If I knew someone legitimate, I would give you their name. Honestly, I would. But the people who my neighbors, friends and co-workers have paid to advise them all seem to trade in questionable strategies. Either they are insurance sales people who-surprise- recommend buying single premium life insurance to shelter assets for financial aid purposes (but they have business cards which state “College Financing Expert”), or they prey on people who can ill afford their fees, only to suggest a bunch of things that don’t apply/are outdated/might have worked in 2007 but won’t now because policies have changed.
I’m not saying insurance is a bad thing. And if you need life insurance, and can afford a single premium policy, there are situations where that might make sense. But asking an insurance sales person for advice on paying for college isn’t exactly getting “Best practices” from a well rounded professional who keeps up with changes to the aid landscape.
If you have a specific question (not sure what your question is now except "what if my kid doesn’t get an athletic scholarship and who can I pay to give me the right answer) we’d all be happy to weigh in.
I don’t pay a CPA to do my taxes. Too many years of catching errors in the returns.
Too many years of having to explain something pretty straightforward to the alleged professional. Cheaper and easier to buy a software package and input the numbers myself. I respect that you have a different view, but the actual financial aid forms are not that complicated.