UW-Extension Wood County – Family Development and Relationships – September ‘25

Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic

for this September 4th, 2025. Right now being joined by our friends from UW Extension,

human development and relationships educator Ben Eberlein with us right now, Ben, good

to see you man.

Good to see you too, thanks for the warm welcome.

I appreciate you being here, always good hanging out with you and talking to you and real

quick before we dive into things, how are you doing over at Extension, getting a more

comfortable over there?

Things going good?

Like a family.

It's so wonderful, really.

Good, good, really good to hear, Ben, very good to hear and really a great topic that

you sent over this morning that I was looking forward to diving into with you, got a ton

of hard questions for it now.

I do really think that it's an interesting topic though, Ben, and especially this month

in particular.

Thank you, yeah, so the topic we're talking about is college savings, so why this month

in particular is for anyone who doesn't know, September is college savings month, so

for September, extensions partnering with the State of Wisconsin Department of Financial

Institutions to celebrate college savings month.

When it comes to saving for college, it's something that we hear about from a young age,

but I don't know that there's a ton of direction after that.

We oftentimes hear, hey, it's important to save for school, hey, it's important to save

for college and some of that, but there is not really a follow up to that of how to do

it.

Granted, some of that is because that everybody's parents had a lot of financial awareness

or education or understanding of that.

Not every family necessarily had funds to be able to even save some of that.

I think there's also some of a little bit of a drop-in of the ball on society with this

one where we kind of start the conversation, but we don't wrap up the conversation or give

the information.

We've gotten much better about this as we've gone on, and this kind of topic is, I think,

that much more important because of it to make this stuff more common knowledge.

Exactly.

I need nailed it.

All of those points, and it's not like there's one, like, hey, I'm here to buy my college

savings.

Right.

That doesn't exist.

There's how many different options for financial products and from a basic savings account

to IRAs and five to nine college savings plans we're going to talk about in the stock market,

all these other ways to invest.

Yeah, it's hard.

One other thing we'll get to too, and I don't mean to jump the gun here, but I'm excited

to get into, because I think when we think about saving for college, what did we all do,

immediately thought of younger people?

But there's also those of us getting an education later in life, or going back to school, or

just because you want to take some classes at mid-stater or something like that.

That's another part of this, too, that I don't think we think about, and I know I don't

think about nearly enough, even though I literally am doing it at times, so yeah, it's a great

another part of this.

Yeah, it's a great perspective, because another, and we're going to get into some of the

details of AdVest, but a lot of folks don't realize, because I mean, I think most people

these days probably have student loans of some kind, or AdVest accounts are super flexible,

so even if let's say you don't use your entire account balance to pay off, or on your

student loans, or whatever, I'm rambling now, but so it's a cool thing where it's not

locked in at a young age.

You don't have to start this if you're a child, that's a baby, or something.

If you open account for yourself, and you have student loans, you can use the benefits

of the account, and save some money while you're paying off those loans, too.

Can we, I think, a good place maybe to start is right where you're touching on there,

the Wisconsin AdVest, what that is.

Thank you.

Yeah, so yeah, for folks who aren't aware, AdVest, or you know, AdVest 529, College Savings

Plans, essentially it's just, it's a college savings plan that was created by the State

of Wisconsin, by the State of Wisconsin, it's administered by the State, and it's actually

managed by TIAA CREF, so I don't know if you know, people might have heard of that, but

it's a tuition financing company, they've been around for over a hundred years.

But I mean to answer your question of what, what is a 529 College Savings account or plan?

It's a direct, sold college savings plan, that means it's sold to you directly by the

State of Wisconsin, there's not a middleman or a financial advisor, you know, that's managing

that for you and taking a card or charging fees for things along the way.

So that's one of the biggest benefits of it, is you're not paying a bunch of extra fees

and things, you're just, you're investing straight through the state.

This doesn't come with any, you know, finger pointing or anything to it, but this feels

like one of those ones shouldn't be really common knowledge, like this program, this exists,

that this is a round that our state has created something like this one, a credit to the

State, a credit to this happening and existing, but in this day and age, especially in 2025,

this is necessary, it's an important part of, we want more and more kids going to school,

we want more and more kids educated, there is no downside to kids having more education.

