<p>No idea what a private welfare account is. If it isn’t in a dedicated retirement acct., the money is assumed to be available to pay for college when applying for financial aid, even if it is just sitting there.</p>
<p>Wow what a horrible situation to be in. I would probably visit a financial aid counselor at a local school. Talk like you’re applying to the school and get a ton of questions answered solidly. You could always start a dialogue via email with a school you want to get into as well. They might be able to help you become more familiar with the do’s and don’ts. I do agree with the others here, its very peculiar about the money being taken out and being taxed. That usually involves issues with withdrawing from a 401k pretax money before you are the appropriate age. I’d definitely look into it and get some clarification.</p>
<p>Wait a minute…If the account is not a dedicated retirement account, how are the withdrawals considered income? The account is either considered an asset or the withdrawals are income, not both. And how much is in the account? All of these things are important on how this works for financial aid.</p>
<p>So, I’m not sure if what I said before about the retirement account was correct or not, since it turns out my mother was just guessing, but I asked my father and he said that it’s a 401k account. It is run through his employer, Oregon Health and Science Universities. I don’t know exactly how much is in his account, but a rough estimation would be about 150 hundred thousand. </p>
<p>Would a 529 account be worth it? I’m not really sure what it is, but I’ve heard that recommended.</p>
<p>I doubt he’s taking out 70k if the grand total is 150k.</p>
<p>IMO, you need to go back to the drawing board. Too many questions here- what sort of accounts, protected or not, whether he is currently penalized for early withdrawals, his age, how much your sister’s school costs, etc. And, what Mom’s job prospects are. That’s just a starter. “maybe using more money from my account” - what does that mean? If you have a account, what would it cover?</p>
<p>I can imagine a sitation where addl funds are tapped- not to maintain some high lifestyle, but simply because the mortgage payments are higher than current income allows. But, one of the first rules of finaid is NOT to tap retirement. (“You can borrow for college costs, you cannot borrow to fund your retirement.”)</p>
<p>Thing is, we’re passing some good info, but there is so much more to be stated. Eg, the aid you get, while Sis is in college, will change once she graduates. If Dad is thinking of underwriting her grad studies, those costs won’t be considered in your finaid. If he taps out his retirement, at some colleges, your finaid picture is already mostly set- ie, it can be difficult to get aid to bridge the new gap.</p>
<p>And, if he works for a U, is there any tuition benefit to you? (Some would kick in $ for another U.) It seems he hasn’t worked there long enough, but go to the HR pages and see what’s up.</p>
<p>I’m always sorry when the kid has to scramble to figure out what mom and dad aren’t savvy about- and doubly so when there’s already a sib in college and parents should have some knowledge. When the financial S hit the fan, many families would have rethought the sib’s college expenses- so, is she somwhere cheap?</p>
<p>So my thoughts, to keep this simple for you:
- go run a range of colleges’ NPCs- from Yale to some local schools. As you get to each question, try to learn the exact true answer from your parents. If there is some unknown term or concept, google to learn what it means or how it applies. If you are lucky, they will share their tax forms, so you can see how various dollar amounts fall into different categories.</p>
<ul>
<li>Look at the merit schools; there is a link in an earlier post; maybe someone else can provide more. As you go through this, you’ll likely see what seems to be the better or more logical direction for you- a Yale, BigState, local college/cc or a mid-range that has high merit for your stats and interests. You want to look for your “bottom line” costs, including loans.</li>
</ul>
<p>The idea is to get your bearings based on your own realities.</p>
<ul>
<li>Agree it’s good to consider speaking with a knowledgable and cooperative finaid officer at some local school- rather than a big busy U, maybe a nice LAC sort that you can at least pretend you are interested in and where they’d find you an attractive candidate and be willing to invest an hour.</li>
</ul>
<p>Did someone say: you can borrow 5500 in fed student loans 1st year and it goes up to 7500 in 3rd and 4th years. Along the way, see how your cc credits willl apply or not.</p>
<p>I think I am forgetting something.<br>
I was helped a lot, early, by the info on finaid.org.</p>
<p>What are the accounts that are YOURS and your sister’s? How much are in those accts? What are those? 529 accts?</p>
<p>You’re in a pickle because income seems high when in reality the family is draining its 401k :(</p>
<p>You need an intelligent strategy. </p>
<p>Concentrate on schools that give super-aid…Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and I think, Williams…and also apply to schools that give HUGE merit for your stats…like some on the assured full tuition scholarship lists, and some instate publics that will give you huge merit.</p>
<p>Applying to other schools may end up being a waste of time and money. You can apply to a couple just to see. But, since they’ll likely expect large family contributions, most won’t be affordable.</p>
<p>I just have a regular savings account, and my sister has an account at our local credit union. I think I have about $5000 in mine, and she probably has a little more. We also have some bonds. We’re looking into how much those are worth. </p>
<p>I don’t know of any benefits from OHSU, but I will investigate it. Most likely it would only help if I actually went to school there (which I won’t, since it’s a specifically for health/science). My sister is going to Washington State University in Vancouver, so…not super pricey, but (considering she isn’t getting any financial aid) not cheap either. </p>
<p>Right now I’m planning to apply to Yale, University of Washington, Portland State University, Western Washington University, and possibly another college (I’m not sure yet). I’ve also considered Pomona College, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Kenyon, Occidental, and Carleton. Does this sound like a good game plan? I’m not really sure how much financial aid I can expect from the in state ones.</p>
<p>I would remove the UCs from your list. If you ate not a California resident, the cost is going to be about 50k/year with no financial aid. This’d is not a financially feasible option for your family</p>
<p>No UCs, I would add USC and Stanford</p>
<p>No UCs at all. They won’t give you the aid you need.</p>
<p>Add Stanford.</p>
<p>USC, maybe…if your stats are very, very high, you might get a free tuition scholarship. However, even tho USC “meets need” they don’t have a rep for having generous formulas.</p>
<p>Western Wash may give you a good merit scholarship. If that’s a safety that you will love attending then fine. Otherwise, I think you need a couple more financial safeties…ones that will give you assured large merit.</p>