Oh right….the contributions you make to tax deferred accounts are added back in as income…so putting $6000 in an IRA isn’t going to make a difference in your income.
If this is coming out of a bank account…$6000 for FAFSA purposes would be about $336 less family contribution when assets are assessed at 5.6%.
So…really…only do this for your own retirement purposes…not for financial aid purposes.
And again…consider all the other “moving parts” in terms of financial aid.