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Seriously…which schools’ NPCs did you run??
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WPI and Bucknell were two of them. Thee NPCs indicated need based grants in the $12-20k range TODAY with a $200k income and adding 8 years to our family ages.
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And were you including your annual retirement contributions of $60k in those NPC calculations??
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No. 1) It doesn’t count before junior year of high school. I expect to be a “broke millionaire” by then. 2) The majority of it is Roth anyway.
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Did you include your home equity?
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Yes
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And did you indicate one child or two children in college when you ran those NPCs?
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One child in college with a younger sibling in high school. My kids will not overlap.
“I expect to be a “broke millionaire” by then.”
I can’t tell if this is a joke or
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And were you including your annual retirement contributions of $60k in those NPC calculations??
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No. 1) It doesn’t count before junior year of high school. I expect to be a “broke millionaire” by then. 2) The majority of it is Roth anyway.
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Not sure what you mean by that. Are you saying that you’re going to stop contributing around junior year and therefore you’d be putting $200k as income and zero for retirement contributions?
What is your meaning of “broke millionaire”? Do you mean that you’re going to downsize your jobs by then and make a lot less money?
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Did you include your home equity?
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Yes
? So with showing $200k of income and a few hundred thousand in equity, you’re expecting aid from those schools?
WPI’s NPC showed that a $200k income with large home equity would get significant GRANTS??? Or is some of that aid loans?
1: State colleges - Colleges aren’t cheap in every state. In state Flagship StateU is already $26k/year at in-state rates. In the neighboring state we could potentially relocate to, Flagship StateU is already $30k/year at in-state rates. I expect these will be more than $50k/year by the time my youngest is attending.
- Why is it morally bankrupt to play the financial aid game? My kids will still be charged far more than most kids will pay based on income. Kids who’s parents will get $100k/year pensions do not get charged more. Why should my kids get charged more because I want to replicate that in retirement accounts? Kids who’s parents bought new Mercedes every other year and are legitimately broke do not get charged more. Why should my kids get charged more because I drove a Toyota?
I seriously doubt that WPI net price calculator showed a net cost of $12k-$20k even now. Sorry…not with a $200,000 income.
Did you put very high stats onnthe NPCs that might have netted some merit aid too? That’s called counting your chickens before they hatch on kids ten years old…and younger.
Are you a business owner? Do you have any depreciation of anything on your tax return?
You would need to quit your $200,000 a year job TWO YEARS before your kid enrolled in college…to have $0 income. And you would,have to use your savings to pay your expenses those two years.
Otherwise…you are not going to be a “broke millionaire”.
What is your real hunt? Everyone wants to save money on college,costs. Most folks who earn $200,000 a year recognize that they will be paying some of those costs. You don’t seem to want to believe that.
Oh…and for the record…WPI does NOT guarantee to meet full need.
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State colleges - Colleges aren’t cheap in every state. In state Flagship StateU is already $26k/year at in-state rates. In the neighboring state we could potentially relocate to, Flagship StateU is already $30k/year at in-state rates. I expect these will be more than $50k/year by the time my youngest is attending.
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It sounds like you can afford $50k per year. So, what’s the problem?
Your kids are young. Move to Florida where there is bright Futures now. Of course…who knows if it will be there in 7-10 years.
Good FL colleges…and with Bright Futures…price would,be modest.
Or send your kids to community college for two years to save money.
When I say broke, I mean all wealth but except for home equity (2000sqft 4br 2.5ba 1969 house) is in retirement accounts (401k, IRA, HSA).
Yes. WPI’s NPC showed significant GRANTS with that income and home equity! The list price costs for a freshman are $65k/year. 2% of students did not receive any grants or scholarships. The other 98% got an average of over $20k in aid.
Lots of people are telling me that it doesn’t work this way, but everything I have read and all the calculators I have tried show this is how it works. I’m expecting that by the time my kids attend the only people to be paying list price are those who have saved/inherited/had a lotto win, or those with VERY high income. College has become an income/wealth tax. The list price has no bearing on the real world.
I’m looking for actual examples of schools that increase EFC based on retirement accounts.
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I seriously doubt that WPI net price calculator showed a net cost of $12k-$20k even now. Sorry…not with a $200,000 income.
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No, they didn’t. I said “The NPCs indicated need based grants in the $12-20k range”
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Did you put very high stats on the NPCs that might have netted some merit aid too?
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No. That was just need based grants.
Once more. The schools are NOT going to increase your family contribution based on your retirement accounts.
BUT if you continue to work…and have $200,000 in income…you will see about $50,000 a year in your family contribution…at least.
But really…this is all GUESSING for kids who,won’t be in college for,at least seven years.
Could someone runs the WPI NPC with $200,000 in income, and one kid in college…and see what they get?
So…we are right…your balance would be about $50,000.
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What is your real hunt? Everyone wants to save money on college,costs. Most folks who earn $200,000 a year recognize that they will be paying some of those costs. You don’t seem to want to believe that.
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I believe $450k for two kids to attend college is my fair share. I see no reason to pay > $1M for them to receive the same education.
OP- good luck. Hope this works for you. But just a Q- what could you possibly spend your money on which would be more important than your kids education (beyond food, shelter, health care, charitable donations to important causes that you care about?)
I know a few folks like you in real life-- they say things like “I’m saving money so I can help my grandchildren with their college expenses”. I say, “you don’t have any grandchildren now- but you have actual children who are right here. why not help the kids you’re raising now and worry about the next generation down the road?” but they hate that answer. Or they want their kids to take out loans (despite being able to afford tuition out of pocket) because their kids need to have “skin in the game” and then they can buy their kids a house with the money they’ve saved. I’ll say, “hey, most folks get a mortgage when they buy a house. Why not allow your kids to become adults and apply for a mortgage when the time comes but help them out now by saving them from 10+ years of debt?”
There is clearly a psychological component to wanting to be “broke” on a 200k income. I don’t know what it is, but good luck to you and your kids.
Just looked at WPI’s calculator. They have a number of options for income and those bubbles STOP at 99,999$. There’s simply a category for “above that” that you can check. So there’s a huge amount of ambiguity in whether or not they’d actually award such a large grant to a family with more than double that in income.
Then send them to less expensive colleges…or hope that they have the high stats that will garner them significant merit aid.
Right now…today…your net cost at WPI is about 20% of,the cost of attendance. Right? $12,000/$60,000 or so.
Think of it this way…WPI does NOT meet full need. If their cost of attendance goes up,to $100,000 a year…and they give you 20%, your balance per year will be $80,000.
The school does NOT meet full need for,all. There is no reason to believe that the %age of need based aid awarded will increase.
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So…we are right…your balance would be about $50,000.
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Which is what I expect to pay if I put all of my assets in retirement accounts…
However I was told that net price calculators are not accurate if I have significant retirement assets. I’d like some evidence the NPC is actually wrong in my planned situation.
Call the WPI financial aid office and tell them you plan to have over 1mil put away, and a $200k income, and $400k home equity, but that you want some of THEIR money. See what they say. They’ll tell you if the NPC is accurate.
Your retirement account balance won’t matter…unless things change.
BUT…what makes you think that a school,like WPI will give you a higher %age of need based aid…when then school does NOT meet full need?
Some schools will look at your retirement account balances and if they are very disportionate to your income, they will wonder how,that happened…and will ask for documentation.
Courtney broke the internet today. Thanks for the laugh, CT! 