<p>I know these is a simliar topic that someone recently posted about this, but I didn't want to hijack their thread. Anywho I am a highschool senior. I filled out my FAFSA yesterday with my dad, but we were confused when it asked about the "as of today, what are you and your spouses investments including real estate (not your home)?" My dad figured his "investments" included his 401k, which is roughly 50k, so he put that in. Is that right? are you supposed to include the 401k? From reading the other topic, it seems like you aren't supposed to. I don't know anything about all this tax stuff so I would greatly appreciate if someone could help. My parents haven't filed their taxes yet, but they will do so. Will their taxes have this information on it? Like the total investments?</p>
<p>oh and also, I haven't decided if I want to go to a community college or a university yet. so what do I put when it asks me what education I am going to persue in 09-10? Does it matter?</p>
<p>No, you DON"T put the value of the money in the 401K</p>
<p>There is another place for putting untaxed income, which would probably be the amount he had withheld from his pay this year that went into the 401K</p>
<p>You do not report the value of the 401k anywhere on the FAFSA. This is not a reportable asset. The instructions do state this.</p>
<p>Any payments your parents make to their 401k during the year, though, are reported as untaxed income. My payments are found on my W2 form. The payments you asked about include this example. Not everyone has any/all of these types of payments. You can find some on W2's, some on taxes ... your parents should know if they have any of these payments. You can do an online search to explain what each is, if it will help (try finaid.org - they have great explanations).</p>