Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

"What you owe" is so completely arbitrary and the process is so opaque that the concept is meaningless. Two people with the same income and assets can end up with wildly different aid offers for reasons that neither party will ever know. If your kid gets a free ride because this year they want female flute players but my kid has to pay full price because they already have enough male Eagle Scouts, does that mean you didn't "pay what you owe" but I did?

You are really stretching it. OP is talking about strategically rearranging or reporting/not reporting her true assets so she can transfer the burden of paying to some other families. It's also know as "gaming" the system. If that doesn't bother you, then you have a deeper issue.

Not PP you replied to, but the point is that you can't really hide your assets.
You can rearrange your assets only on the edges, and it likely won't make much a difference.

I commend OP for confirming this with a financial advisor, because it's better to KNOW, than to read the jealous stupidity and aggression on DCUM. Moreover, OP might indeed fall into the minuscule number of cases where LEGAL re-arrangement might make a difference - and that would be ethically fine. It would be silly not to try. Anyone of you would surely try to minimize college costs if you could legally do so!!!

So stop being so nasty. Good Lord.

Highly unlikely. People like that already have a financial planning team and lawyers working with them for years; they don't need to ask internet advice for an advisor "specializing" in paying for college. This is not how it works, you have to be looking at the whole financial picture long term.

I don’t have a name but I can see why it would be desired. If your child has money in an Utma (college takes 25%) vs. 529 (5%), you might want to talk to someone about moving things around. Custody is another big dollar issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

"What you owe" is so completely arbitrary and the process is so opaque that the concept is meaningless. Two people with the same income and assets can end up with wildly different aid offers for reasons that neither party will ever know. If your kid gets a free ride because this year they want female flute players but my kid has to pay full price because they already have enough male Eagle Scouts, does that mean you didn't "pay what you owe" but I did?

That's not financial aid, that's merit aid. OP is asking about names of advisors that help you manage/hide assets to increase chances of getting financial aid. Fortunately, it's pretty hard to game that system because nearly all schools that would cost more than a family making 100k can afford will ask for more information via the CSS profile (e.g. private schools and out of state publics). Our HHI is 110k for a family of 4 and we have about 150k in 529 plans/brokerages outside our retirement account etc. and were given an expected family contribution of 32k/yr from FAFSA. So we only qualify for a little bit of aid at the most expensive public schools in-state (mainly loans), but might have more if we went to a private or out of state public (though again for most schools this would be loan offerings).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

"What you owe" is so completely arbitrary and the process is so opaque that the concept is meaningless. Two people with the same income and assets can end up with wildly different aid offers for reasons that neither party will ever know. If your kid gets a free ride because this year they want female flute players but my kid has to pay full price because they already have enough male Eagle Scouts, does that mean you didn't "pay what you owe" but I did?

You are really stretching it. OP is talking about strategically rearranging or reporting/not reporting her true assets so she can transfer the burden of paying to some other families. It's also know as "gaming" the system. If that doesn't bother you, then you have a deeper issue.

Not PP you replied to, but the point is that you can't really hide your assets.
You can rearrange your assets only on the edges, and it likely won't make much a difference.

I commend OP for confirming this with a financial advisor, because it's better to KNOW, than to read the jealous stupidity and aggression on DCUM. Moreover, OP might indeed fall into the minuscule number of cases where LEGAL re-arrangement might make a difference - and that would be ethically fine. It would be silly not to try. Anyone of you would surely try to minimize college costs if you could legally do so!!!

So stop being so nasty. Good Lord.

Telling people to play by the rule is nasty?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

"What you owe" is so completely arbitrary and the process is so opaque that the concept is meaningless. Two people with the same income and assets can end up with wildly different aid offers for reasons that neither party will ever know. If your kid gets a free ride because this year they want female flute players but my kid has to pay full price because they already have enough male Eagle Scouts, does that mean you didn't "pay what you owe" but I did?

You seem to be confusing merit aid with financial aid.
There is no section for flute playing on FAFSA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

"What you owe" is so completely arbitrary and the process is so opaque that the concept is meaningless. Two people with the same income and assets can end up with wildly different aid offers for reasons that neither party will ever know. If your kid gets a free ride because this year they want female flute players but my kid has to pay full price because they already have enough male Eagle Scouts, does that mean you didn't "pay what you owe" but I did?

You are really stretching it. OP is talking about strategically rearranging or reporting/not reporting her true assets so she can transfer the burden of paying to some other families. It's also know as "gaming" the system. If that doesn't bother you, then you have a deeper issue.

