Financial advisors who specialize in FAFSA etc?

[Anonymous]

Anybody know a financial advisor who specializes in optimizing parental finances for FAFSA application?

I'm reading the Princeton Review book on paying for college and there are a lot of aspects about how to set things up that I'd really like professional advice on.

[Anonymous]

FAFSA assesses income and assets. Is your income source such that you can make it flexible/significantly reduce for four years? And have enough to live on? If no, a financial advisor win't help you there.

As far as your assets, to shield them from FAFSA, you have to show that they either don't exist or don't belong to you or are otherwise not available to you - e.g. tied up in your retirement funds or spent on an annuity. This is very hard to do without resorting to outright fraud or shooting yourself in the foot somewhere else - e.g. you can buy an annuity, but if you needed it, you'd already bought it.

This question was asked of Mark Kantrowitz, who is an expert on financial aid, and he agreed that in most situations there could only be minor changes on the margins when you try to "structure" your finances. If you are already in a complex situation with trusts, etc, you might have some wiggle room, but if you have a W2 job, a house and some money in the bank, it is what it is. Also, keep in mind that if the school uses CSS profile, it's even harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FAFSA assesses income and assets. Is your income source such that you can make it flexible/significantly reduce for four years? And have enough to live on? If no, a financial advisor win't help you there.

As far as your assets, to shield them from FAFSA, you have to show that they either don't exist or don't belong to you or are otherwise not available to you - e.g. tied up in your retirement funds or spent on an annuity. This is very hard to do without resorting to outright fraud or shooting yourself in the foot somewhere else - e.g. you can buy an annuity, but if you needed it, you'd already bought it.

This question was asked of Mark Kantrowitz, who is an expert on financial aid, and he agreed that in most situations there could only be minor changes on the margins when you try to "structure" your finances. If you are already in a complex situation with trusts, etc, you might have some wiggle room, but if you have a W2 job, a house and some money in the bank, it is what it is. Also, keep in mind that if the school uses CSS profile, it's even harder.

Lol. You could have just said "no".

[Anonymous]

I agree w/ PP that a financial advisor wouldn't really be that helpful.

I have been conscious of our income level and deliberately take less work at times to stay under 150K HHI, but I work several PT jobs.

We also made big purchases that we were planning in the next year or so by Oct to lower our savings. Paid Sep & Dec home tax portions in Sep. Paid full CC balances right before filling out FAFSA. Stuff like that. So, say you are thinking about buying a car in the next year or doing a home renovation, maybe do that now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FAFSA assesses income and assets. Is your income source such that you can make it flexible/significantly reduce for four years? And have enough to live on? If no, a financial advisor win't help you there.

As far as your assets, to shield them from FAFSA, you have to show that they either don't exist or don't belong to you or are otherwise not available to you - e.g. tied up in your retirement funds or spent on an annuity. This is very hard to do without resorting to outright fraud or shooting yourself in the foot somewhere else - e.g. you can buy an annuity, but if you needed it, you'd already bought it.

This question was asked of Mark Kantrowitz, who is an expert on financial aid, and he agreed that in most situations there could only be minor changes on the margins when you try to "structure" your finances. If you are already in a complex situation with trusts, etc, you might have some wiggle room, but if you have a W2 job, a house and some money in the bank, it is what it is. Also, keep in mind that if the school uses CSS profile, it's even harder.

Lol. You could have just said "no".

Are you the OP? "no" to what? PP provided useful information for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FAFSA assesses income and assets. Is your income source such that you can make it flexible/significantly reduce for four years? And have enough to live on? If no, a financial advisor win't help you there.

As far as your assets, to shield them from FAFSA, you have to show that they either don't exist or don't belong to you or are otherwise not available to you - e.g. tied up in your retirement funds or spent on an annuity. This is very hard to do without resorting to outright fraud or shooting yourself in the foot somewhere else - e.g. you can buy an annuity, but if you needed it, you'd already bought it.

This question was asked of Mark Kantrowitz, who is an expert on financial aid, and he agreed that in most situations there could only be minor changes on the margins when you try to "structure" your finances. If you are already in a complex situation with trusts, etc, you might have some wiggle room, but if you have a W2 job, a house and some money in the bank, it is what it is. Also, keep in mind that if the school uses CSS profile, it's even harder.

