[00:00:00] Intro: Every number on a balance sheet tells a story, late nights spent building something meaningful. The risks taken, the difficult conversations, the lessons learned along the way. But true wealth is not measured in dollars. It’s woven into the stories that we create, the experiences that shape us, and the memories that outlive us.
Welcome to the Living Beyond The Numbers Podcast with Jude Boudro. From the planning center, this show is not about spreadsheets and financial jargon. It’s about real conversations and powerful stories that help you align your money with your values, your dreams, and your legacy. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about how much you have, it’s about the life you want to live and the stories you leave behind Now onto the show.
[00:00:50] Jude Boudreaux: Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of The Living Beyond the Numbers podcast. I’m your host, Jude Boudreaux here with Caleb Arringdale, our director of positivity.
[00:00:59] Caleb Arringdale: [00:01:00] Hello,
[00:01:00] Jude Boudreaux: and today we’ve got a great guest, uh, joining us. We’ve got Heidi, uh, from college Inside Track. So welcome Heidi. Thanks for joining us,
[00:01:08] Heidi King: Jude.
Thank you so much, Caleb. Nice to join you both. Uh, appreciate you guys having me on.
[00:01:14] Jude Boudreaux: Of course. Well, the, obviously talking about college in planning is something that comes up for clients every year. Uh, you know, if we’ve got kids or grandkids, we’re trying to figure out how to, how to pay for what does college mean for them?
What’s the, um. You know, the family story about this and how are we going to talk about the financial part of it, obviously, I mean, all of those things go into, uh, this, you know, very big decision. It’s often one of the biggest decisions that 18 year old’s been a part of. So, um, maybe share just a little bit about kind of you and what College and Strides Track does to help clients think through, you know, this process.
[00:01:52] Heidi King: No, it sounds great. So, um, I am part of the education and partnerships team here at College. Inside Track [00:02:00] and College. Inside Track has been around for the better part of 20 years now, helping families really find right fit schools for their students. And we define right fit as right fit academically, right fit socially.
We always wanna make sure that that is a right fit financially, um, for the family, the entire family. Um, it is an exciting time. It’s also a stressful time. It clearly is a milestone event for parents and students alike. So, um, when we work with a family, we really try to help reduce that stress and help with outcomes for all.
[00:02:42] Jude Boudreaux: You don’t just work there. You also a client effectively. I know you’ve got your, you know, kids who are in that college range, right?
[00:02:49] Heidi King: Yeah, I, I did. I just recently went through, uh, college search and, um, actually both of my sons have now graduated. Uh, we are, [00:03:00] um. As of May this year in 2025. So I had back to back kids.
We call them stair step kids. And um, so one is out, um, working in the world and the other one has a job as well. One is in Chicago, one is in Austin, Texas.
[00:03:16] Jude Boudreaux: Oh, fantastic. Yeah. So you’ve lived this, not just worked in it and, uh, and understand the emotional parts of it too. So, uh, I think that makes such a big difference.
[00:03:24] Heidi King: Yeah. Right, right. Exactly right. So it is something that I’m passionate about, um, because I did just go through the process with two very different learners, kids that had really different needs, and I saw how that plays out, um, and how that can be challenging, especially if they aren’t even seeking a degree that you are necessarily an expert in as a parent.
Right. So, um, trying to help them through what do they wanna do, how do they think about school? Um. Yeah, it’s, uh, nice to be. Um, it does give me a unique lens because it is something [00:04:00] that I just re recently also went through.
[00:04:03] Jude Boudreaux: Absolutely. So, um, yeah, so I mean, I, the right fit part I think is so important and interesting because when I was going through this process, which now is, you know, 25 years ago, strange how time works with that, um, there wasn’t really much thought about that.
It was, you know, you had some mailers and you took your standardized tests and you had your grades and um, you know, maybe you saw, read a Princeton Review article or something, but there wasn’t an awful lot of. Thought about, you know, what the university was like and it’s hard to get a sense of that, I think from a distance.
So, um, maybe just tell us a little bit more about how that’s changed and what are you all seeing to try to help people figure out like what is the right fit for a student and how do you think about that as a family?
