Understanding FAFSA and How To Qualify For More Financial Aid

[@traciesplace]

This was the BEST explanation on everything that is needed to know broken down with simplicity because many (including myself) do not grasp a lot of financial jargon that many others use that just confuse the everyday individual, so thank you so much for this! 🤗🙌🏽

[@jessicaryan1503]

This is great! I have triplets who are currently sophomores in HS, and both husband and I are self employed small business owners. Lots to learn as we plan for college and this was a great start!

[@deeboling5245]

The best FAFSA video I've seen yet.

[@truthlove1114]

Most informative video I've come across so far and presented in a very understandable way. New subscriber now. Thank you for posting this.

[@stb201]

Excellent, clear advice!!

[@srinivasyarragunta5573]

This is an excellent Video - Very Professional and clear. Simply broken down whole gambit and covered most important points that are applicable common majority of the people. Thank you so much.

[@adonisadonis7823]

best video about fafsa, thank you

[@alphamale2363]

This was quite good. Thanks.

[@kaisersouze41]

Great video!

[@queeniezhang2933]

Good to know!

[@mys8747]

Super helpful!! Thank you for making this video. I hv a grad student filing CSS Profile. Wondering if CSS profile will be treated the same way by private colleges as undergraduate years-do parents asset count just as much for a student no longer being claimed as a dependent??

[@felishabennett1994]

17:30 you mentioned custodial parent. My daughter has lived with my ex husband for the last year. So he is the custodial however we never changed the decree in the courts. So will his income count with his current wife or will it be mine?

[@alexsierra7859]

Thanks for the info!

[@stb201]

What is a better type of retirement account to fund to lower my AGI/income re:Fafsa?

[@neneafricanhairbraiding9277]

Very informative! Thanks

[@hawkeye6272]

If undocumented students’ parents haven’t filed tax return, in FAFSA what should be added for parents income or does the student need to file as an independent?

[@eyesedcheese]

That's my same question :o

[@coolchange1978]

So you dont' pay taxes and still wants free money... smh

[@miriamart9712]

If both your parents work they qualify for an ITIN number which that's the number they would use to file taxes with. This is an FYI for anyone who ever comes to see your comment later on in the future.

[@miriamart9712]

@@coolchange1978 the fact that this person is probably born here and wants to go to college has nothing to do with their parents being undocumented. If you were more informed you would have told this person to advise their parents to get ITIN and file taxes. EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO AN EDUCATION AND IF THERE'S MONEY THERE FOR YOU THEN YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO APPLY FOR IT.

[@coolchange1978]

@@miriamart9712 did you read it clearly says he didn't file taxes so please

[@janelagerquist454]

Thank you! very well explained.

[@musiclover78599]

I just found out today that 2021-2022 our asset filed in FAFSA is $190k. We included our primary home and retirement last year. We paid out of pocket for our son tuition who is freshman in a university. We came from another country so we parents really don’t understand anything about this FAFSA. We were not able to get any financial aid.

[@miriamart9712]

Your primary home should not have been on the FAFSA I wish the college counselor had informed you of it. I know it's been a year since you applied for your son hopefully the next year you'll make the corrections and talk to a financial aid counselor to help you fill out the FAFSA.

[@crazybellagirl1779]

Thank you help me!! I have some questions, my son 11grade, how I need the money in my account bank, for aplicacion financial aid

[@todayu]

Fantastic breakdown

[@Attitude_Dude]

Thank you

[@ZNS0522]

My child is a senior in high school and she has a custodial savings account (as she is under 18 years of age). She has about 8k in that account. What should I do with that money so it does not count against her or myself before I fill out the FAFSA application? I was planning to fill it out this week.

[@bubbles5195]

transfer the money into your own bank account so that only 5% counts for the EFC.

[@hawkeye6272]

Why smaller amount comes under income protection allowance when have more students in college

[@Steve-sm5tq]

You mention in the video that you should increase retirement account contributions as a strategy and stated the benefit to this comes from the 2-year look back period, but I didn't see/hear any details why this is helpful, and I have been previously told by a college financial advisor that increasing retirement contributions is not helpful as it does not reduce the income amount they use/look at for their calculations. Can you explain what you state is the benefit of increasing retirement contributions? Thanks!

