Emergency Fund question

[amcnj]

Both college planning seminars I went to said to get all the money out of the kids names and put it into your own. I ended up opening a TD bank account in my name and putting most of her money into that one-she has the debit card so she can get to it if needed. The only thing I couldn't move was a child performer trust account since that is locked and has to be in her name-but it was always known that the money she earned in there was for college.

Some people are not going to qualify for any aid (other than loans) no matter what. So check out what your expected contribution will be, and you might not need to do any maneuvering as it won't help anyway.

 

[TravelMommy]

Ok, so they don't look at parents retirement accounts, what about the student, would they count the student's Roth IRA "against" them, if you will? was wondering if anyone knew???TIA!

 

[pryncess527]

Ok, so they don't look at parents retirement accounts, what about the student, would they count the student's Roth IRA "against" them, if you will? was wondering if anyone knew???TIA!

It is my understanding that no qualified retirement counts are considered, so your child's Roth IRA will not count against them.

Home equity (in the primary home) is also not considered, so some people use a portion of savings towards their mortgage

 

[tajz90]

Both college planning seminars I went to said to get all the money out of the kids names and put it into your own. I ended up opening a TD bank account in my name and putting most of her money into that one-she has the debit card so she can get to it if needed. The only thing I couldn't move was a child performer trust account since that is locked and has to be in her name-but it was always known that the money she earned in there was for college.

This is true. According to FAFSA, our son had to contribute all of his savings to pay for college. Def hurt him to have money in his name alone.

 

[Sandy61]

My banker told me that a bank box was a great idea to put money while my son was in college.

Yes, they "count" your child's money as able to go toward college more than a parent's money.

We were told by financial person to buy everything you need to buy that year right before you fill out the fafsa...car, furniture, computer. Might as well buy it before and clear out bank account (well, only if you were going to buy it anyway).

The FAFSA is a "snapshot" of that day's money. What you have in savings next week doesn't matter. Just so it is accurate the day you fill out the FAFSA.

 

[jennyerin]

Thank you for all of the replies! So does it make sense to do the FAFSA if a spouse is currently unemployed now? Or does that not figure into it? Or is it based on the previous year's tax return? (I am only just starting to look at the information.) How early can you do it? My son is currently a Junior. Thanks.

 

[pryncess527]

It is an annual filing, Filing this year will apply to the 2014/2015 school year. I believe you can you can fill it out as soon as you have your taxes ready - earlier the better so they sure to fill it out for your son as soon as you have your 2014 tax return ready next winter.