Gov. Palin Wants You to Save for College

Or so I can assume after receiving the mailing from John Hancock.

It was an interesting mailing, in that it was not personalized (no biggie) but apologized for a previous non-personalized mailing that I received. Specifically:

"You recently completed a questionnaire on our website and requested to receive additional information regarding college savings. Due to a processing error on our end, you received a non-personalized cover letter with a copy of our Promise of Tomorrow Guide. What we intended to send you was a personalized letter that would reflect our regard for you as a valued potential customer."

It then was signed "Sincerely," then the name of the person along with absolutely no way of getting in touch with him/her.

Now the guide they sent, "The Promise of Tomorrow," is pretty good. Nice in that they tell me different things I should be doing to save for college.

The coloring book that came with was okay -- except the map of the US only had states identified that, I assume, are ones where John Hancock does business. AK, CA, HI, MO, TX, WI, NY, DC. Last one isn't a state, but that's okay.

We'll give them a hearty B+ for their materials, but a C+ for customer service. So far.

BTW, 529 Sphere still there for you to check out if you're late in the savings game. Or even if you're early: John Hancock's guide tells me that parents of a middle-schooler still can save $21K by starting with $5K and adding 125 bucks a month. Past performance does not indicate future results....