<p>I always heard that retirement assets are not included in "assets" available for the EFC calculation, but some of these calculators ask for assets and don't break it out into liquid vs. retirement.
Also -- if you own your own busines and have less than 100 employees, you have to list your portion of your business's worth, but those assets are used to run the business -- they're not available to pay tuition -- shouldn't business assets be excluded too?</p>
<p>I think FAFSA handles businesses differently than CSS Profile. Don’t know if CSS Profile handles retirement differently.</p>
<p>Perhaps if the business has high worth (because of equipment), the theory is that it is an asset that can be borrowed against? Not sure.</p>
<p>I also wonder…</p>
<p>If a family owns 2 or more small businesses (say 2+ restaurants), but they have less than 100 employees total, are both businesses excluded on FAFSA?</p>
<p>Anything in a formal retirement account will not count for FAFSA, it can’t just be anything you say is for your retirement.</p>
<p>Profile schools treat businesses differently. Most will value a business with the theory being you can borrow against them. Many will also disallow some standard small business deductions.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Any monies already in your 401k/403b formal retirement account will not count as an asset on the FAFSA. However, contributions made to the account will be added back in as funds available for college.</p>
<p>Ex. if you make 100k and you put 18k before taxes in your 401 leaving you a taxable income of 91k. When you file the FAFSA the 18k is added back in giving you once again a taxable income of 100k</p>
<p>what if one is already retired as I have been for five years. I have transferred my retirement funss into normal investment accounts which I actively trade for income. Can I call these accounts “retirement assets” for purposes of the CSS profile?</p>
<p>Are your accounts titled as IRAs or are they individual accounts? If they’re still titled as IRAs (such as a rollover IRA where the funds initially came from a 401k, to take just one example) then they’re considered retirement accounts for FAFSA and Profile. Even IRAs can be actively traded. </p>
<p>If you transferred Roth IRAs (income is non-taxable) or regular IRAs (income is taxable) into a individual account…I guess the question would be why? Are you within the time period for which you can convert them back without penalty? Have your run the calculations to determine if taking full withdrawals from your retirement accounts is beneficial with respect to income taxes?</p>
<p>*I have transferred my retirement funss into normal investment accounts which I actively trade for income. Can I call these accounts “retirement assets” for purposes of the CSS profile? *</p>
<p>I don’t think so. Those are no longer protected. After all, you could choose to take the lot and spend it on a vacation home if you wanted. Right?</p>
<p>No you can’t call them retirement assets. Only actual retirement accounts such as IRAs, 401ks etc are considered retirement assets for FA purposes.</p>