Minimizing college costs
Parents who have minimized college costs - help!
I have 3 kids: 5th grade, 7th, and 10th. And a wife, so a 5 person family. I'm 45, and my wife is 46.
MAGI last year was ~$93k to get fully subsidized ACA insurance. This year ~$82k.
I'm converting traditional IRA to Roth, and I'm using non-refundable tax credits like the child tax credit and the foreign tax credit to make the conversion federal tax free.
My wife and I are FI, and my chill job pays W2 income something like $24k. But of course being FI, we have substantial taxable brokerage accounts, two houses right now, and substantial HSA and retirement accounts. Some custodial accounts for the kids, and some 529s.
The problem: my natural SAI may lead to colleges sucking all my money away for the next 12 years
I think I've learned that it would be very beneficial to get an auto-zero SAI. To do that, starting in 2027 I will need zero capital gains and also AGI less than ~$65k. 2027 because of the FAFSA two year look back.
To get zero capital gains in 2027 while still paying the bills in 2027, I think I will need to sell next year's worth of proceeds from my taxable brokerage in 2026. Then I could keep my 2027 income below $65k and have no capital gains and therefore get auto-zero SAI
Ideally I would somehow have no capital gains for the next ~12 years to get auto-zero through my youngest kid in college. But perhaps a more achievable approach would be to alternate years:
2026 sell extra from taxable brokerage to pay 2027 bills, put in money market
2027 use the money market, do not create any capital gains
2028 sell extra from taxable brokerage to pay 2028 and 2029 bills, put in money market
2027 use the money market, do not create any capital gains
etc
If you have experience, please let me know what you think!