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

The strategy of increasing contributions to retirement accounts is a way to reduce "countable assets" but it does not reduce "income". Normally you would think that increasing pre-tax contribution to a 401K would decrease your income but the college advisor is correct that they add back those contributions into your countable income. But it can be used to shelter assets. I'll explain this in an example. You have $100K sitting in a savings account that would be a countable asset for FAFSA. If you have access to a 401K plan, you can put in up to $20,500 / $27,000 per year depending on your age. Even though you can't cut a check to fund your 401K, you can instruct your employer to take a larger deductions out of your paycheck and then live off of the $100K in your savings account to subsidize your income. If you do this over the course of 5 year, you may be able to essentially shift that $100K in your savings account over to your 401(k), and the 401(K) account is not a countable assets for FAFSA. So it's an asset shift strategy not an income protection strategy. (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@ted3610]

Further to my last question, if the Corporate Bank account is the only asset owned by the Corporation must it be reported on the FAFSA, again if there are fewer than 100 employees. thanks for your help

[@doris888]

I had read that there is a recent change in the rule that causes distributions from a grandparent 529 to be treated as income to the student for FAFSA purposes. Is that true? My grandchild's only source of payment for his tuition bill is this grandparent 529. The first distribution has already been taken for his first semester.

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

Under the current and OLD rules, when money is distributed from a grandparent owned 529 accounts it is considered untaxed income of the student which can hurt the EFC calculation but the impact is delay by two years since there is a 2 year look back period for income in a determination year. Under the NEW Rules, which are set to take effect for the 2023-2024 school year, the distributions from grandparent owned 529 accounts will NO LONGER count as untaxed income of the student. Starting in that school year, grandparent owned 529 accounts will no longer have a negative impact on the FAFSA calc. (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@mattstephens8268]

We own one home that we rent out, and our primary residence we do not own, and we pay rent (California real estate). How would this be treated on the FAFSA, and is there any way to treat the one home we own as our primary residence or to not count it as an asset on the FAFSA? Thanks!

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

It would seem that the house that you rent out would be a countable asset as an investment property. For a house to be excluded as your primary residence, it has to be you primary via facts and circumstance. To my knowledge, fafsa does not allow you to assign a “primary”. If you don’t own the house you are renting, that would not be a countable asset. (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@ConseilsDeLion]

Hi thank you for your video, I don’t have parents in the US How much do I have to make in a year to be qualified for financial AID?

[@miriamart9712]

Hi so how did you go about filling out your financial aid with your situation?

[@ted3610]

if you move funds from money market into a corporate account that has less than 100 employees, must you report the funds in the corporate account?

[@againstallodds404]

Thank you for this informative video. Question: I have been divorced for 7 years and am the custodial parent. My ex file the Fasfa and makes more than I. Whose income would Fafsa use?

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

The FAFSA is completed based on the financial information of the household of the custodian parent which for FAFSA purposes is the household that the child spent more then 6 months of the year in. (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@againstallodds404]

@@greenbushfinancialgroup Thank you so much.

[@murdog98]

I currently invest in Roth 401k rather than traditional 401. So is it better to invest in a traditional 401k rather than Roth 401k in order to reduce taxable income? So for a student who starts college in fall 2024, traditional 401(k) is the way to go starting in year 2022 because of the 2 year look back?

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

It all depends in how much your taxable income is. You have weigh the college financial aid impact vs the benefit of having Roth money accumulate and be withdrawn tax free in the future. Being able to accumulate money in a Roth source is usually very valuable over the long term. (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@JoseGonzalez-uv4yc]

If I don't work anymore but the year that fasfa ask for filled I was working should I use that income tax?

[@LichaelMewis]

Question: Can I reapply for FAFSA and update my application with these tips you laid out if I already applied a couple months ago?

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

We checked with a FAFSA consultant on this and their answer was "Changing the FAFSA after submission is not a good idea. If the family completed it wrong, have the family contact the college and let them know." (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@LichaelMewis]

@@greenbushfinancialgroup thank you!

[@MarcDy]

Is the EFC determined per child / student attending college or per family? For example, my oldest one child is already in college and is earning an income plus full tuition scholarship, while my twins will be attending college in 2023. If the EFC is determined per family, the eldest child's income and scholasrship will count against the EFC versus having individual EFC that are established independent of each other.