[00:04:43] Heidi King: So I, I, I agree. I, I just feel like back in the day, um, we often stayed within our state or border state school far more often.
And maybe it’s just the idea of, um, you know, experiencing [00:05:00] different parts in the country. But the, you know, I, I would say the vast amount of kids really do have an out-of-state school, if not the bulk of their applications out to outta state schools. So, um. I dunno about you, but I, I feel like I had three applications out and I just figured it was gonna work.
Um, now we see, and we really try to talk kids into just six to 12 schools. Just apply to six to 12 schools. Um, anything more than that, when you go through that actual process of applying school to school, um, they don’t realize how many school specific prompts or essays they’re gonna have to write. And the process to, um, to go through each individual application doesn’t make your best work.
If you’re having to do 20 of those. So, um, I think that’s changed significantly since, you know, back in the day when most of us applied to school [00:06:00] and thought about it, the kids are, they have a lot more opportunities. Parents have worked very hard to give their kids opportunities and, um, it is more a us and sometimes international search, depending.
[00:06:13] Caleb Arringdale: So what trends are you seeing with international students, both people going abroad to study and international students coming here?
[00:06:20] Heidi King: So this is interesting. I, I would say that, um, universally the US has been a destination for grad schools from students abroad. Um, research, uh, like, you know, institutions that provide that R one experience for med school.
Um, you can, and just master’s degrees in generals as well.
[00:06:44] Caleb Arringdale: Could you define R one?
[00:06:46] Heidi King: Um, it’s like a, a level of research kind of, um, universities that has that availability. Um, typically some of the noteworthy schools that you can think of, um, you know, whether it be the Ivy’s or U [00:07:00] Chicago or Stanford, um, Tulane, uh, you know, some of those, uh, North Carolina, duke, they have a probably a quarter of the students that can be.
International students that come into the United States. Statistics have shown of those international quarter, like I don’t wanna break up the data too much, but, um, a certain amount stay and then contribute to the United States. They’re gonna have there, there there’s a bit of a pause in trying to figure out how much some of the legislation is gonna.
Change that where they come in and stay or they don’t come in at all For grad school, um, undergraduate school, we’re seeing that even a little bit. And, and Caleb, you and I were talking about this before we started, colleges have just announced the, their classes for the incoming class. And, uh, [00:08:00] schools that were normally typically not opening up wait lists this late in the game.
Um, did have an increased, uh, wait list and we, we think it’s because of the international students for whatever reason, not getting a visa or choosing not to come because of an environment they didn’t think would be work and working for them. But they did take a considerable, they meaning, uh, in the Chronicle at reported schools like Duke, um, had to open up a wait list choosing to.
They wanted to fill their class, they’re also growing their class. We had two things happen at the same time with Duke, Stanford. I know anecdotally ’cause of some students that we were working with, um, as well as University of Illinois and University of Champaign, Michigan, they opened up their wait list more than they typically do late in the game.
So international students, I guess we’re gonna, since we’re, it is a very analytic, um. [00:09:00] Industry sometimes we’re just getting the information about what’s happening now because, uh, classes have just started. Um, and some campuses haven’t even started yet, so these numbers will be in. But we did see, we did see more of, uh, taking off the wait list.
[00:09:16] Jude Boudreaux: Well, that’s fascinating and um, I can imagine, uh, how that might work international inbound to the United States. Selfishly, I’m curious, uh, my ninth grader is expressed interest in studying overseas, so, um, how about that? As far as you know, American students finding spots to go to school overseas.
[00:09:34] Heidi King: Well, so that will be an interesting, we will see if there’s a cause and effect and how that plays out year to year in admissions.
Um, it was a little tighter to get admissions into McGill in Canada last year. Like they, and I don’t know that that was, had anything to do with, um. Legislation. I just think it had everything to do with some of their priorities and wanting to make sure there were spots open [00:10:00] for their own, um, Canadians.
