I currently fund my 401(k) to the maximum company match level, this costs me around $4,000. I've stopped funding my Roth IRAs. I don't have room in my current budget to fully fund my 401(k) and IRAs, although this may change several years from now when my wife starts working.
Due to successful purchases in my cash stock account, its balance exceeds both my 401(k) and IRAs combined. I have 14 years before my first child reaches college age, but it will take all of these 14 years of selling from the cash account and investing the proceeds in the retirement accounts to substantially lower the cash account balance. As financial aid is blind to retirement accounts, but heavily penalizes cash accounts, I feel like this is what I should do, although it will result in capital gains from the cash account.
One of the things holding me back is I cannot purchase individual stock in my 401(k) account, although I have a nice S&P 500 index fund there. Our family income could conceivably be large in 14 years, eliminating financial aid anyway. Another less likely scenario could be early retirement at that same time, reducing family income. Does it make sense to move funds from this cash account into retirement accounts to save educational expenses? Does it make more sense from a taxing perspective to put the money into retirement accounts?
Due to successful purchases in my cash stock account, its balance exceeds both my 401(k) and IRAs combined. I have 14 years before my first child reaches college age, but it will take all of these 14 years of selling from the cash account and investing the proceeds in the retirement accounts to substantially lower the cash account balance. As financial aid is blind to retirement accounts, but heavily penalizes cash accounts, I feel like this is what I should do, although it will result in capital gains from the cash account.
One of the things holding me back is I cannot purchase individual stock in my 401(k) account, although I have a nice S&P 500 index fund there. Our family income could conceivably be large in 14 years, eliminating financial aid anyway. Another less likely scenario could be early retirement at that same time, reducing family income. Does it make sense to move funds from this cash account into retirement accounts to save educational expenses? Does it make more sense from a taxing perspective to put the money into retirement accounts?