Jodi Okun is the founder and president of College Financial Aid Advisors, which privately helps families with the financial aid process – from the beginning to the end. “I help them with all the financial aid questions they possibly can have,” said Okun.

Also, Okun is on Twitter and runs a Thursday night hashtag chat called, College Cash. A hashtag chat is:

* Located on Twitter

* Used to break conversations into mini conversations

* Hashtag is the number sign (#) in front of words

* Guests are invited to a formal chat to see the conversation that features a supplied topic and questions

* Students, parents, industry professionals, colleges, and others participate and give their opinions and advice

To participate in Twitter chats, you need to have a Twitter account. Try to use your first and last name for your username. Also, try to use that same username for other social sites, so people can find you.

Joining a Conversation

Conversations can be random or at schedules times. To join Okun’s hashtag chat or other ones, you need to:

* Have a Twitter account.

* Go to Twitter and sign in.

* In the white box in the right corner next to where it says “Tweet,” type #collegecash.

* Press Enter.

Then you will be able to see everyone’s comments. You can reply by pressing the arrow, agree with comments by re-tweeting or pressing the square with arrows, and click the star button to mark something as a favorite.

You can also tweet to ask questions or post your own comments. In the top, right of Twitter, you can enter text in the tweet box. Make sure to always include the hashtag after your posting. For example, I need money for college#collegecash. You need to include that hashtag to participate in a specific conversation.

Hosts tend to check their chats regularly to read and respond to posts.

Topics and Guests

Each week, Okun’s hashtag chat focuses on different topics and guests. Every Monday, she posts who will be the guest for Thursday’s show. Then she promotes and advertises the upcoming show to invite guests to propose questions.

“Everyone on Twitter is so nice, too. So you can expect that if you do show up and you are sort of not knowing…there’s always someone to help you along,” said Okun. “So join in. It’s fun!”

College Money Talk

Parents should have the college money talk with their children who are in high school and getting ready to apply for college. Parents should discuss:

* What they have saved

* What they have in their 529

* What they have to spend

“I know it is a really hard conversation,” said Okun. “I’m all about the money talk.”

Having that conversation puts the high schoolers in a good place for life after college because they will need to be fiscally responsible for:

* Rent

* Utilities

* Groceries

Net vs. Actual Costs

The Cost of Attendance at colleges include:

* Tuition

* Room

* Board

* Fees

* Books

* Supplies

* Transportation

* Personal expenses

The net costs only include tuition, room, and board. Then you have the additional costs listed above to identify the actual costs.

“Finding a college that is within your budget…needs to be a fiscal fit,” said Okun.

However, some colleges offer scholarships or discounts to help bring down the net costs. This typically happens when students have:

* Good grades

* Good test scores

* Likelihood of financial aid eligibility

“I think it is important for families not to rule out colleges because they think they won’t qualify,” said Okun.

Money Talk Rules

Parents should establish rules with their college-bound children:

* Apply wherever they want, but that does not mean they will be able to go – dep...