Um, and no, we, we, you know, I think the, we’ll see how some of the changes work itself out and if there will be a cause and effect to our increase in trying to take US citizens. Um. For our own spots, and if there’s some pushback internationally for that, um, that is, we’ll have to kind of watch the data for that.
[00:10:30] Caleb Arringdale: Yeah.
[00:10:31] Heidi King: Any questions on that? Like, it’s just because it’s too soon, too soon to tell. Yeah, I think for now.
[00:10:36] Jude Boudreaux: Sure. No, I think that, uh, that’s just fine. Um. Yeah. So I mean, uh, so let’s maybe head back to the, the family level, uh, for thinking about, you know, this process. So, I mean, how do you all encourage families to think about this big decision?
You know, 18 year olds, you’re making these, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollar ex cost decisions, uh, with your family. And every family will have their its own [00:11:00] parameters of what kind of support they can or will provide. So. Maybe walk us through, like how do, how do you encourage families to start to think about this process and find a right fit, not just a, well, this is, our family’s always gone here, so now you should go there.
[00:11:14] Heidi King: Yeah. But this is such a good question. Um, so first of all, I think, and this is very relatable, is I assumed that our high school help was getting us further along than it potentially was. The high school counselors are working hard, and I think sometimes they’re a bit overwhelmed and like Nationwide Average, it’s one high school advisor for about 270 kids.
And again, that’s just an average. So, um, some kids are a little bit more, um, uncertain [00:12:00] about what they wanna do for the rest of their lives at 17.
[00:12:04] Caleb Arringdale: Yeah,
[00:12:05] Heidi King: but I do think parents should think about it as more of a long range project that maybe can start a little bit more intentionally. College tours, college visits, talking to a financial advisor or someone in your team about at the end of the day, what are we comfortable with as a purchase.
I know it’s a really emotional thing to think about it, that it’s a purchase. But statistics show it really is the second largest purchase that you will make other than buying your home. We are talking about numbers. Many schools, um, have touched a hundred thousand dollars per year. So the idea of having those conversations a little bit earlier on.
Maybe include the whole family so your [00:13:00] student doesn’t fall in love with a school. Apply and get in. And we are totally uncertain about how much that school was gonna cost. You thought your super smart kiddo was gonna get more merit, but you applied to a school that has super, like tight selectivity rate, low selectivity, and they don’t need to give out merit.
And then you don’t know like, how are we gonna pay for this? We’ll work it out. Well, often that’s why we are in the state that we were in with the loans. So long range project, think about it a little bit sooner. And again, you don’t need to obsess about college as a 15-year-old. Matter of fact, I don’t want you to, I, I really would like you to do some intentional things.
Um. But please don’t wake up the fall semester of your senior year and hope that everything was done, because that’s when people get to panic and have to miss school because they’re writing too many essays [00:14:00] or haven’t toured schools. And so I would say long range project for that.
[00:14:05] Jude Boudreaux: It’s interesting you think about the numbers.
So my daughter goes to a very small private school. Mm-hmm. There’s one advisor and there’s 28 girls in her class. So like she’ll get a lot of attention. Yeah. My son is at a magnet school and that’s wonderful and it’s a much bigger place and they have all a lot of demands on those advisors. So I can very much see how those numbers would be different.
But one of my favorite things that’s happened with my daughter’s school is they’re not as ninth graders. Thinking about like, oh, test scores and things, but they are very much encouraged to start to think about what you would like in a college. Yes. You know, if you’re thinking about this, because in this summer, Lucy had a.
We were talking about it and she was like, oh, I’m gonna put that on my spreadsheet. And I was like, wait, you have a spreadsheet about this? And she’s like, yeah, like my school, like in our Google documents. So she put a note and I was like, well, what’s on your list? Like, what’s your criteria? And it was, you know, that she wanted a place that had a soccer team so that she could either cheer for or maybe play for, you know, the women’s [00:15:00] soccer team that had a culinary program.
She’s interested in that, that had a history program. She’s interested in that. Um, and that was near a major airport where it was kind of like her list. And so I was like, well.
That’s great. Like it’s way further along I think, than most ninth graders are. And so while we’re not obsessing about college tours, if we’re going to be in a place that’s great to go walk around the campus and get a sense of things.
