<p>I am faced with this question for both me and my parents:</p>
<p>"Do you want to skip questions about your assets?"</p>
<p>And I think this is mostly because I answered Yes to the question about if I were eligible to file the 1040A / EZ. The thing is, my parents have a lot of money in their bank accounts, and I'm not sure if I should just skip over the questions about the assets, even though I'm allowed to do so...</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Do your parents file the 1040EZ? Asset questions still might come up about them. My D is just 18 so she filed the EZ, but we do take some deductions, so can’t file the EZ for our parent taxes. We still had to answer asset questions. I think once you answer them, you can’t really go back and change your answers about assets.</p>
<p>It sounds like you qualified for the simplified EFC formula. If so, assets will not be included in the EFC calculation even if you enter the information. Some state aid programs do require the asset info to be entered for those grants.</p>
<p>@teachandmom</p>
<p>No, my parents filed the 1040, although I’m certain we qualify for the 1040A (Yes for the question that asks for it on the FAFSA)</p>
<p>@sk8ermom</p>
<p>So even if my parents have a lot saved up in their bank accounts… that’s not a big deal?</p>
<p>Hmmm…someone else will need to answer this. If your parents filed a 1040 long form, even if eligible for the 1040A or EZ…are they still able to answer yes to that FAFSA question.</p>
<p>Plus…gotta ask…why would someone fill out that long form when they could do the very shorter forms?</p>
<p>Well, my parents don’t speak English, so they hired (?) someone for them to file their 1040.</p>
<p>But I still want to know if I should enter the assets or not…</p>
<p>Where is Kelsmom when we really need her? I thought that if you entered them but didn’t need to, the colleges would not use the asset numbers. BUT I could be wrong.</p>
<p>That’s what I thought too, but my parents are freaking out that they’d get in trouble with the government for withholding information about their assets.</p>
<p>Salamence156 -</p>
<p>If you print out the formula itself, can you work through it with your parents on paper and show them the information about the simplified formula? Can they read numbers well enough to understand that? Maybe it will give them a bit of comfort. <a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf</a></p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks happymomof1.</p>
<p>I’m still sort of confused. How will that website help me decide whether to input my parents’ assets or not? o.o Sorry, I’m new at this, and I really have no idea what to do at this point.</p>
<p>Is there anyone at your school you can talk with about this? There should be a teacher or counselor or even a member of the parents’ association who is the local expert on the FAFSA. Ask your counselor tomorrow who there can help you with this. You should not have to invent this wheel all by yourself!</p>
<p>It also is OK to call the financial aid office(s) at the college(s) you are applying to, and ask for help.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Ok thanks, I will try to do that.</p>
<p>One last question for anyone still around: Even if I enter my and my parents’ assets into the application, would schools and scholarship programs (such as GMSP) still calculate my EFC without looking at the assets because I qualify for the Simplified Needs Test? Or would they include the assets along with it because I entered the assets?</p>