I am saving for kids' college expenses and heard (somewhere?) that one's expected contribution for college will be calculated at 100% of the child's assets and 7% of the parents' assets. (I believe it was a rule-of-thumb estimated from the FAFSA Expected Family Contribution Worksheet.)
But I save tax-free for my child (529 plan), whereas gains I make saving in my name will be taxable.
So from one direction there's an incentive to save in my name (visibility to academic institutions) and from the other there's an incentive to save in my child's name (taxation). This makes me believe there's a "right" mix of these savings: the mix that reduces the assets "visible" to financial aid offices while losing as little as possible to taxation.
How do I figure out this mix? In short, I have X dollars to save for college: assuming the same returns how much should be in my kids' name (untaxed) and how much should be in my name (taxed)?