Not PP you replied to, but the point is that you can't really hide your assets.
You can rearrange your assets only on the edges, and it likely won't make much a difference.

I commend OP for confirming this with a financial advisor, because it's better to KNOW, than to read the jealous stupidity and aggression on DCUM. Moreover, OP might indeed fall into the minuscule number of cases where LEGAL re-arrangement might make a difference - and that would be ethically fine. It would be silly not to try. Anyone of you would surely try to minimize college costs if you could legally do so!!!

So stop being so nasty. Good Lord.

Anonymous wrote: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.

This lays out how the expected family contribution is figured: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/2223EFCFormulaGuide.pdf

Federal aid is restricted to Pell grants which are for very low income and low assets and federal student loans. But the FAFSA also calculates your expected family contribution (EFC) which goes with you to schools as they calculate your financial aid package.
Parental income (based on Prior, prior year--so income 2 years prior) matters most, assets next. Students' income and assets also matter (as does any money in their siblings' names). Some schools also use the CSS profile which can go deeper into your assets including retirement, primary house, income history etc. They then make a determination of aid to 'cover the gap' (if any) between your EFC and the total cost of attendance at the school. Not all schools will cover this gap, and most will include student loans and parent loans as part of 'covering that gap.'

So it's impossible for someone to easily answer if you are 'eligible for aid' without knowing the cost of school you are attending, size of the portfolio, income level etc. Basically the answer is if you really could afford to pay for the school without aid you're not likely to get much or any--except for some loans. And if you really can't afford to pay for the school you still might not get it--except for some loans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

"What you owe" is so completely arbitrary and the process is so opaque that the concept is meaningless. Two people with the same income and assets can end up with wildly different aid offers for reasons that neither party will ever know. If your kid gets a free ride because this year they want female flute players but my kid has to pay full price because they already have enough male Eagle Scouts, does that mean you didn't "pay what you owe" but I did?

You are really stretching it. OP is talking about strategically rearranging or reporting/not reporting her true assets so she can transfer the burden of paying to some other families. It's also know as "gaming" the system. If that doesn't bother you, then you have a deeper issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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'll give you a name: LOSER

DP. Why so aggressive? Are you jealous that OP may be richer than you? It's very hard to lie on these forms. OP just wants to tinker with what they have to see whether there's anything to be done. That's WISE. The opposite of being a loser.

Why do people on this board just assume the FAFSA and CSS can be fooled? That's not really possible, unless you want to open yourself up to dire consequences. Totally not worth it. But it may be worth it to consult with a financial adviser and talk it through.

I suspect PP is a full paying family. Those families end up paying for people like OP who is gaming the system to pay less. School has to bring in money from somewhere/someone, and, often times, the full paying families carry the load.

Are you "gaming the system" when you itemize and take all the legally allowed deductions? Why don't you pay what you owe, deadbeat?

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

"What you owe" is so completely arbitrary and the process is so opaque that the concept is meaningless. Two people with the same income and assets can end up with wildly different aid offers for reasons that neither party will ever know. If your kid gets a free ride because this year they want female flute players but my kid has to pay full price because they already have enough male Eagle Scouts, does that mean you didn't "pay what you owe" but I did?

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

That sure is what it sounds like.

Yeah, OP is willing to spend thousands on a financial advisor but not willing to pay what she owes for her kid's education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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'll give you a name: LOSER

DP. Why so aggressive? Are you jealous that OP may be richer than you? It's very hard to lie on these forms. OP just wants to tinker with what they have to see whether there's anything to be done. That's WISE. The opposite of being a loser.

Why do people on this board just assume the FAFSA and CSS can be fooled? That's not really possible, unless you want to open yourself up to dire consequences. Totally not worth it. But it may be worth it to consult with a financial adviser and talk it through.

I suspect PP is a full paying family. Those families end up paying for people like OP who is gaming the system to pay less. School has to bring in money from somewhere/someone, and, often times, the full paying families carry the load.

Anonymous wrote:

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'll give you a name: LOSER

DP. Why so aggressive? Are you jealous that OP may be richer than you? It's very hard to lie on these forms. OP just wants to tinker with what they have to see whether there's anything to be done. That's WISE. The opposite of being a loser.

Why do people on this board just assume the FAFSA and CSS can be fooled? That's not really possible, unless you want to open yourself up to dire consequences. Totally not worth it. But it may be worth it to consult with a financial adviser and talk it through.

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'll give you a name: LOSER