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Funding Education Options
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Family Wealth Management

Funding Education Options

Ashley Ferriello, a Wealth and Fiduciary Advisor, comments on how lifestyle financial planning can support family values through educational funding. She outlines three key strategies—529 plans, irrevocable grantor trusts, and direct tuition payments—all designed to help families invest in education in tax-efficient and flexible ways.

Key Highlights
  • 529 Plans offer tax-free growth on contributions used for qualified education expenses.
  • Irrevocable Grantor Trusts provide investment flexibility and broader use of funds.
  • Direct Tuition Payments to institutions qualify for the unlimited educational gift tax exclusion.
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About the speaker
Ashley Ferriello
Partner, Wealth & Fiduciary Advisor
New York

Ashley is a Partner and Wealth & Fiduciary Advisor at Evercore Wealth Management and a Managing Director at Evercore Trust Company, N.A., serving high-net-worth individuals and families from the Evercore Wealth Management office in New York.

She joined Evercore in 2009 as a fixed income portfolio assistant, providing trading and operational support to the firm’s tax-exempt and taxable fixed income portfolio managers. She was promoted to her current role in 2012. Prior to joining Evercore Wealth Management, she worked in equity research at FBR Capital Markets.

Ashley received her B.A. from the University of Virginia. She holds the Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor designation and has achieved Cannon Financial lnstitute’s Honor Graduate status.

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Belinda Micu
Managing Director, Head of Technology Strategy & Investment Reporting
New York

Belinda is a Managing Director and Head of Technology Strategy & Investment Reporting at Evercore Wealth Management and Evercore Trust Company. She leads platform migration, data strategy, performance reporting and the identification of evaluating technology tools.

Belinda joined Evercore Wealth Management in June, 2025 from Ridgeline, where she worked as the director of consulting. She previously worked at Accusource, as the chief business officer and, earlier, at Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk, where she built and led the analytics team and as a project manager at SS&C Advent.

Belinda earned her Master’s of Liberal Arts from Harvard (general management and a concentration in finance), and her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.

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