Raising a mini-mogul

Raising a mini-mogul

At age 10, Tarik has been helping his single mom save for his college since he was barely out of kindergarten.

If you're the parent of a 10-year-old, you probably have more questions than answers when it comes to paying for college.

You still have time, but obviously not as much as when your child was younger. If you've been saving, will it be enough? For that matter, what does "enough" even mean? And if you've dropped the savings ball, is there still time to catch up?

No matter your situation, there's no cause for panic. A successful college savings plan doesn't always need an 18-year head start. What you do need, if you have kids who are eight or so years away from starting college, is a moment to pause and evaluate where you are. You may be doing fine, or you may need a midcourse correction. Or, if you've been less than proactive, it may be time to kick your college savings program into gear.

Angela Heath virtually defines proactive. A 49-year-old self-employed gerontologist from Kensington, Md., Heath has been saving for her 10-year-old son Tarik since he was 3. To date, she's accumulated about $20,000 in a mutual fund in her name and roughly $60,000 in equity in rental property in nearby Washington, D.C. She makes monthly $150 contributions to the fund -- and gets Tarik to help out with the rental property....

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