successfully. And it was just named global consultant of the year is because I am as flabbergasted as you are that this is not okay. [Mary Meyer] No, that's not okay at all. Wow. And I feel like this is like actually the first time I'm going, wow. Wow. I do think we had some money in those, but there wasn't a lot. And so I never registered. There was a lot going on in life. Uh, but yeah, so have them just have something else. [Shellee Howard] It doesn't have to be that it can, they tell you what does not include it. [Mary Meyer] Okay. [Shellee Howard] Enough said for all those wealthy mind, you know, healthy, happy, wealthy, wise people out there. Right. Just do what the government allows. And you're going to be like, wow, that's amazing. I had no idea. There's lots of tricks of the trade. I have some of my clients who use rental properties to pay for college. I mean, there's so many crazy ways to navigate this. You know, for those of you who are like, I need some of this. I need clarity, Shelly. I I'm offering your listeners a 30 minute clarity call by going to collegereadyplan.info. That info gets you on my calendar where I can help you navigate this process. And if you are a senior money will run out the sooner, the better. If you are younger, the more you do right now, especially before the first semester of your second semester of your sophomore year, you're going to save thousands, thousands and thousands. And if you are looking for scholarships, don't wait, start now. I have a program that can help you navigate all of this for two hundred and seventy five dollars. So it's not like there's this massive amount of money that you have to pay. It's just understanding what you need to do to get there. [Mary Meyer] That's a really good thing to know. So two hundred and seventy five dollars you have, of course, that helps people navigate all this, save them probably. Well, well over two seventy five is going to say maybe ten or ten or a hundred times that depending on what it is you're doing. But yeah, and if you have more than one child, then it's just escalated. [Shellee Howard] Yeah, or twins or triples, you know, just compounds. And so families just know my kids are no different than your kids. And if they can get in and graduate without debt and I didn't pay a dime, so can yours. [Mary Meyer] Yeah. Can we go over one more time for everyone? I think we got their attention now about how like when do you start? When is the right time to help your child go? Oh, by the way, we need to do college for sure. [Shellee Howard] So we start working with students in middle school seventh and eighth grade. And that is not college pressure. That's helping them figure out their gifts, their talents, their core values, their advocacy, where we're going to pull scholarships from. Right. That's where we're going to get started, leadership and all of that. And then by the day they promote from eighth grade, that's when college turns on. That's when they start clicking away. OK, it's time. Everything now counts. And so we're helping them to navigate the right courses. How many AP, IB, dual enrollment classes? How is that all going to play? What test score do they need? How many service hours do they need? How much leadership? You know, all of this, if you try to condense it into six months, it's painful. If you do it over time, it's so fun. I love what I get to do. I get to inspire teenagers every day to be the best version of themselves. They think we're hanging out. They don't realize how impactful and indifferent their life's going to be. And the best is when I have students come back and say, Shelly, this was life changing, not just to get into college, but to know exactly what I wanted to do for my future. So giving that to your child is such a gift because gone are the days that they could go undeclared or undecided. That's not a thing anymore. Colleges are forcing you to pick a major and not every college has every major. [Mary Meyer] Yeah, this is huge. Well, and honestly, just back when I was in college, which just feels like I'm about a million years ago. [Shellee Howard] Me too. [Mary Meyer] But I was frustrated in not having a clear path. Like, I mean, I feel like that's a thing. Like if we don't know where we're going, what are we going to do after we graduate? What is this degree going to bring me? What do I want to do with my life? And those are really common questions. And it's also really common to be asking those questions as we go about in our thirties, forties, fifties and older, you know, you just, you can always evolve. But to have something like that when you're a teenager to go, you're good at this. You're interested in this. Why don't we pursue it some more? Maybe take some classes in middle school or high school, see if you really do like this field and see what, you know, that that's the kind of thing that can be extra good. And tell us a little bit more about all the volunteer hours or the extra stuff and why does colleges, why do they want to see that? [Shellee Howard] So there's so much to this, but in a nutshell, here's the thing. So many students look at social media and feel frustrated. They're not as pretty, not as smart, not as fat, fast, not as tall, not as, not as right. Because they're only seeing that person's best day. They're not seeing when they wake up and they have messy hair or they didn't take a shower or whatever. So if you're comparing yourself to somebody's best day, you're going to feel pretty frustrated. And so what happens is they don't feel good enough. And if you don't feel good enough, you don't even want to try at that because you're