’cause you can feel a, you know, big place feels different than a small place and all sorts of other things. So yeah. Heidi.
[00:15:30] Heidi King: So there you go. Like you’re taking a piece of it and they’re biting off a chunk that seems age appropriate. What I try to tell people is exactly, go catch a woman’s soccer game. Go have a piece of pizza on campus.
Um, see the vibe and see if that is a place that you can see yourself living and finding your friends, your people.
[00:15:53] Caleb Arringdale: Yeah.
[00:15:54] Heidi King: For four years. Right. And think about it in maybe that context [00:16:00] rather than what am I gonna do for the rest of my life? And then you can fold other things in as it becomes, you know, who comes here to recruit?
Where did, do they have a co-op? How do I what? What’s the networking like? What do I what if I am undeclared? You know, you can lean in with right social fit first. That usually is the easiest way to start with a kiddo. But also then.
What kind of a learner are you academically? Are you competitive? Are you collaborative?
Is this a school where you, do you have like interest where you’re gonna need research? Can you have access to that as a freshman, sophomore, junior? What does that look like? Um, but I love the start with just as a campus, see how big is too big? Figure out how small, how rural. I was out in New York last week and we did tours on several campuses, one of [00:17:00] which was NYU, which is very exciting to a lot of kids.
It might start on a lot of kids lists, and you know, it’s a wonderful school, great vibe, but it doesn’t have a typical quad, and you might go from your classes into another building and then an elevator. Not right or wrong. Some of these kids don’t know that. They just know the name. So by a tour or a visit through, you get to kind of take all that in.
So I love that you are visiting already and it sounds like a, a good, you know, step by step.
[00:17:40] Caleb Arringdale: Kind of along those lines, you mentioned that most 17 year olds don’t know exactly what they’re planning on doing for the rest of their lives. How many actually do, like, as you’re talking with parents, how many people actually pick something at 17 and stick with that all through college?
I mean, I can think of the parents who are listening to this. Should they be worried that their [00:18:00] kid hasn’t figured that out yet?
[00:18:02] Heidi King: No, I, I mean, no, because I, as statistics will tell you that 70% of the students will switch their major. So we say plan on it. I don’t think everyone’s gonna go from, I wanted to be a pilot to, Nope.
I’m gonna be a nurse or a doctor. Right? I mean, that’s a pretty big shift, right? Um, but many, many, many kids will tweak their major. I’m going in as a business student and, oh, there’s wealth management. I didn’t know that. I’m gonna add that in. Or I’m gonna, I’m gonna change from accounting to wealth management.
So, um.
The vast majority of us need to learn critical thinking and adaptability. ’cause obviously that’s what life is throwing us right now. Um, there are certain industries and certain majors that you’ve, it does help to apply within a business school or [00:19:00] an engineering program. Um, nursing can have a condensed program if you get direct admit.
So there are some benefits. There is a great deal amount of stress for parents and kids if the kids don’t know what they want to do. But I would say, let’s think about classes, what you like and what you don’t like. And, um, there are opportunities to go in undeclared. But I do understand as a parent you like to have that buttoned up and think that they’re gonna apply to a certain major for a school like Michigan.
If you get into the School of Michigan, you cannot then apply to transfer into their business school.
[00:19:45] Caleb Arringdale: Mm-hmm.
[00:19:46] Heidi King: They no longer allow it, because that was a way that kids would get in and then transfer to a program that was much, much, much more selective. So do know that there are some colleges that [00:20:00] will put in some guardrails.
And again, that’s why parents will go back through and worry a little bit if we don’t have a select major. So I would say it depends. Um, and understanding that there is a lot of data that says that the kids will add on a major or switch it anyway.
[00:20:22] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah. So did you Caleb, like, do you start with accounting?
[00:20:25] Caleb Arringdale: No, I started with pre-law switched to accounting. So go figure. What about you, Jude?
[00:20:29] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah, no, uh, I mean, I.
