If we have college savings for child 1 who is currently in college, is it better to move it from a regular parent savings account to a 529 in order for it not to be counted against child 2? Or does it not matter? Thanks.
A 529 is generally the parent’s asset anyway.
Thanks - is this true in all cases? And does this mean it doesn’t matter at all whether the money sits in a savings account or a 529? Thanks.
If it’s the grandparent’s account instead then it’s not the parent’s asset but that means withdrawals are reportable as untaxed income.
@ReadyToRoll Isn’t this your last child to go to college (of four?)? What did you do about those 529 accounts for the others?
529 accounts in the the names of parent or kids are treated as parent assets. All of them.
If the accounts are in the names of folks other than parents or siblings, they are not assets on the fafsa.
@thumper1 - we don’t use 529s. I asked this question for a friend. But really, does it matter what I did or why I asked, or were you just curious? 
I had read that on certain CSS profiles, the 529 was counted as a kid’s asset, so I was wondering about that when I started researching this for said friend.
529 accounts are assessed at the parent rate. If siblings have 529 accounts those are assets for another sibling.
It can get confusing when you ask a question for a friend but don’t identify it as such, although your question was “if we…” so could sound hypothetical.