[@miriamart9712]

Wow this is a good question because a lot of families are in this spot where we are having our second children going into college with the first one still in college. I wonder since your oldest is already on a scholarship and working if they can file independent that way your twins can be dependents of you only.

[@eeldude]

If the 529 account is in the name of the child, does it count as an asset of the parent or the child?

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

529 accounts are usually owned by the parent with the child listed as beneficiary. But if the account is truly “owned” by the child, it would be considered an asset of the child (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@eeldude]

@@greenbushfinancialgroup Thanks for the response and I have confirmed the account is under my name and my two children are beneficiaries. A follow up question, if the funds are separate in the account (e.g., $50k for child1 and $50k for child2) would it be helpful to transfer assets from the older child to the younger one in order to reduce the assets for the FAFSA calculations for the older child and thus help lower our EFC? Or will this not have any affect if FAFSA considers the account funds as a total? Thanks again!

[@brittneyfoley21]

IM GOING TO BE AS HONEST AS I CAN. I WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY I WILL GET IN A REFUND FROM MY COLLEGE. ITS AN ONLINE PROGRAM. I AM ELIGIBLE FOR MAX PELL GRANT AND WORK WILL PAY ANYTHING ELSE THATS DUE. MY EFC IS 0. IM AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT. PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW I COULD GET MONEY LEFT SENT TO ME

[@expatprepper8804]

regarding financial aid if the student is zero out regarding the FAFSA Expected Family Contribution (EFC) how much money can a parent have in their bank account before it starts affecting the zero score? i have contacted the financial aid department in two different universities and they could not answer the question so they suggested that i ask FAFSA directly FAFSA chat help try to direct me back to the universities for the answer

[@margotnightingale8290]

Do you have to list the parent owned IRA? I thought it was invisible to FAFSA? (bc it's a retirement account)

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

Parent IRA’s are not countable assets for FAFSA (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@PhuongNguyen-jg5ud]

Can you help me verify 401k, ira or any types of retirement account of the student will not count toward their income? They will look at taxable income, not gross income. Is it correct? Thank you

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

Retirement accounts (all the one’s you listed) are not countable assets for FAFSA. The look at Adjusted Gross Income of the student but add back in any contributions to retirement accounts. (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@PhuongNguyen-jg5ud]

@@greenbushfinancialgroup Thank you for information. Can you please help me clarify the second part. For example, i have gross income $26000. Contribute 10000 to 401k and 6000 to roth ira. So my AGI is around 1600. Fafsa will add back 10000 which I contributed to 401k. Finally my adjusted gross income is still 26000?

[@PhuongNguyen-jg5ud]

@@greenbushfinancialgroup Please advise me. I just want maximize the financial aid due to the fact that they only give me half last year.

[@jenniferstory2363]

You mentioned that only the income from the custodial parent is counted. What happens in a joint custody scenario? Would it be the combined income of my child's father, and mine, AND my current husband, since he and I file jointly?

[@miriamart9712]

For anyone seeing this video now to this question I believe both parents income has to be put into the FAFSA especially since you filled jointly.

[@themoorssisters7574]

what if your a 25 years old and a mother of 4 and you or your parents have no income

[@ClemsonTiger2013]

my son and I share a checking account. In both of our names. is it charged at 5% (adult) or 20% (child)? thanks

[@jeanh.7625]

Great video. I am separated with husband. He lived in old house that has our name on. I am in different city. Is that old house account toward my asset ? Where can I find your firm number ? Thanks!

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

518-477-6686 (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@mothertoothfairy7515]

Filled out Fafsa with my high school senior a couple of weeks ago. EFC indicates little over $7000 & she qualifies for $5000 Stafford loan. That’s just based off parents AGI, we have no reported assets & protected $ is less than $6000. This doesn’t sound like she qualifies for much. I don’t even know if we can afford the EFC if they want that much or more each year! Any suggestions or opinion is greatly appreciated?

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

If you cannot afford to pay the EFC, then you will have to look to other funding sources like special grants directly from the school, private student loans through banks, or other forms of debt like home equity loans. It’s usually best to start by contacting the financial aid office of the school that they would like to attend to identify alternative solutions. (Comment is for education. Not advice)

[@jashtalkchannel2369]

I am from the Philippines. Can I avail fafsa?

[@greenbushfinancialgroup]

In most cases, you need to be a US citizen to qualify for FAFSA (Comment is for education. Not advice)