The time has come around. Your child is a young adult exploring the reaches of sophomore years in high school and has to deal with the incoming pressure of deciding on what to pursue in college. No doubt, it is a daunting task and requires their undivided attention.

As your child prepares for college, there’s much that needs to be done from your end as a parent. This is why college financial planning shouldn’t be delayed a day past your teen starts sophomore year. You want to give your child an education, but you also don’t want to go broke, get bankrupt, or end up in debt.

Tweak your income
If you’re sure that you’re going to reap aid benefits, the try and move it to the present year or as far away from college years as possible. The changes you make a year or two before college starts will severely impact the kind of aid you will get. See this year as the only year left that any income you earn doesn’t directly affect financial aid. Try to schedule any bonuses or extra payments in the last year of high school.

Keep an eye on investments
It’s important to fit in the sale and profit from your investments so that it doesn’t cut out from financial aid.

Take a backseat from giving to charity
We aren’t saying don’t give to charity, of course. A 401K plan seems attractive since it can take some pressure off of the taxes that you’ll have to pay. Funneling more money into a saving account or to charity can make it seem like you’re earning way more than you actually are. This will naturally cut from any aid the college will be willing to offer to you. So what can be done? Well, a simple idea is to stuff all your savings in the sophomore year, rather than any later. As for paying charity, pay it all in one year or a span of few months, and hold back until your child finishes college.

Keeping these tips in mind will ensure that you have a better hold on your finances even if the college education costs you more than you’d expect.