Ugh. I’m lost in asset land with the questions on CSS online Profile.
Parent Details: the last questions asks for current value of tax-deferred retirement plans. I have a state employee pension, a state employee deferred comp account and an IRA. I thought this was ‘non-reportable’ assets. So why are they asking?
Parent Assets: If my wife is listed as custodian on my kids’ UTMA accounts, my understanding is that the money is actually OWNED by the child but administered by the adult. So my college- bound son’s acct is HIS money. I think. Which then leads to why CSS is asking about SIBLING UTMA accts. ??
Need help navigating this minefiled
FAFSA doesn’t ask for qualified retirement plans to be reported as assets. Profile does, presumably because some schools that use Profile may want to factor these accounts into their proprietary need-based aid calculations. Generally, unless the total balance number greatly exceeds what is reasonable, I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.
Unless the UTMA account of a sibling is being used to shelter parent assets from greater taxes that would otherwise be assessed on them (something that probably happens less since the kiddie tax was made more aggressive), these account are not reported on Profile (or FAFSA). And yes, the money in the student’s UTMA account is legally owned by him, and it therefore needs to be reported as a student asset (on both Profile and FAFSA). The only exception here is a UTMA (or custodial) 529 account which is reported on FAFSA as a parent asset. On Profile, the instructions say to report a student UTMA/Custodial 529 account as a student asset. But, make sure that you note in the comment section at the end of Profile something like “$x of student assets reported in item y represents the balance in a student-owned 529 account.” Some Profile schools follow the FAFSA lead and count student-owned 529 accounts as a parent asset, so you will definitely want them to know what’s what. You could also call the financial aid office at each Profile school that will be receiving an application, and ask them what their policy is on this and how would they like you to report it.
They’re asking about sibling UTMA’s so that parents don’t hide money in younger kids accts
Thank you both for posting replies! I do appreciate. So I am on right track.
I understand about hiding assets in kid’s UTMA acct, but how would they even figure that out, if I all I provide is a dollar figure/acct balance?
I don’t have any money to hide anyway, so I guess I won’t worry about it.
Thanks again
You are only being asked to report the balance of sibling UTMA accounts if the assets in the account are considered parent assets. They are depending on your honesty.