like, well, they're already better than I am, so why even bother? So here's the important thing I want families to understand. How we utilize community service is this generation does not like to fail. It's a very interesting idea of trying to make it through life without a failure, but they're trying. So what I help them understand is when you serve your community, if you are not doing it, nobody's doing it. So you can't fail. You literally cannot fail when you're serving your community because if you're not there, they're not getting help. So it takes the pressure off the student to try working with preschoolers or middle schoolers or the elderly, you know, doing things that maybe they haven't done before. Maybe things like fundraising to get them food, or maybe it's like holding a bake sale where they know they're really good at baking, but they're scared to death of failing and not selling anything. Well, guess what? When you're raising funds to feed children who have no food, guess what? A dollar makes a difference. So if you sell one thing, you're successful. So why is this important? Students have an opportunity to figure out, do they want to lead or follow? Do they want to work with people, computers, animals? Do they want a different job every day and a different experience? Or do they want to have a predictable job, career that they know what they're going to do every single day? Do they want to be an entrepreneur and just dream big and go big? Or do they want to play more conservative and be like, you know, I just want to work a nine to five and all of that's okay. But how will they know? If they're not doing this, are they going to learn that in high school? No. Are they going to learn it at home? No. When they're serving their community, they're helping people who are underserved to have opportunity. And they're learning something about themselves that is going to take them so much further and faster. And so we started a program at College Ready called EmpowerEducation.World. It was my fourth trip to Uganda, actually to Africa. This was my Uganda trip. And I was with a group of women there who I was helping them start their own businesses because they had all of these children and their husbands had passed away by famine, by, you know, war, whatever it is. And so I was teaching them how to use the skills that they have. Well, on my last day there, I had a conversation with the only gentleman at the table and he was telling me when a young girl becomes a woman, she's unclean and she can no longer attend school. She has to stay at home and take care of her siblings. I was beyond upset. Having two daughters of my own, I'm like, that is ridiculous. They, what? I was like losing my mind. And I said, no, that's not possible. And he's like, that's how our culture set up. And I said, what can I do? And he says, well, for 6,000 US dollars, we can build a school for girls to live on campus and they can go to school and we can get them reusable menstrual products and we can get them through high school and even college. And I'm like, where do I send the check? It wasn't a guess. It wasn't, I don't know what I need to do now. Since then, I've led 52 high school students who are leading the other students. They've raised over $40,000, I believe at this point. They built two schools in Uganda. They're educating 950 children. Guess who's figured out what they're good at? [Mary Meyer] Those kids, that's amazing. And the feeling of accomplishment and I'm capable of doing this, all that, that's some amazing stuff for sure. And kind of, this makes me think also like as a parent, I think we'd like to protect and guard our kids and do for them, do for them. Understandable. I have like, I have, okay, this is such, this is so off topic with what we were saying, but it's also on topic. So I have, I have a lot of nieces, but I'm thinking of one niece in particular. I remember she was probably the fourth. What is she the fourth or fifth kid? I forget now. Let's say the fourth. And so she was one and a half and I was visiting and they, she needed a diaper change. And she went up to her dad and said, my diapers wet. And he said, go get your diaper in the wipes. She went and got the diaper in the wipes. He changed her. He handed her the diaper and the wipes. He said, go throw that away and put that back. And she did it. And now like the talk about his kids are like the leadership level that they are at and the, that they, and they're in all different fields and the level that they lead at, but they, but it's, it's, those things give confidence. Like I am capable. And they also will, like recently she said to my mom, the same person my mom's go, well, I walked two miles a day. And she goes, well, you know, grandma, I think you could walk three. I mean, just, you know, just the, the level of, of leadership it gives that they, the confidence they know how to grocery shop. They know how to make meals. They know how to clean. They know how to do their laundry. They know how to, they know who they are. They know what they like. They know how to take care of people. They know how to treat people well and what that means. They know how to be kind, you know, like, and I feel like that's, I was just giving that example because I feel like that's something that it's in line with what you're saying, like parenting and, and bringing them up to be members of society that give back is a thing. And it affects college money. [Shellee Howard] Oh, for sure. And if they're financially literate, here's the thing, parents, if you think your child is financially literate and you're patting yourself on the back, I did