<p>From working part-time jobs, I have about $3,000 saved up in the bank. FAFSA says that I can pay 33% of this, if I am correct. In the upcoming year, I'll need to purchase textbooks, buy car insurance, and purchase a laptop for my dorm...it would make my finances a lot tighter to part with $1,000 of this. I know this is a bit underhanded, but I am considering cashing my savings and putting it in a safe deposit box until the FAFSA process is over. I want to know if anyone here has ever attempted this and if it went okay. Is my plan inadvisable or do you think it has the potential to work?</p>
<p>Whether the money is in an actual account or sitting in a safe deposit box it remains a reportable asset, and NOT listing it would be fraudulent.</p>
<p>Agree with above response - but what you CAN legally and legitimately do is SPEND some of that money now on things that you will need later. For example - buy the laptop NOW - probably find good deals anyway - and then you will not have that money counted towards FAFSA - and you will already have your laptop. If there are other things you plan to buy in a few months for your dorm room - like bedding - same idea - buy it now and deplete the cash legitimately.</p>
<p>It would be fraud to not report it.</p>
<p>Buy stuff you meed, like your laptop, before you file FAFSA.</p>
<p>If you are the student then 20% of it goes to your EFC, not 33%. If your parent income (or yours if you are an independent) is low and you meet other criteria, assets my be ignored anyway. If income is not low then the only federal aid you will be eligible for is loans anyway. Federal grant aid requires a very low income.</p>
<p>I agree, spend some of it on things you need before filling out the FAFSA, that is fine!
If you don’t have it, you can’t report it on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>I was going to file for FAFSA on January 1st. I don’t want to rush out and buy stuff without having ample time to compare prices…would it be detrimental for me to wait a week or two to file for FAFSA–would I get less aid?</p>
<p>How low is your total EFC? It probably won’t make a difference to wait a few weeks unless your school has many students with a low EFC and you are also pell eligible. There are a few campus based program, like SEOG and Perkins, that have pretty limited funding.</p>
<p>You can also file the FAFSA in January, reporting all your assets honestly – and then move briskly to make your purchase and then AMEND the FAFSA in the middle of January. This approach gets you an early “place in line” and allows you to adjust for your expenses. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t dawdle, however. Amendments are easy to do and many people do them. Most of us don’t have our taxes done until February or later – so we fill out the FAFSA with our best estimates and do an amendment as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Olymom, when a FAFSA is amended, the assets are NOT changed – the assets need to be reported as of the time the first FAFSA is filed. The purpose of amendment is only to correct information that was inaccurate – such as preliminary estimates of income. </p>
<p>If a person made a clear error in reporting assets – such as a typographical mistake adding an extra digit (for example, reporting $15,000 in the bank when the student in fact has only $1500) – then obviously an amendment would be in order.</p>
<p>But it would NOT be acceptable to spend the money and then “amend” the FAFSA to report the remaining balance.</p>
<p>In other words, what you suggest is not appropriate and might actually raise some flags that would not otherwise be there. The general advice is for parents and students to go ahead and make anticipated, necessary large purchases (like cars, computers, etc.) to spend down their assets prior to filing the FAFSA-- but keep in mind that that an unnecessary or overly extravagant purchase hurts one’s finances far more than the FAFSA hit. That is, if a student has $10,000 in the bank, it will raise EFC by $2000, leaving the student with $8K available for other stuff. If the student spends $7500 before filing the FAFSA, their EFC hit will be only $500 … but that will leave the student with only $2K in the bank when they start college. So the student with the higher EFC is really the one who is in a better financial position when school starts. That’s why it only makes sense to spend the savings on items the student is sure to need for school. </p>
<p>I’d point out that the OP is worrying about having money to buy textbooks as well as other expenses – but the estimated cost of attendance includes the cost of textbooks. So the +$600 that will be added to EFC by virtue of the $3000 in the bank can be seen as the same as the money the student will use to buy those textbooks that she is worried about. In that case-- no loss from reporting her full assets.</p>
<p>As calmom said, assets are supposed to be accurate at the time of filing and are not supposed to be changed.</p>
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<p>This may be a harebrained idea, but can’t you pay your car insurance a year in advance? I know my insurer loves to take money in advance…same for my cell phone provider! And are gift cards counted as assets? If you know you’re going to buy stuff for your dorm/classes at BB&B, Target, Best Buy, and a particular bookseller, is it possible to purchase some gift cards to reduce savings? I’m not trying to game the system or anything, just speculating how a student might “spend down” assets to pre-pay expenses just as a parent could pay down mortage or consumer debt.</p>
<p>Wow, I stand corrected! I thought it was possible to amend a FAFSA on any question. Live and learn! Thanks calmom, that is news I will be careful to respect.</p>
<p>I have a sibling…would it be considered fradulent to write out a check to him, thus transferring the money?</p>
<p>If your intention is to get that money right back then yes…its fraudulent.</p>
<p>Just do the right thing and report what you have.</p>