Some jobs allows you to defer compensation such that a portion income goes pre-tax into employer sponsored plans. Those plans distribute funds at a pre-determined schedule that one cannot control after inception, say in equal installments over 15 years for which one pays regular income tax (per W-2), or the assets automatically convert into an annuity after retirement age.
Assuming one already receives some distributions at the time the college aged children file for FASFA or CSS, how do those assets enter the equation? I suppose distributions count just like income? What about the net value of those plans, are those treated like cash assets or shielded like actual 401k plans?