talk about legitimate ways of sheltering money

[lookout123]

It was my money that was saved and earned over the last 18 years, and since it is a big chunk (30k) I want to be sure it is used for her when she is in school for things I think are worthy.

It stopped being your money the moment you "gifted" it into the account. I'm sure your family situation is hunky dory so you don't have to worry about it, but right now you are in violation of the codes surrounding the account. It was her money from the date of deposit, control of the account is hers as of the date of her 18th birthday. Just because you haven't told her about the account doesn't change your requirement to adhere to the guidelines. Your advisor should have adressed the issue already. Just be aware that if she ever finds out it exists she can walk into the advisors office and order the liquidation and there isn't a thing you can do about it.

As far as the rest of the info, I won't give specific recommendations to someone I don't know well enough to take on as a client (liability and all that).

In general, I've seen very few 401K's that were so bad I wouldn't take advantage of them. At worst they'll have some target date funds available.

A SEP is a great start. It may be time to find out if that is all you can do. Are you structured so that a Owner only 401K will work? How about a max funded defined benefit plan? Are you of an appropriate age and tax bracket where a new breed variable annuity would make sense? (if you are literally trying to "shelter" money then this requires serious consideration). Are you best suited for an overfunded Life Insurance plan with tax free income stream? How about muni strips?

These are some ideas to look at, but if you really don't know then you should sit with an advisor/planner and see if they can come up with an improved plan.