Kids are 16 and 13. Both are great students that likely will be eligble for merit scholarships and discounted/even free tuition in our home state of Nevada. BUT - Over the years, my wife and I have been pretty good about stashing education savings money away for our two kids, but in custodial accounts.
Each kid also has an Edu Roth and we also have a small 529. Someone I trusted (a CPA friend) years ago, told me custodials allowed for more freedom in how money was spent. Now, after several lights have gone off for me, I realize that they will both be punished for having significant assets, when applying for any type of federal financial aid.
If I knew then, what I know now, my wife and I would have put more energy into funding our retirement accounts, and not setting aside so much college savings; especially in custodials that have grown significantly more than other savings vehicles.
Our goal has always been for the kids to pursue masters degrees, study beyond undergrad. My hope was always for them to spend light on undergrad and then have money to pay for masters at any school they want. Any input on how I might realign things, in hopes of getting the kids a discount from university (in US) MSRPs? I feel as if we're about to be punished, for doing the right thing (saving, saving, saving).
Can I do something like have the kids use custodial funds to buy real estate that does not bring in a lot of income? As they are kids, I don't know how they would qualify for a mortgage. Could they partner with me and invest in LLCs that have real estate assets?
Thanks for any ideas or direction.