maggiedog

Mathmom,

Thanks so much - very helpful advice.

cptofthehouse

I absolutely agree that 401K/IRA money should be taken into account when there is a huge amount in there. It's just a matter of at what point it starts to count, and colleges have been mum on that.

My son's girlfriend's mother has a relatively large IRA due to the fact that she is a widow of a relatively well to do man. The girl's father died some years ago--he was older, and the retirement accounts went to the spouse. They live modestly, and the money is there for retirement. Who is to decide how much is excess in such a case? Both daughters went to state schools so the amounts were never an issue, and I don't know if they even got aid, but the mother certainly does not make enough to send them to a private school without tapping the retirement fund or with financial aid.

thumper1

There really is no clear evidence that colleges tap retirement accounts. Check the net price calculators. I have not heard of one that asks for balances in retirement accounts.

The speculation is that colleges will scrutinize retirement accounts IF it looks like the family has excessive amounts in retirement relative to actual income... Thus making it appear that this excess money should have been made available for college costs.

Yes BC asks for retirement account balances...but how those are used is not really known.

mathmomvt

It (retirement account totals) is asked for on the Profile. What schools do with the information no one really knows.