Knew I liked the idea of business, so I started with a management degree and then, uh, took a finance class and loved it. And yeah, and then it, um, then I even took a class in there that was personal financial planning for professional planners by Dr.
Dalton, who wrote the first like, prep materials for the CFP exam. So it was just a very, it was like, wow, like I can do this. Like I can help deal with numbers and people. This is great. So, um, but I think you need to be, get in. [00:21:00] Like I had a friend who wanted to be a neurosurgeon and she is, but when I think about my friends from high school, like very few of them knew, act exactly what they wanted to do.
You know, I think it’s more far more in common than common to not, you know, to just maybe have an idea but not know exactly what you wanted to do and then see it happen.
[00:21:20] Caleb Arringdale: Yeah,
[00:21:21] Jude Boudreaux: the thing I wanted to touch on just kind of is like, you know, sticker price versus actual price, because this comes up a lot with clients when they look at the numbers and say, oh, we’re gonna pay $90,000 a year for this.
And the answer is maybe like some people do, but often I don’t see my clients actually spending anywhere near what like the stated total cost of attendance is. So what would you say to parents who are thinking about schools and the cost factor like that?
[00:21:47] Heidi King: This is definitely an interesting discussion because if you are a first time parent and you don’t know and understand a little bit about how the pricing works, the sticker price can be shocking and can frankly turn [00:22:00] you away from some schools that, um, at the end of the day, they are more flexibly priced.
So there is this understanding of flexibly priced and inflexibly priced rather than in-state, outta state. Or public and private leaning back into flexibly priced or inflexibly priced. ’cause by the way, you really can have outta state and flexibly priced if the college is super selective, think less than 20% selectivity.
So they report that that’s something they’re proud of, right. They have a line out the door, so they don’t need to be flexibly priced. You are for far more than likely to pay the sticker price because somebody else will. If you won’t. [00:23:00] The other schools that are still really great schools, they just don’t have 93,000 people applying to them, so they can be so selective.
That’s, that’s what you’re looking for, where the sticker price isn’t the sticker price.
[00:23:18] Caleb Arringdale: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:20] Heidi King: If the selectivity is somewhere broadly 20 to 25% and up, they need to fill their class. And so institutionally they get to move the money under the coconuts a little bit. That’s where the things that your student does in high school is increasing their own scholarships.
So the choices that they’re making, the clubs that they’re in, the grades that they’re getting, the SAT uh, a CT prep, how are they [00:24:00] developing themselves as a curious academically ready? Yes, I really want to go here and I’m gonna be an awesome alum. That kind of messaging is what admissions officers love, and again, higher selectivity, you’re more than likely to get multi-year, really positive merit scholarships, super less selective school, not so much.
[00:24:26] Caleb Arringdale: How do they calculate merit scholarships? I know that’s probably something that’s different by school, but is there some broad generalizations you can make on that?
[00:24:34] Heidi King: Um, well, there’s two different buckets of money that come from a college. One you get based on a GI or adjusted gross income of the parents and their assets.
[00:24:51] Caleb Arringdale: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:52] Heidi King: That is what we call more like the need-based bucket. Okay, so some of us will just make too much money and we won’t have [00:25:00] access to that, and it’s not that we have so many assets or our brokerage account is so big. Truly what knocks us in and out of the need-based is that we make too much money.
Our A GI is high enough, and since no one’s quitting their job, for their purposes of being more financially eligible for college, most of us are leaning into that merit-based bucket.
[00:25:25] Jude Boudreaux: Is there a range or a, a number or so that you start to tell clients, like above a certain a GI? Yeah, you know, you shouldn’t really plan on this.
[00:25:33] Heidi King: Good question. Um, it is a little bit like a hockey stick. Meaning a hockey stick. You get money here and then it’s like, you know, it’s a huge increase where people won’t get the money. If your a GI is about 280 or $300,000. Even at the schools that cost a hundred thousand dollars a year. USC, Pepperdine, [00:26:00] um, Vanderbilt.
Yeah, Vanderbilt, right. Let’s, and then we can just go eastward and whatever. Um, you have to make under $300,000 to get any kind of money there. But they cover a significant portion of need. They are private and they are selective. They don’t give merit, they give need-based aid.