too. And then I, I played this little game with them. I'd like you to set a date where you go and you have a sandwich or a yogurt, just one to one. And you sit down and you ask that, that young teen and say, if I gave you a million dollars cash, you had 24 hours to spend it, or you had to give it all back to me, what would you do with it? You will be blown away what they think a million dollars buys blown away. I mean, I've had students tell me they buy a yacht, then they buy an airplane, they take all their friends around the world. And then I've had students say, well, first I buy a fixer up home and then I'd fix it up and then I would sell it. And then I'd buy two and you're like, Oh, what are your parents do? They're listening. They're watching. So again, is your child ready to make this kind of financial commitment and decision? Do they understand that return on investment? If they want to go into social work or be a teacher, do, does the investment of an Ivy league make sense for them? It may be a wonderful opportunity, but does that, that price point make sense? I'm not saying yes or no. I'm saying for your family doesn't make sense. I want to really think about if you go into debt for undergrad and then you marry somebody who also went into debt for undergrad, you're now double debted. How do you buy a new home or a car? How do you retire? Now take it further. What if you go into more debt for your masters or your PhD? My son said when he finished up with orthopedic surgery, most of his fellow students were at least a half a million in debt. [Mary Meyer] Ouch. [Shellee Howard] I'm like, what? And he's debt free. Like it's time for him just to, wow. So to me, that's game changing. That's life changing. And that's my mission is to let families know you need to protect your child from what they don't understand. And if you don't understand it, hire somebody who does, right? You hire a realtor to sell a house, a CPA that do it taxes. Not every college consultant does what I do. I have to say that, but understanding financial strategy, that's what I really focus on as well as the academic, social and athletic or talent fit. So parents, they need you more than ever. [Mary Meyer] Yeah. And you're offering that free 30 minute, free 30 minute call to listeners also. So thank you for that. Yeah. Let's, I want to ask you also core values. So you keep mentioning these as a thing that colleges look for. It seems like hopefully they will pay all the more attention to it headlines and more and more. So what, what is that? And why do they pay attention to it? [Shellee Howard] So important to know your child's core values should be instilled in them by the time they're in eighth grade. That's when they know what's important to them. A core value means the things that mean the most to that student. And there's something like 35 of them. And so if you are curious for yourself or for your child, go onto my website, collegereadyplan.com, slash resources. And I have a free quiz that you can go through that'll narrow it down to your top five. But what it is, a core value would be family. If your child really loves dinner time when you're all together, or the holidays when extended families together, or they can't imagine living in a different state or a different country, like families, everything, that's a core value for that student. If you make them move to another country without you, they're going to be unhappy. They just are because families, everything to them. But if you have a child that adventure and travel are their core values, buy mom and dad, like totally fine on their own, independent, ready to go. So understanding these is going to help your child to navigate what is the best career? What is the best way to get there? What lifestyle are they looking for? Some students, it's hard to imagine, but some could care less about money. Well, you know why is because you provide food in the fridge, gas in the car, heat when it's cold. They're thinking, yeah, I don't care about money. I'll just, you know, volunteer or I'll just, you know, work at McDonald's. They don't know because you've done such a great job providing for them. But when all of that at some point is going to be reduced or not, if not go away, what are they going to do then? That's when it gets really scary. So core values is helping them get clarity about what is important to them. [Mary Meyer] Yeah, that's great. I did some core value. I'm going to have someone on next week who does some core value work, which is going to be a little different than I think for a student, but it was just about picking some words that describe you and they're all positive words. So that's kind of what this sounds like. It is, is there's like all these different positive things, but which ones are the most like resonating with you? So it's not everyone be a good human. We're not even debating that. Be a good human. Yeah. But then as you're a good human, what things drive you? Um, yeah, the core values, what, what's like, this is really it, which some people that even with subjects might be leaning more towards a map, a degree that is more math driven or a degree that's more arts driven or a degree that's something that's working with your hands and technical. Yeah. Those things are not based on if you're a good person or not. They're just based on who are you. So it makes you tick. Yeah. [Shellee Howard] And it's so important. Think about how happy they will be when they're in a career doing what they love to do. I'm not talking about what they're passionate about. I'm just talking about their core. If they love people and you put them in a