My son is a senior at NYC’s iSchool. My (ex) wife and I would like to send him to college. He has an outside chance of getting a soccer scholarship. If that doesn’t happen, we need a financial advisor to hold our hands, force-feed us valium, and show us the magic box to check on the FAFSA that will make all of our problems disappear. Does anyone know such a person in the NYC area? My son (not to mention us) would greatly appreciate a referral. Thank you.
There is no magic box on the FAFSA to check that will make you more eligible for need based financial aid. That is based on your income and assets.
If you are looking for a financial advisor with this sort of magic wand, I will stick my neck out and say…you aren’t going to find anyone.
If you don’t qualify for need based aid, perhaps your student will qualify for merit aid someplace and that isn’t dependent on family finances.
What is your annual budget? Kid stats? Recruited athlete? Folks here can likely give you ideas.
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There is no magic, my husband is a financial advisor (30+ years), no magic happening here, living in a high COL area, it’s hard to be eligible for FA since salaries are higher.
Doesn’t the state of NY account for the higher salaries by having a higher income threshold (than other states) for need-based pricing? Don’t scholarships like the Excelsior Scholarship help with this by providing substantial discounts for families earning up to $125K/yr?
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I’m not familiar with it since we live 10 miles west of Manhattan in NJ. Many middle class families make $125,000+.
I mentioned SUNY schools and financial aid for SUNYs because the OP’s son is a NYC high school senior. It’s possible the Excelsior may help his family. Especially since they are divorced and only one salary (not their combined salary) would be used for the FAFSA.
Maybe useful, maybe not. Worth a mention anyway.
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With the changes in FAFSA, I believe the parent with the higher income will be considered the primary regardless of who the student spends the most time with.
Exactly the kind of question about which I need guidance. And a million more just like it. Where o where is the wise man/woman who will give it? Who can lead me to his/her door.
Not until the 2023-2024 FAFSA.
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If resources are limited, do you really want to be paying money to someone who will advise you on stuff that is available for free to anyone who reads English and has an internet connection? Wouldn’t you rather maximize the cash available to pay for college?
There are no “secrets”. There are relatively straightforward rules regarding need based aid, and forms to fill out which could be time-consuming if your finances are complex, but are not rocket science to understand.
There is need based aid (mostly your income and assets) and merit aid (given out with no regard to your ability to pay) and merit aid which is more generous if you also have need. There are loans.
There is no financial aid fairy, and the kind of advice the paid gurus give is either shady in terms of ethics/legality (transfer some assets to your adult siblings- they transfer them back to you during your kid’s senior year of college so it won’t “count against you”), or easy to find on your own with Google.
The “next step” for all of you is a sit down (virtual, if you cannot stand to be in the same room) to figure out how much money is actually available to pay for your son’s education. All the advise in the world isn’t going to help if you don’t have an accurate picture of what you can pay.
We can help you after that.
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Absolutely. I want to hand over money to an advisor. I could probably learn how to do my own taxes but I don’t. I pay a CPA. Just like I want to pay a professional about this question. Does anyone have a name, not an off topic remark?
As Joe Biden once said, “I can’t believe that I have to say this.” Not, I’m not telling anyone not to inject themselves with bleach. I am saying that I know there is no “magic box.” That is a metaphor. (As is the valium.) I would have thought that was obvious.
If it’s one thing that I’ve learned from reading this board about athletic scholarships, it’s that I don’t have a prayer of keeping up with you SuperParents. I don’t have the intelligence, the drive, or the street smarts. That’s why I want some help. And I’m willing to pay a fair price for that help.
I think it unlikely that folks who post on this board and know their stuff will provide you with a reference to a “professional” who will take your money to advise you on financing a child’s college education. You will probably get much better results asking your CPA for a reference.
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I think it’s unlikely you will find anyone who can give you a magic way to “tweak” the financial aid forms so that your student can get more need based aid.
Is this what you are looking for?
Oh I know (I have freshman twins in college, so don’t get hit with the changes yet, I’ll only have 2 in college at that point so probably qualify even without the changes). I just think that if one is counting on need based aid it’s important to look at every year.
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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.
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I asked my CPA. He didn’t know anybody. Is there another board that would be more helpful?
The best financial aid comes from the colleges themselves. So a college admissions advisor who can help your son craft a list that will come in at the family budget given your financials and that he is likely to be accepted into is probably what you need.
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Google “College Financial advising” or something similar and see what comes up.
If you didn’t save dollars via a 529 or similar savings plan, I don’t see how, this late in the game, you are going to find funds other than loans for the expensive schools.
Is there a reason your son isn’t targeting his in-state options? That’s what thousands of families do to get the best deal for their money.
Athletic scholarships are very hard to come by, especially in the popular kids sports. My daughter was offered a scholarship in tennis, but in her senior year, she had an injury not related to her sport. She didn’t want to reinjure the area, and she couldn’t guarantee, to the coach, that it wouldn’t affect her play, so she had to decline the scholarship.
I worked with students, at my high school who were need-based students, given my ability to speak Spanish with parents. Even they had a hard time finding funding for 4 years at some of the pricier schools.
Set your budget and work on some of the schools NPC websites. See how much you may have to shell out of pocket. You’re going to have to do a little leg work or pay $400-$600 per hour to have someone do the same thing online for you.
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