But the downside happens is when the debt comes in, or when you're, you have something

you're really good at maybe, but you can't make a career out of it because you're worried

about your student debt.

And so you're, you know, you're changing, shifting your major and you're going into something

else because you think you can make money out of there or something.

More times than not, that does not work out for individuals, that doesn't always happen

that way.

Industries change, the times change and stuff, and you went to school for this and all

of a sudden by the time you graduate, it's not even a thing anymore or something.

The idea of being able to follow your passions and what your gut is telling you, your instincts

are, this program I think carries on with, carries this with it.

I think that people are more likely to be able to do that with this program.

And although I haven't done a whole lot of digging on it, the bit that I could this

morning, we're seeing the dividends of that.

We're seeing industries that may not have had a lot of people in it because, oh, I don't

know that I can make a ton of money nursing, but now we're seeing more nurses.

We're seeing more of that industry for, wasn't that long ago, and still an industry that

we can use more nurses in.

We can use more nurses certainly, but that has gotten a lot better in part because of programs

like this.

Well, and to your point, too, I mean, obviously college has gotten very cost prohibitive

over the years, but it's also become required for, you know, a basic degree or a two-year

end.

You mean, some basic level of higher education has been, is essentially required for almost,

you know, every job you're looking at, apart from very entry-level stuff.

So, yeah, at the same time with it being so expensive, it's tough to reconcile that, especially

if you're coming from a family or, you know, a background that doesn't have the means,

you know, to save a ton or doesn't have the financial knowledge to invest in, you know,

all the right places at the right times.

So, and the research shows it's not even necessary.

You don't have to have college paid for by the time you're going.

Even having less than $500 a little bit is hugely significant in the chances that a child

is going to pursue higher education.

One thing that came across in your notes and in the article that I was reading about

this is that fine point you make right there about the amount you're saving and putting

away, whether it's $500, $5, it adds up.

It really does make a difference.

I think that's really helpful for families to hear.

You may think, well, $5 isn't going to go anywhere, $5 is going to help.

With the program like this, it sure does, and it really can make a difference.

And not every family certainly, and I don't make light of that at all, I come from a family

like this.

But, you know, families, a lot of families can afford $5.

Certainly can afford $100 or $50, but a lot of families can do that $5, and that is

an investment.

Now, there's a lot of names for this program, they all are at, they all fit.

But I do think one thing to keep in mind, much like Wiberring, I've brought up with you

many times over in your old job, when you are making a donation, that's an investment.

This is an investment.

This is, you know, there's a lot of different names you can give it, but at the end of

the day, this is an investment in your child or your future.

Your future self will be thankful for it, your future happiness, mental health, all those

things, along with, of course, your economic place in this world and everything.

There's a lot of advantages to it, and it really doesn't have to start with a $500 bill.

It can start with a $5, it can start really small.

Exactly, and if you're telling me $5 doesn't, I mean, why am I making coffee at home?

Right.

It's a great, great, great, great, one other thing that I wanted to bring up, and you bring

up, I'm sorry, Ben, and the notes here that you sent over, there's never a bad time

to jump in on this.

I think like we do as parents, every good parent I know beats themself up, and I wish

they didn't, but we all do it, you know, we don't focus on the positive things we do.

It's, we, oh, I got late on this.

I should have been saving for my kid, college fund when they were in first grade.

A lot, you're not alone.

A lot of parents have done it that way, where you may have jumped in on this, quote, unquote

late.

There's never, if there's never a bad time to do this, then there's never a late time

to do this.

Exactly.

And just so people don't feel like they're the only one, and that's, I mean, the majority

of people don't start saving.

Absolutely.

I mean, even looking at folks who have an invest account, who are investing, most of them

don't even start until, you know, age three, you know, when that kid is starting to

go into, you know, pre-K, or 4K, you know, they start to think, oh, my goodness, you

know, education becomes something that's on the forefront.

And so that's when they start thinking about, you know, later on, because there's so much

going on when a baby's born, it's like, you know, that's the last thing on your mind,

right?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And then you think you know how to change a diaper, and then you're, it's, it's go time.

