10 Tips to Get The Most Financial Aid From Colleges

HomeFinanceFinancial aid10 Tips to Get The Most Financial Aid From CollegesThis page may contain affiliate links.Oct 15, 2019If youre a parent of a high school student,make a resolution to gain a better understanding of how colleges determine their financial aid packages. Unlike what a typical financial aid information evening at your child’s high school may lead you to believe, there are a lot more complexities that go on behind that financial aid package offer. Don’t Wait Till Senior Year Of High School – Sophomore Year is More Important It will be to your advantage to structure your finances as early as your child’s fall semester in their sophomore year to set up the best possible financial package. Parents of college-bound students need to understand that tax years and school years do not match up. FAFSA forms use information from a family’s taxes from two years prior to when a student will be entering college. For example – a high school senior, entering college in the Fall of 2019, will fill out the 2019–2020 FAFSA and report income from tax year 2017. For parents with high school sophomores and juniors, you need to understand that any financial decision you make in the tax year that ends in Decemberof your childs junior year, will have an impact on your position for getting the best possible financial aid package when your child is a college freshman. And this thinking goes on not just for the first year, but for the next four years from junior year in high school to the tax year ending when they are a sophomore in college. With the right guidance and some end-of-the-year tax strategies, you can come away with the lowest possible Estimated Family Contribution number, or EFC, when you and your child sit down in early Octoberand complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, or FAFSA. Families with the lowest incomes may have an EFC of 0 – meaning no ability to pay for college and the wealthiest families may have an EFC above $100,000. There are financial aid strategies for both these scenarios, and everyone in between â€Å"if you know how to play the game. [Check out this EFC chart to get an estimate of what your EFC could be, based in your AGI.] How Is Your EFC Determined? A completed FAFSA form will calculate your EFC (expected family contribution) number. This number determines if – and how much you qualify for need-based financial aid. While many families complete the FAFSA on their own in a little over an hour, it might be worth a consultation this time of year with a financial planner, who specializes in educational funding, to figure out which assets to liquidate or which funds to transfer for tax purposes to leverage the best EFC outcome. The Federal Method EFC Calculation takes into consideration four main areas: Parent Income Parent Assets (this does not include retirement funds, home equity, or small (Family) businesses with under 100 employees) Student Income Student Assets What most families don’t understand is that an EFC is actually four different calculations. There is a lot that you can do to determine the outcome of filling out your FAFSA. This includes how you structure your assets before filing your taxes. Understanding how FAFSA calculates your EFC is key. 10 Strategies For Getting The Most Financial Aid Once you have a better understanding of the FAFSA calculation, you may think twice about how to approach your savings, assets, and income, especially before the end of the tax year of your child’s first semester of junior year in high school. Below are 10 strategies that could have a significant impact on need-based aid eligibility. These suggested strategies are meant to increase your awareness of different steps families can take to minimize their EFC, thereby increasing their eligibility for financial aid. Since each family’s situation is unique, some or all of these strategies may not apply. Each family’s EFC will differbased upon the four buckets discussed above (parent assets and income, student assets and income). In addition, depending upon the total cost of attendance for each school and your EFC, your college funding strategy will vary based on these two factors. Minimize capital gains. Any capital gains realized from January of junior year and throughout your child’s sophomore year in college will be treated as income in your FAFSA calculation. If possible, offset any capital gains with losses to afford increasing your AGI. Do not withdraw money from an IRA or 401k, as distributions count as taxable income within the financial aid calculation, reducing next years financial aid eligibility. If you must use money from your retirement funds, borrow the money from the retirement fund instead of getting a distribution. (Different circumstances apply to Roth IRAs.) Maximize contributions to your retirement fund BEFORE the tax year ending December of your students 10th grade. Retirement savings and 401k accounts are shielded from the FAFSA formula. But retirement contributions made during the years applying for financial aid are considered income within the financial aid calculation. So max out on saving for retirement before your kids get to December of their sophomore year in high school! Save money in the parents name, not the childs nameor move money in the students name to the parents before the second semester of junior year of high school. FAFSA assesses parent’s assets at 5.64% vs. 20% for assets in the student’s name. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Get Organized! Download Our Financial Aid Timeline * indicates required Email Address * First Name * Last Name * Compare your cost of money and evaluate if you have consumer debt (such as credit cards, auto loan balances or a mortgage) that you should consider paying off. The FAFSA does not account for debt, so if you have savings and any outstanding debt, you might be better off using that money to reduce your debt load, rather than have it incorporated into your EFC. Remember, compare your cost of money – how much are you earning on your money (in a savings account or investment) compared to how much interest you are being charged on your current debt vs. how much interest you may be charged on a student loan. Put savings in a 529 college savings plan (or Coverdell savings accounts). Max out your contributions each year. All immediate family 529 plans are considered parental assets, assessed at the maximum rate of 5.64% and distributions have no impact on financial aid eligibility. Spend down the students assets and income first. If you have money in your child’s name that you can’t move away, it’s better to use your student’s assets first to pay for all college expenses. Then in subsequent years, parent assets will be assessed at the lower rate of 5.6% rather than 20%. (If you don’t qualify for any financial aid because your EFC is too high, it may be better to keep the money in your child’s name for tax purposes.) Accelerate necessary expenses, to reduce available cash. For example, if you need a new car or computer, buy it before you file the FAFSA. (If you won’t qualify for financial aid because your EFC is too high, this may not apply. If you are considering purchasing a car, compare the cost of the car loan to a Parent PLUS Loan.) Do not withdraw money from an IRA or 401k to pay for school, as distributions count as taxable income within financial aid calculation, reducing next years financial aid eligibility. If you must use money from your retirement funds, borrow the money from the retirement fund instead of getting a distribution. (Different circumstances apply to Roth IRAs.) Consider the implications of how grandparents give money to help pay for college. There are several approaches grandparents can take if they would like to help save and pay for college. The implications depend upon whether the student may be eligible for aid and what schools they choose to apply to. To be on the safe side, it’s best to contribute to a 529 plan that is in the parent’s name. Another option is for grandparents to pay for the last two years of college or help pay off loans after the student has graduated*. Plan to have two or more children in college at the same time.It sounds crazy to want to have two children in college at the same time, but this will greatly increase their financial aid eligibility. Your family is responsible for the total EFC. Most colleges will make allowances, knowing that a family has more than one student in college at the same time. Many will reduce the family total EFC by the number of students in college, so each student has an EFC that is 1/2 (if there are 2 children) of the total amount. With this in mind, if may make sense to have one student wait to have two siblings enrolled at the same time. Your EFC will change each year because in addition to income and assets, it also examines a family’s demographic information, including family size, number of students in college, the age of the oldest parent, family structure (are parents married, separated, or divorced), the family’s tax filing status, and the students enrollment status. Don’t wait till senior year to become informed about the financial aid process. Pay it forward and tell parents of students in 10th grade or younger to get involved and start understanding these calculations, then they will have time to make their own informed decisions.