[00:26:25] Caleb Arringdale: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:27] Heidi King: The merit is what you have control over truly.
Right. Obviously, good grades, that is the, your biggest success story. Some schools you have to have upper levels of GPA to get the merit, but other schools, it, it doesn’t, not, it’s not just three nines and above. It depends on the school, so GPA test scores, extracurriculars or how you [00:27:00] spend your time as a kiddo, meaning you may have to spend your time at a job.
You may have the opportunity to be in a club or a sport. You may be choosing to do something else that’s intellectually interesting to you. We had a student that we worked with. Um, his big thing was, um, like motocross and biking and, uh, outdoors. Um.
Successfully applied to MIT. ’cause what he got to feature was how he would tinker with bikes and how he would build and deconstruct and reconstruct a bike.
And it was so obvious where his curiosities were and how he. A little bit more like positive energy and like, um, improvement out of the bikes. And, and he did that for years and that’s what he was able to feature as his [00:28:00] passion, his curiosity. So those things that you do in high school, whether it be a club, an activity, a leadership role, or just leadership action.
[00:28:12] Caleb Arringdale: Mm-hmm.
[00:28:14] Heidi King: Test scores, as I said, all those kind of parts and pieces go into.
What you tell your story, the story that you’re telling about who you are and what you’re gonna do on campus, the better that messaging is. So some of the choices, but then the better the messaging is within your application. So busy people who are admissions officers when they’re reading about you for eight to 13 minutes, it has to be concise.
And so telling that story about who you are writing, well, your grades and your test scores are about 60%, 65% of how some schools will admit you. All those other things that you’re talking about yourself, um, can have a great deal of impact [00:29:00] on holistic admissions and how they care about the student that they’re admitting.
So that is part of the recipe for merit.
[00:29:08] Caleb Arringdale: That’s really interesting. Thank you. I, I guess I thought there would be a simpler answer, but that was a really fascinating detail look into how that works. So many Thanks. That was great.
[00:29:17] Heidi King: I can be more concise, but that Yeah, no,
[00:29:20] Caleb Arringdale: that was, that was very fascinating.
[00:29:22] Heidi King: Okay. Yeah,
[00:29:23] Jude Boudreaux: yeah. As we come towards kind our end of our time, I guess, is there any kind of like wrap up thoughts or thing that you would say, like, you know, if your family’s really starting to think about this, what would you encourage them to? What can you encourage ’em to do that they can start to feel some more control in this process?
[00:29:41] Heidi King: So I would say on some level, you know, I’m a planner, you’re a planner. I, I do think that getting some sort of project management and, um, specific times to stress about college and specific times to not, right. Um.
It is, it [00:30:00] can be overwhelming for the kids and some legitimately shut down because they know that it’s hanging on everybody.
If, if life is like that in your family, just set up, you know, like agreed upon time to talk about college. So your kiddo is not on edge every single time they see you because they’re worried you’re gonna ask about college, you know? Um.
Chunk it. Start early enough. Um, take the approach Jude is doing. You know, we’re just gonna go visit campus, see if you like, love it enough.
Um, the idea is there’s 3,500 schools.
[00:30:41] Caleb Arringdale: Mm-hmm.
[00:30:43] Heidi King: Um, it is more of a match. College is a match there. It is not a prize to be won. Think about your right fit. Your key criteria, and I [00:31:00] think those are ways to broadly think about the opportunity and the fun that you can have. And then just a little bit of like thoughtful planning on the way to it.
I mean, really understanding that, you know, there is a college for every kid. You just having to think about it in a more like, what do you need? As a student that you’re gonna succeed. 38% of the kids head off to college and transfer.
It shows how hard it is for families to identify key criteria and then pick right fit schools if they’re transferring at 38%. Um, so helping these kids really understand what’s gonna work for them. And approaching it that, you know, it, it, it is a, a, you know, it’s best done over the course of not just senior year [00:32:00] would be my suggestion.
[00:32:02] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah. Well I love that idea of this like the match, not a prize because, um, I feel very fortunate I.