dark corner with a computer, no matter what they're doing, they're not going to be happy because you've taken them away from the thing that really brings them life, brings them joy. So, you know, put in the, in a perfect world, you get to do what I get to do. I get to inspire teenagers to be their best version of themselves and be successful adults. I love my career, but I wouldn't like it if I didn't like to talk to people. [Mary Meyer] Right. Yeah. I mean, there's gotta be some point where you're like, this is absolutely it. So I've thought about, you know, like I know I like speaking. I like doing what I'm doing right here. And like, I didn't even know I liked being in front of the camera for all so many, like who even knew, like I didn't know, I didn't, did I know that? I don't even think I knew that. So finding stuff out like that is, is what, what an amazing gift to find out these things when you're young. [Shellee Howard] For sure. [Mary Meyer] Yeah. So, and just to wrap up the parents who are looking at this, they got kids in high school. You're saying if your child is a sophomore, this is get this done now kind of time because you're looking at your finances in the child's second semester, sophomore year and first semester junior year. So this is a now moment. Yes. [Shellee Howard] For getting your financial house in order, you will not complete the FAFSA until October of your senior year. So sometimes people get that confused. You're not completing the document right now. You're getting your financial house in order. So when that happens, you've got it down and you're ready to submit. [Mary Meyer] Okay. Yes. So get your fund. This is the time. That's what I meant, but thank you for clarifying because that's, I imagine that is confusing. So right now, get everything together because in your child's senior year, they're looking at what's happening this year in their sophomore and junior year on your finances and theirs. So that's super important. And so can you list all the resources? I know you have books on Amazon. So if people are like, I'm panicking, you know, listen to this podcast. You have podcasts on your website. You can grab the books. You can get a call with you. Tell us a little bit about the books. First of all, why they know that they're, they were best, they've been best sellers and for a reason. [Shellee Howard] Sure. So first and foremost, if you're a teacher or somebody in a school system and you would love to have this for your families, I speak all over the United States. So you can go on my website, collegereadyplan.com. And my mission is to get out there and let people know that this is available for parents. I've written two best-selling books that are both on Amazon for your listeners, Mary's listeners for $4 each. The first one is how to send your student to college without losing your mind or your money. And the second is the college admissions plan simplified. They are meant to be a very fast read where you can pick up one chapter, put it down and not lose your place. Okay. So I understand you're a busy, busy parent. From there, if you go to my website, collegereadyplan.com, you will find so many free resources, but if you go to the resource page, that's an easy way to navigate. There's a lot to do, but if you just do one thing, parents go to collegereadyplan.info schedule 30 minutes with me so I can give you the clarity you need to what it is you need to do. [Mary Meyer] And then you might be someone who wants to work with Shelly and you don't have your students work with her. You might be someone who's like the 275, I want more. Give me this, help break it down. You might be someone who reads the books, digest them, but there's no matter what, if you've got kids, this is a good thing to wrap your brain around because it isn't simple. It isn't like colleges, maybe it should be, it's not. It's not. So there's nothing that's necessarily simple about this. So that's what it is. We got to work with what we got going on, right? [Shellee Howard] That's it. [Mary Meyer] And no matter what, this is all about parenting, you know, helping, helping a child from the time they're young, figure out who they are, what they're supposed to be doing in the world, equipping them with all the things they need to manage their health or finances, their relationships. It's a lot to, you know, it's a lot. [Shellee Howard] It is a lot. [Mary Meyer] Yeah. So well, thank you for again, for your time. I know we're about at an hour or so. Any, any parting words for parents or students? [Shellee Howard] The parting words would be, if you don't plan, just know it's going to cost you. That's it. You can pretend they're not getting older. You can pretend that they're going to do it on their own. You can pretend all you want that the high school is going to do it, but what you don't want to do is just assume any of that. If you think the high school is going to do it, ask your child how many times they've met with their high school counselor so far. That will be a really good indicator. And then if they have, ask them what they talked about and if it was about college. So parents, they need you. That's the last bit I want to share is they do, they may act like they don't, they may act like they're tough teenagers getting super, you know, wise, but they really do need you in this time. So please let me know how I can support you. And Mary, thank you again. It's been a pleasure. [Mary Meyer] Oh, thank you, Shellee. So appreciate you having you on. So go to collegereadyplan.info to get your free session. Yes. [Shellee Howard] Yes, ma'am. Okay. All right. [Mary Meyer] Bye, everyone.