And you're, it's, you know, the baby's moving, and yeah, yeah, that's just that, yeah,

me too, man, I had flashbacks right away to it.

So it's just that load, let alone all the other things.

Now while there is any time is a good time to start saving, this month in particular is

a really, really good time for families out there to open an account and do this, because

they've got a nice deal going on with this right now.

Exactly.

Just as an extra incentive is a way to really make sure people are aware of, of this amazing

opportunity, safe for education, they invest, does have a $50 bonus that you can qualify

for.

So if you open a new, invest account between Monday, September 8th and September 26th.

So you get a few weeks, you open account within that time frame, and you have to use a promo

code CSM25, but you make an initial deposit of 50 bucks.

And then if you set up recurring contributions of $30 or more for six consecutive months,

then you can get, you'll get that $50 bonus in April, you know, that six months out.

Mm-hmm.

Thanks for letting us know about that, Ben.

And I will give you the website and go to and more information before we wrap up today

with Ben, who we're speaking with from, of course, our friends at UW Madison Division

of Extension Wood County, Ben, just a couple of other things I wanted to touch on, we're

kind of talking about this already with the idea of that no, it doesn't, you know, necessarily

matter how much the amount you're saving, and the positives to that and the impact that

can make.

But there's other ends of that too, and even with this program in general, and it's something

I was touching on earlier, the, you know, savings for post-secondary education.

For those that may not be clear about what a post-secondary education is, just touching

on that a little bit, and how this can benefit it.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, I mean, that's one of the beauties, too, of, of, and best accounts is how flexible

they are.

So, they can be used for a ton of different things, so like, is it post-secondary education?

What is that?

So, if it's a four-year college, if it's a two-year, if it's a sort of, some sort of degree

or a certificate or some kind of educational training, that, those qualify among a bunch

of other things involved in that higher education.

So, not only tuition, but I mean, room and board, those kind of related expenses, fees,

books, supplies, computers, anything that really that is a direct cost or expense of that

education.

I couldn't get over that list, you're not, he bends I can't, I mean, literally anything

you could think of involving education.

Yeah, and I think that's, that's a really nice thing to it.

And let's say you, you know, do your due diligence and you're, you're saving for your

child or maybe it's your grandchild, your niece and nephew, whoever it is, that's the

beneficiary of the count.

And they're an amazing student, they get scholarships, right?

And then they don't actually need this money.

Well, it can still be used, you can still get all the benefits, it can be rolled over

into, you know, IRA accounts.

And otherwise, I mean, it can be transferred to another individual, there's a tons of ways

that you can still capitalize on, on the money that's been invested, that's been, you

know, saved and take advantage of the other, like the tax savings and things.

I've got nephews, I've got, you know, my own kids that are, are a little older and out

of school, but maybe want to go back and get some education, especially my son, he loves

doing those things.

But I've got, you know, grand kid, I got a grand kid and I might have more and stuff.

And when I think about this is going to pop up in my head right away, I, I cannot stress

enough how important this program can be for people and how what a game changer it can

be for families.

I think it's really cool to hear about and to talk about and I encourage others to spread

the word about it.

And certainly if you want to know more about this, you can reach out to Ben, I encourage

you to do that.

Ben, is that a good way to find out more about this program and get a hold of you?

Absolutely, please do.

Yeah, feel free to, you know, give me a call over at UW Extension, send me an email at

ben.everline.

I'm not going to have a spelling test on ben.everline at whisk.edu and you can get my information

also, you know, from James here, so yeah, definitely reach out to me anytime if you need

to.

You can also go to you do extension dot whisk dot edu.

You'll find Ben and the great team over there, UW, all over there in their comment, public

or the people sections, you know, I'm rambling, you can get on over to extension dot whisk

dot edu to find out more about that.

I just got it really excited about this program, I have to be really honest, edvest.com is

where you can find out more about that great program as well, edvest.com, I encourage you

to do that and really appreciate you covering this topic today, Ben.

Great stuff.

Thanks for having spread the word.

I appreciate you, we'll talk soon.

And say hi to everybody over at UW for me, say hi to everybody over there.

We will thank you for joining us, of course, and appreciate you being here for another

edition of WFHR's Rapids Report, proud to brought you back, Crockett Septim.