You know, it was a kid from a small town in South Louisiana who was pretty nerdy and had great test scores and, and GPAs and things. I had a lot of opportunity and I could have gone to, um, a prize type of a school and it, um, so those options were there and every once in a while I wonder like, oh, maybe I should have done that.
But I also knew, like it was a kid from a small town in South Louisiana whose family didn’t have like a lot of financial resources. Being older now, I can see like, boy, that would’ve been really difficult to, to do and to, I don’t know how well I would’ve fit in a lot of things there. Whereas going to Loyola New Orleans where I did was a smaller school.
So I could have, uh, more of that attention than I needed. And so it was a way to move into a city like I wanted to be in, but not be in just a huge school, like a Tulane where my, [00:33:00] my wife from Chicago went, which, um, you know, we would say New Orleans, like a lot of northerners go to Tulane. A lot of Southerners go to Loyola.
It’s just, you feel the difference in the size and the environments, but all of those schools, uh, have their own own things. And so it’s, yeah. How do you find that fit for your family? Uh, environment wise, financially that, you know, makes sense for everybody going in and coming out.
Uh, it’s a big decision and, um, you know, so part of, you know, uh, college Inside Track obviously all have services that help families go through this process.
So it’s not just a, um, every once in a while I see people who are doing like, you know, you know, test prep or college aid consulting. It’s a very comprehensive process and I think it, um, you know, families are looking for assistance with the whole picture. It’s something that makes an awful lot of sense.
[00:33:51] Heidi King: Yeah. Yeah. It, it, um, having a coach or somebody who is a one-on-one consultant work with your family [00:34:00] throughout several years potentially, and getting you through identifying right fit schools and building a targeted list with right academic, right social, and financial in mind. And then with some hands on help throughout the, um, essay, the application, the financial aid process, right?
It, it really can be a stress reducer for very busy families and, um, can, and really helpful to have that neutral third party.
[00:34:29] Jude Boudreaux: So we’ve got a few rapid fire questions that we, uh, generally go through with the, our guests. So first and most important is, what is your favorite animal?
[00:34:37] Heidi King: Oh my gosh. My favorite animal would be, um, the horse.
I’ve always loved horses. I grew up loving horses. I didn’t live on a farm, but, um, I the idea of like a wild Mustang or whatever on some beach, you know, in North or South Carolina. Love that Georgia, that horse.
[00:34:58] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah, there is a national park town that [00:35:00] way that does have wild horses on the beach, and I can’t remember which one it is.
But um, remember that we saw them, uh, from a distance. Um, yeah. Um, what do you think is the best money you’ve ever spent?
[00:35:13] Heidi King: I’m gonna just say traveling. Yeah. Worldviews, traveling, seeing someplace else. Getting, uh, I’m looking at my.
Um, my other screen here, it’s like these beautiful mountains I looked up today and I, I found like, did a little research about that.
Um, and my little, my Windows machine and it was Poland. Like, Poland looks like that. Oh, I gotta go see Poland, you know, so I love Beautiful
[00:35:40] Jude Boudreaux: to travel. You have two very randomly, two people who have been to Zani in Poland. Yeah. And, uh, you know, so like in the mountains there,
[00:35:48] Caleb Arringdale: so absolutely beautiful. Yeah.
Yeah. Highly recommended.
[00:35:52] Heidi King: Yeah. Okay. I’m gonna have to make sure, but I mean, I know it was Poland. I don’t know if it was Zani, but I, yeah,
[00:35:56] Jude Boudreaux: yeah. Well, and as financial advisor, finance people on a [00:36:00] podcast, I’ll tell you, like, it’s remarkably inexpensive to go to Poland as well compared to, you know, going to the Western Alps, if you will.
Especially going west, like to Colorado, you know, you talk about less expensive. Um, yeah, for sure. So we can, we can have another conversation about that. Uh, but always glad to talk about travel.
[00:36:18] Heidi King: I, I have, Poland is on my list. I haven’t been to Warsaw, I haven’t been, you know, I’ve been to Germany in some areas nearby, but not Poland.
