1.5mm in unsheltered assets - dq'd for FA?

[Anonymous]

similar assets. no aid for one. about 30k off (both) when second kid enrolled. this is at an extraordinarily well resourced private.

I do think moving from 250k HHI to 150K hhi would make a different. Run the NPC at a school like Princeton to get best case scenario.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, the "gaming" strategies that are legal, are for far more MC people than you--basically timing the purchasing of big ticket items you need and allocating assets in places that are not typically counted in FA. The thing is for the expensive schools, they use the CSS profile--and use it in different ways, so you could do a lot of 'gaming' strategies that don't work anyway too--even if you were less rich than you are. Financial aid is supposed to be for financial need. Also, at most schools loans are the first layer of FA anyway.

If you don't want to spend $$$ on colleges, your options are to go to public in-state or go to a school where your kid receives merit aid--so lower prestige than they could get into. Have your kid rack up AP/IB/DE credits so they can trim a semester or two off of college. Or even CC -> 4 year transfer if you really want to save. There's a lot of good options if saving money is your prime focus.

[Anonymous]

Even at the very richest schools mega-billion endowments, nearly half the students are paying the full price. Those are people with assets, like you.

[Anonymous]

You do not need to pay $90,000 per year. Have your children apply widely so they have financial options. Just because you have the money a $90,000 school doesn’t mean you have to spend that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:your home equity and retirement (which is low) are not counted.

you're on the hook for 90k total for two kids bcs of your assets.

getting income down to 150k will matter a lot. the richest schools will give you something off for second kid.

For the nth time, IT DEPENDS on the school. CSS schools in Jeff Selingo’s “skip” category (see yesterday’s huge thread) do count retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most (or maybe all) colleges have online net price calculators. You could play around with that and see if there are any scenarios where you would get any aid. I doubt there are, but it's worth a few minutes to be sure.

These are not always accurate. My alma mater’s NPC did not ask about retirement savings but the CSS sure as hell did and we had to decline an acceptance. I was told it was our millions in retirement that disqualified us from aid. Should never have donated when I was so young - the school made hundreds of thousands on my tens of thousands in donations and would not even help me out when I was ill and we needed help with tuition. I tell my kids to start 529s before they donate to their alma maters, lest they end up in the same situation as me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have similar non-retirement assets. I tried diff calculators, zero aid even if we quit our jobs altogether.

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of my net worth is in my house and retirement accounts. The assets I report to FAFSA are quite meager. I’m an older parent still working a typical job in the area. Between my income and meager bank accounts, FAFSA tells me to pound sand and take out loans.

Yup. And CSS, used by pricy private schools, is even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:your home equity and retirement (which is low) are not counted.

you're on the hook for 90k total for two kids bcs of your assets.

getting income down to 150k will matter a lot. the richest schools will give you something off for second kid.

For the nth time, IT DEPENDS on the school. CSS schools in Jeff Selingo’s “skip” category (see yesterday’s huge thread) do count retirement.

For T20 wealthy schools, her retirement situation is a benefit for FA. They look at it not to "count" it, but to evaluate it. Many people have lower retirement - like this person - than you'd otherwise guess from assets. It's not unusual. You make 150k for two decades and then your MIL dies - this is the most typical scenario. The very richest colleges get that if you have 2.7 million (your house really doesn't count unless it's many many millions) at age 60 and live in a HCOL area, maybe you can't spend 1 million on college.

In this scenario, having retirement "considered" helps this OP.

I think there's aid to be had for this person at T8 colleges. Like it or not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been looking at how our small business can make some moves this year - buyout equipment leases etc - that could move our income down these years that matter for college FA for two kids.

But there's no shaking that we have 1.5 in stocks. We've maxed out retirement for 30 years, but we've had some stocks in our investment account that really took off in the last couple years so, barring a reversal, it is what it is. Our retirement accounts used to be where the bulk of our savings were, but they're about the same value now - they've been in index funds that did well but not the same crazy run up.

given that, does it even make sense to stress about getting income down? I could get it down from 250 to 150. But if it doesn't matter, I won't do this.

We already used some unsheltered assets to pay off mortgage.

so generally:
1.5mm in stocks
1.2 in retirement
1.2 in house
200k in 529 total

I know it seems like a lot but paying 90k for 8 years also seems like a lot.

This does not seem FA worthy. If you are price-sensitive to 90K for 8 years then you have options. Go to your instate public. Shop for schools with good merit aid. There are schools in the south that have amazing aid for high stats students. Or, just bite the bullet and pay the 90K for 8 years.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand what the problem is. Just pay for whatever college costs after you use up the 200k in 529 funds!

[Anonymous]

people here are not smart with money.

once you're charging 90k, FA is not the world of the working poor. It includes people making up to 300k if they have two kids in college and a few million in net worth. does it sound weird to call it Financial Aid in these scenarios? Sure. But that's not OP's fault.

You should not spend 25% of total assets on college. Don't do that. Either go to state or chase merit or try your hand at the tip top colleges. You'll get some money off at a school like Princeton once second kid enters if you have 200k in income and 1.4 in stocks. I just ran the NPC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:your home equity and retirement (which is low) are not counted.

you're on the hook for 90k total for two kids bcs of your assets.

getting income down to 150k will matter a lot. the richest schools will give you something off for second kid.

1.2 in retirement is low?

[Anonymous]

OP, I am in your boat. You won't get aid so don't spend money down unless you really need to. Save that money for college. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:your home equity and retirement (which is low) are not counted.

you're on the hook for 90k total for two kids bcs of your assets.

getting income down to 150k will matter a lot. the richest schools will give you something off for second kid.

1.2 in retirement is low?

In late 50s? It’s too low to be paying 800k for college