Lol. You could have just said "no".

NP, but then someone would have pushed. Join paying for College 101 on FB.

Some parents have even tried to give up their teenager for adoption to a close family member. You could try getting a divorce, but that opt out will only last for a couple of years longer.

[Anonymous]

i have wondered the same thing because we are a blended family which complicates matters. My guess is there probably isn’t much of a market for this because people who need financial aid do not want to pay financial advisors. It’s not like you can charge $500 an hour to people who are applying for FAFSA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i have wondered the same thing because we are a blended family which complicates matters. My guess is there probably isn’t much of a market for this because people who need financial aid do not want to pay financial advisors. It’s not like you can charge $500 an hour to people who are applying for FAFSA

True- you only really qualify for Pell Grants if your income is below $50k. The other thing is because FFSA uses prior, prior income, families often don’t think about this until their child’s senior year. Also families would have to make major changes, live that way for two years, and then not know if they are applying for a FAFSA or CSS school. It’s much more cost effective to hire a college advisor who can help you chase merit.

[Anonymous]

OP, just pay your dues like most people. that's the right thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FAFSA assesses income and assets. Is your income source such that you can make it flexible/significantly reduce for four years? And have enough to live on? If no, a financial advisor win't help you there.

As far as your assets, to shield them from FAFSA, you have to show that they either don't exist or don't belong to you or are otherwise not available to you - e.g. tied up in your retirement funds or spent on an annuity. This is very hard to do without resorting to outright fraud or shooting yourself in the foot somewhere else - e.g. you can buy an annuity, but if you needed it, you'd already bought it.

This question was asked of Mark Kantrowitz, who is an expert on financial aid, and he agreed that in most situations there could only be minor changes on the margins when you try to "structure" your finances. If you are already in a complex situation with trusts, etc, you might have some wiggle room, but if you have a W2 job, a house and some money in the bank, it is what it is. Also, keep in mind that if the school uses CSS profile, it's even harder.

Lol. You could have just said "no".

I could, but it wouldn't be true. I actually know financial advisors who'll happily help you to lock up your assets in some financial products that you don't need. And it would reduce your EFC somewhat.

[Anonymous]

I didn't ask "can it be done", I asked for names of people who can advise me what to do. Thanks for answering the question I didn't ask though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree w/ PP that a financial advisor wouldn't really be that helpful.

I have been conscious of our income level and deliberately take less work at times to stay under 150K HHI, but I work several PT jobs.

We also made big purchases that we were planning in the next year or so by Oct to lower our savings. Paid Sep & Dec home tax portions in Sep. Paid full CC balances right before filling out FAFSA. Stuff like that. So, say you are thinking about buying a car in the next year or doing a home renovation, maybe do that now.

PP who posted about financial advisors. What you are saying is absolutely right - by all means, if you have some planned spending, do it before you fill out FAFSA. But FAFSA assesses your assets at about 6%, so in order to save $6K per year, you have to spend $100K. Yes, you are saving $24K, but can you afford to part with $76K more in order to do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't ask "can it be done", I asked for names of people who can advise me what to do. Thanks for answering the question I didn't ask though.

I can tell you what to do. Fill out the form as it reflects your sitation correctly. That's all you have to do. It's not hard.

[Anonymous]

Question for anyone who knows:

If a family of 4 currently has a low income but a large stock portfolio abroad (a family brokerage account, not retirement account, in a parent's name and has been reported to the IRS for years), they're not eligible for aid, right?

This is our situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i have wondered the same thing because we are a blended family which complicates matters. My guess is there probably isn’t much of a market for this because people who need financial aid do not want to pay financial advisors. It’s not like you can charge $500 an hour to people who are applying for FAFSA

I can give you some advice on that.

1. You are better off sticking to schools that use FAFSA only, not CSS. For FAFSA, only your and your legal spouse's incomes/assets count if you fit their definition of custodial parent - the child spends more time with you than the other parent. If your ex is wealthy, this helps.
2. If your child is aiming for top schools, pay a close attention to Princeton and UChicago. Their policies re:blended families are (used to be?) different from the other top schools, and may be more beneficial to you. My kids are both in college now, so I am out of the loop, but do check out those two schools.