[00:36:27] Caleb Arringdale: War on Krakow, really amazing cities. How they recommended.
[00:36:31] Heidi King: Yeah. Neat. Okay, well, we’ll have to talk about that for sure. Yeah,
[00:36:34] Caleb Arringdale: no, definitely. I mean, yeah,
[00:36:35] Heidi King: I, I, I’m gonna go to Morocco in Portugal in, um, February and I just, last year my big trip was New Zealand and Australia, so I, I am trying to hit some bucket list places.
[00:36:50] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah. Well, so on the travel theme, uh, favorite place to visit?
[00:36:54] Heidi King: Oh, I loved Sydney, Australia. I really did. I loved Sydney, Australia, [00:37:00] so I would, I’d, I’m gonna stick with, um, it is a beautiful area far away, but, um, I really, really loved, loved it.
[00:37:11] Jude Boudreaux: All right. And then DreamTrip, you haven’t done.
[00:37:14] Heidi King: Dream trips that I haven’t done.
Um, I’ve spent, um, virtually no time in actual northern Italy. Um, I’ve hit some bigger cities in Italy. I am really more now about seeing smaller cities, countryside, and, um. And, and getting a little bit more of a flavor agriculturally and learning a little bit more about how the spice market in Morocco works, or, you know, how, uh, you know, growing olives, you know, so, uh, Northern Italy is gonna be something else.
Um, although I could also say Crowe shop, I mean, I, I’m gonna love going over there.
[00:37:58] Jude Boudreaux: Fantastic. Well, great. [00:38:00] Um, Caleb, any final notes or questions from you?
[00:38:03] Caleb Arringdale: No, I really appreciate it. That was a really fascinating conversation. Uh, we so many clients as, as you said, this is one of the biggest financial decisions they will make.
Right. Especially as a 17, 8-year-old making it a many hundred thousand dollars decision. So I, I love that. I, I agree with Jude that it’s not a prize. It’s, it’s the right fit. That is such a thing. I think.
People now, perhaps it’s social media influenced, but people think, oh, I have to go to this school if I’m going to be successful or whatever.
But showing how that’s not really the case. This was a great conversation. I’m sure people like it, so thank you.
[00:38:37] Heidi King: Awesome. Thanks Caleb. I appreciate Jude, appreciate your comments.
[00:38:41] Jude Boudreaux: Yeah. Thanks so much. And Heidi, if people were to reach out to you, what’s the best way for them to get in touch?
[00:38:46] Heidi King: Yeah. Um, you’re more than welcome to reach out to me.
Um, you know, we can be found on, um, the Web College InsideTrack. Um, my email, Heidi King, CIT, um, at college, [00:39:00] InsideTrack, and, uh, you know, I guess through, um, you guys and your planning team at the planning center.
[00:39:08] Jude Boudreaux: Definitely no, we’ve can, if you reach, that’s us. We can always help to make a connection.
Um, so thanks again for joining us, Heidi, and thank you all for listening to another episode of The Living Beyond the Numbers podcast.
Uh, you can always reach me. I’m [jude@theplanningcenter.com](mailto:jude@theplanningcenter.com). It’s [caleb@theplanningcenter.com](mailto:caleb@theplanningcenter.com), or our main phone is three oh nine seven nine seven four oh three oh. So thanks again. Please like, subscribe, share, and let us know if you have any questions or comments. We’d love to continue the conversation.
Thanks everybody.
[00:39:40] Outro: Thanks for tuning in to the Living Beyond the Numbers podcast. If today’s episode resonated with you, be sure to follow us so you never miss a conversation. For more resources and to learn how we can help you align your wealth with your life’s purpose, visit us at theplanningcenter.com or give us a call at [00:40:00] (888) 333-6986.
The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guest and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the planning center. The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing advice.
Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning. Investing involves the risk of loss. The information presented on this program is believed to be factual and up to date, but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed.
Discussions and answers to questions do not involve the rendering of personalized investment advice, but are limited to the dissemination of general information. A professional advisor should be consulted before implementing any of the options [00:41:00] presented
