11 5  9  15 12 28 6  35 9  45 10 56 9  66 8  75 11 87 11 99 11 11110                                                                                                                                                                    H E L P  -  C H I L D ' S   F U N D I N G   I N F O R M A T I O N   This  Education  Funding Data screen collects the  information  about  the assumed education costs.                                                                                                                              1.  CURRENT GRADE IN SCHOOL - Enter the actual grade of the student (1-22) if  currently enrolled in a school.  Elementary levels (grades)  would  be (1-8),  high school levels  (9-12), undergraduate college  levels  (13-16) and graduate levels (16-22).                                                                                                                          If the individual is not yet enrolled in school, enter 1.  You will  enter the calendar year for that school year in the subsequent field.            2.  CALENDAR  YR STARTED -  Enter the calendar year in which  the  student began  the grade entered in Item #1.   This would be a future year if  the child has not yet begun school.                                                                                                                       Be  sure  that the year entered is the year the student started.   If  the student  is in the fifth grade and it is April, enter the  previous  year. If  the  student  is in the eighth grade and it  is  November,  enter  the current year.                                                                                                                                         For children not yet in school, or children not yet born, you will have to count ahead.  In general, children born in the months  of Jan through Sept will enter  first  grade in their 6th year.   Add 6 to the year of  birth. For those born Oct through Dec, add 7.                                     3.   STUDENT PRESENT ASSETS -  Enter the amount of assets currently  owned by the student.                                                                                                                                       Do not include any assets of a personal nature.   Do not include assets in a  Trust  from which only income will be drawn.  Use #5 for  Trust  funds. This  should  include investment assets, such as  savings,  mutual  funds, securities, etc.  Many of these will be in UGMA accounts.                  4.    AFTER-TAX  GROWTH  RATE  -   THIS IS  A  REQUIRED  FIELD.   Enter  a percentage  number such as 6 = 6%.  Use the decimal places for  fractional rates, such as 6.35% .                                                                                                                                Make this the NET RATE at which the student's account is assumed to  grow. Deduct  from the gross earnings rate the investment expenses (if any)  and the  student's estimated income taxes, if any.                                                                                                        For  example, a savings account earning 7.50% in a 20% tax  bracket  would net 6.00%.                                                                 5.  ASSETS  PRESENTLY  IN TRUST -  Enter the amount of  assets  which  are currently held in trust and which produce income for this student.                                                                                    The program will  use  only  the income from  these  funds  and  not   the principal. This income will be added to the student's account.                                                                                        For  example,  a grandparent  placed 50,000  in  Trust  with the principal available  at  age  30.   If the current balance  is  60,000,   the  child (guardian)  should withdraw the earnings each year and add to the  child's education account.   Taxes are certainly lower  now than they will be when the child is working                                                       6.  AFTER-TAX  GROWTH RATE -  THIS IS A REQUIRED FIELD if there  is  input from question #5.  Enter the net rate at which the trust  assets   produce income for the  student.                                                                                                                              The  program credits this amount each year to the student.   The  earnings are then accumulated in the student's account.                                                                                                        For example,  a 60,000 Trust account has a .5% fee,  earns  8.00%  and  if withdrawn, the child  would be  in a  15%  tax  bracket. 8.00 - .50 = 7.50 7.50 x .80 = 6.0%  which would be the net earnings rate.                   CURRENT EDUCATIONAL COSTS -  Enter  the assumed  annual education  cost in                              TODAY'S DOLLARS.                                                                                                         The program will project this amount by the inflation rate which you  will enter in item #11.                                                                                                                                    Normally,  you  do not enter costs for public school education,  just  for private  or  parochial schools.  Miscellaneous school fees and  books  for public schools should be handled as a regular cash expense.                GIFTS/GRANTS -  Enter the expected annual amounts of gifts and or grants.                                                                             The  program  does not inflate this number.  You must enter  them  as  the future  values.   This is an annual number and repeats each year  of  that level of education.                                                                                                                                   For example,  if you feel the  student will be eligible for a  scholarship of 1,000 per year, then enter 1,000.                                                                                                                  A common item is gifts received from relatives and saved for college.   If a  child receives  1,000 in gifts, but saves only half for  college,  then enter 500.                                                                 STUDENT EARNINGS -  Enter the amount the student will earn and  contribute to education costs.   Enter  this  in  future  currency.   This is also an annual amount.  It repeats each year of the level of education.                                                                                       Do not include earnings which will be spent personally by the student.                                                                                Enter  the  NET EARNINGS which can be saved, after student's  income  tax, transportation  and  miscellaneous expenses.  For example, a  high  school student  might earn 5 per hour  for 12 weeks  -  a total of 2,400.   Taxes might reduce this  by 600.   Expenses could be 200.   Summer spending 500. Net amount 1,100.   When that child enters college,  net  summer  earnings might increase to 1,700.                                                   NUMBER YEARS -  Enter the number of years for this education level. Do not include  the  current year.  The number in brackets to the  right  is  the default, which will generally be correct for the child.                                                                                               The  program determines the default number of years from your  input  from Items 1 and 2 (the grade and year started).                                                                                                           If  your input for Item 1 or 2 is changed after making an entry here,  you need to be sure to edit this item again.  The number which appears for the default will automatically have changed.  However, your original entry  in the field will be retained.  We suggest you re-enter the fields and press  <CR> for new numbers to be recalculated.                                   11.  INFLATION RATE - Enter the inflation assumption for the  duration  of the  student's education.   The program uses this rate to  inflate  future education costs from now until completion of schooling.                                                                                               Historically  education costs have exceeded the general inflation rate  by one  to  three percent.                                                                                                                               We recommend you use 6 %  to 7 % for education inflation.                                                                                             Be  careful if the individual is very young.  A large inflation rate  will result in extremely large numbers in the future.