<p>I have a checking account with a little over $2000 in it, and my mom is on the account jointly with me. The account shows up on some document we got from the tax people that shows all of my parents' financial assets. My question is, does FAFSA care more about my money, or my parents' money? Or is $2000 insignificant to the point where it doesn't really matter?</p>
<p>Parents have an asset protection allowance built into the EFC formula, based on marital status and the age of the older parent. Above that, parental assets are assessed at 5.6%. Student-owned assets are assessed at 20% of current value each year, with no allowance at all. Basically, that means that unless your EFC is 0 or you qualify for one of the simplified EFC formulas, your $2K account will add $400 to your EFC.</p>
<p>Would a jointly owned account be reported by the parents, the student or would the value be split between the two?</p>
<p>megmno, whose SSN is on the account? I had this question when I did my first FAFSA too and was advised to list it as that person’s asset…which was me. I used the same method for savings, bonds, etc. since they were all reported on my tax returns. We were verified that year, but now I can’t remember if any school asked for documentation of assets. Since their balances were pretty low, it probably wouldn’t have made a big difference anyway.</p>
<p>Actually, I was just asking out of curiosity. (I think I’m becoming a financial aid geek!)
Last year DS had an account that was in trust, with my SSN and name on it, but it’s been converted to his own account now that he’s 18. It only had a couple of hundred dollars in it.</p>