I retired at 46. At that point my oldest had spent 1.5 years at a public university courtesy of a full ride scholarship and a withdrawal from his 529. I also had a 10th grader and an 8th grader. I had enough in their collective 529/ESAs to cover a total of 4 years of expenses at an average public university, which is what I had promised them. My plan was (and is) to use those funds judiciously, encourage careful planning and consideration of value, and then go back to work if that money ran out. Currently it looks like there will be a modest surplus, which I will turn over to my kids once all of them have graduated from college.
@adkdadto4, retiring and sending three kids to Ivy League schools are both optional. I think the schools' position will be that you chose both of these things, and if that puts you in a tough spot, then you should have planned ahead a little better or worked longer. If you spent all of that money from those high prior-prior AGI years instead of saving it for college, then the schools will probably not feel any compulsion to help you too much.
If you lost your job, especially if it was after you filed for financial aid in any given aid year, then you can ask the aid office(s) to review your changed financial circumstances, and they generally will increase your aid offer for that year. I do not know how it works if your kid commits to attending a school and then you lose your job, say, during the kid's sophomore year; the school may try to help or they may just say tough luck and encourage you to transfer your kid somewhere cheaper. It doesn't sound like you lost or are losing your job, though.
If you can get your prior-prior AGI down to under $50K, then for federal aid purposes the school will ignore assets; yes, this again requires planning ahead. At least some of the Ivy Leagues (and Stanford) make attendance free for families making middle income (I believe Yale is <$100K); these plans may apply to you. I don't know if the Ivy deal uses prior-prior like FAFSA does, or if they're willing to look at your current year situation.