Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, for most schools, 225 will get you 0.

Do you mean that it will get you $0 in aid?

Yes, 225 is simply too high. Maybe go for a merit based $ if your kid is high performing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re grinding for savings, your assets might screw you over even if your HHI didn’t.

OP here. Yes, that's what I meant. We're racking up cash to pay for college, but wondering in hindsight if we needed to work so hard to do that or should have maintained and looked for strong aid packages.

Look for merit aid instead of need based aid. All you have to do is go below the top 25.

Run a couple of calculators at schools of interest, make sure to include a couple (Emory is one) that include your full home equity as well as others that include it only over it 2x income. Most also include your 401k assets.
Assuming you own your home and have some retirement savings quitting your job may not make that much of a difference.
My guess is when both kids are in college at the same time you will get some aid but you should expect to pay a significant portion of your kids college costs.

You won't get aid. We applied with a government salary around that and we have several kids and I stay home. We got basically nothing (loans or work study in small amounts). I know there are a couple ivy leagues advertising free under $200K but that just wasn't our experience though things may have changed since four years ago. I'm not sure who in this area does get aid.

The thing to remember about need-based financial aid is that it still will hurt.
So maybe you would get aid at $225K if you had hardly any assets, but you would still be paying a lot. (Maybe something like $70K instead of $90K,).
Its also not guaranteed that you would get any aid.
I think the choice you need to make is whether this job is worth private school or if in-state would be better so you can focus on your family.

Why should you get any financial aid? Seriously.

Anonymous wrote:yes, for most schools, 225 will get you 0.

Do you mean that it will get you $0 in aid?

Anonymous wrote:If you’re grinding for savings, your assets might screw you over even if your HHI didn’t.

OP here. Yes, that's what I meant. We're racking up cash to pay for college, but wondering in hindsight if we needed to work so hard to do that or should have maintained and looked for strong aid packages.

We have less than 100,000 and just received subsidized loans...no other aid.

yes, for most schools, 225 will get you 0.

I have a B student who is a sophomore in college right now. We had saved 200K in 529 and we make 350K.

I was surprised that the mid-tier, non competitive schools she applied to all offered her aid, bringing total costs from roughly 80K to 40-50K. Had she been an A student she would have been offered more.

However, I'm talking about private schools out of the top 100 - really outside of the top 150.

My impression is that there would have been less aide available at more competitive schools (even had she been an A+ student).

It does sound like you're in a grind situation, and that kind of sucks. But I don't think 150K in savings would have been enough. But partially it depends on what kind of private (how competitive to get in) and what kind of student your kids are.

But there's a lot of quality time with kids that happens in high school - is there a middle ground between big law and legal writing? My gut tells me you were right to grind up, but might have gone too far up.

If you’re grinding for savings, your assets might screw you over even if your HHI didn’t.

Anonymous wrote:For those who are currently in the middle of this (kids applying to colleges/ financial aid or with current college students), tell me your thoughts. DH is a gov employee (makes about $175,000), and I started out as a biglaw attorney but then significantly downshifted to a legal writing role for lower pay ($50,000) for many years while my kids were young. I've gone back to biglaw as college comes closer (first kid will go in 2 years) to rack up our savings. If we keep grinding, we could have enough to send both kids to any school they choose. However, I HATE my job, and it costs me quality time with my family. I've begun wondering if we'd stayed in a much lower income bracket ($225,000 combined income vs. $500,000+), if we may have qualified for aid at some of these more expensive private schools that are now offering essentially to give aid up to a family's demonstrated need. Am I wrong in second guessing? Is $225,000 still too much to actually garner any aid? If we'd gone that route, we would have had essentially no savings aside from $150,000 per kid in 529 accounts and our retirement savings. I'm just dreaming of my old job and the better balance it gave me with family and worrying I gave up that life for essentially no benefit.

It depends on your “other” assets. We have a HHI less than half of that $225K and received no financial aid.

Of course you would qualify for more need based aide with $225k household income. But you'd be screwed if your kids weren't able to get into one of the most generous schools, which are also the most selective. You are now in a much better position for the vast majority of schools, that don't give generous need based aid but also don't give enough merit money to be affordable.

Ideally, you'd be saving all the "extra" money from your big law job -- living as though you have the lower paid job -- so you can quit as soon as the 529s are fully funded.

For those who are currently in the middle of this (kids applying to colleges/ financial aid or with current college students), tell me your thoughts. DH is a gov employee (makes about $175,000), and I started out as a biglaw attorney but then significantly downshifted to a legal writing role for lower pay ($50,000) for many years while my kids were young. I've gone back to biglaw as college comes closer (first kid will go in 2 years) to rack up our savings. If we keep grinding, we could have enough to send both kids to any school they choose. However, I HATE my job, and it costs me quality time with my family. I've begun wondering if we'd stayed in a much lower income bracket ($225,000 combined income vs. $500,000+), if we may have qualified for aid at some of these more expensive private schools that are now offering essentially to give aid up to a family's demonstrated need. Am I wrong in second guessing? Is $225,000 still too much to actually garner any aid? If we'd gone that route, we would have had essentially no savings aside from $150,000 per kid in 529 accounts and our retirement savings. I'm just dreaming of my old job and the better balance it gave me with family and worrying I gave up that life for essentially no benefit.