Estimated tax savings: Your lawmakers might give you up to $2,500 in tax-credit cash if you or your child is in college or vocational school and you fixed your income to the right level.

In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz makes the point that too many choices make people do nothing or become dissatisfied with what they have chosen. Government help with higher education falls into “too many choices” and could make you say “Forget about it.”

Don’t kiss your tax benefits goodbye. This article simplifies the choice paradox by first addressing two of the 11 possibilities for education tax benefits and then taking the complexity out of them.

Once you see the rules simplified and the easy methods for planning your income so that you qualify for the tax benefits, you are going to smile. In fact, you may feel like you defeated those lawmakers who tried to paralyze you with choices.

Let’s get to the meat of the matter: will the government put some tax money in your pocket to help with your or your children’s education? Here’s our step-by-step approach. ... Log in to view full article.