[Farm93]

So if someone's child is excited to go to Stanford and they're making $150k, do you s'pose there are games folks play to hide income?  I would be shocked, actually, if there weren't.  And what are "typical assets"?  I would think this catagory works against parents from California and other states with greatly appreciated housing prices.

They would be preparing to hide income and assets anyway since they likely would want to get financial aid if their child attended other schools.  If I had a family friend at $145K with a child lucky enough to get into Stanford I would tell them to put every possible dollar into 401(k)s, IRAs, and anything else that could get their official income well below that $125,000 level.

Lots of games one can play.  And I am sure lots of people with real annual income well above $150,000 can play games to bring their official income down to $125,000 for three or four years.

[Farm93]

So if someone's child is excited to go to Stanford and they're making $150k, do you s'pose there are games folks play to hide income?  I would be shocked, actually, if there weren't.  And what are "typical assets"?  I would think this catagory works against parents from California and other states with greatly appreciated housing prices.

They would be preparing to hide income and assets anyway since they likely would want to get financial aid if their child attended other schools.  If I had a family friend at $145K with a child lucky enough to get into Stanford I would tell them to put every possible dollar into 401(k)s, IRAs, and anything else that could get their official income well below that $125,000 level.

Lots of games one can play.  And I am sure lots of people with real annual income well above $150,000 can play games to bring their official income down to $125,000 for three or four years.