<p>Ok so Im in college now have a 3.88 gpa but I cant get any scholarship due to my lack of a fafsa aplication. My mom recently passed away and I have money from her life insurance. Should I transfer that money to my dad before i complete the fafsa? If so how long should I wait before doing the fafsa.</p>
<p>Bump?</p>
<p>FAFSA doesn’t give scholarships, it determines your eligibility for financial aid. Depending on the amount of the insurance, transferring it to your father, who is now your parent, may not help as it will still be considered although at a much lower percentage (5.6% for him, 20% for you).</p>
<p>If you didn’t have a FAFSA filed before you had money, why would you file one now? Has something changed? Did you not think you would qualify from your mother’s salary but will from your father’s?</p>
<p>so sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved mother.</p>
<p>how much is the insurance? how much does your dad have in assets (minus home). </p>
<p>your dad will have an exemption of about 15k, and then his assets will be considered at 5.6%.</p>
<p>fafsa doesnt give scholarships.</p>
<p>is your dad low income? if not, then his income is probably too high for grants.</p>
<p>how big is your household? </p>
<p>My dad does carpentry and my mom was a nurse he makes like 20-50k depending on business my mom made a bit more than 60k. The insurance was about 50k but every scholarship i do says that I need to display financial need. There are only 3 of us in my household now me, my brother and dad.</p>
<p>And I didn’t have one filled out prior to college because my mom passed before i applied</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear about your mom’s death. </p>
<p>File a FAFSA. You will be eligible for the Direct Loan of $5500 at least. </p>
<p>How expensive is your college? I guess I’m wondering why you wouldn’t use some of that insurance money to help pay for school.</p>
<p>Will you be living at home while going to college? you can give your dad the money to put in his savings with the agreement that he will use that money towards your support and any uncovered college costs. </p>
<p>did your dad receive any life insurance payouts as well?</p>
<p>will you be going to a CC?</p>
<p>It sounds like you are applying for private scholarships that want to see your FAFSA results. Isnt it late to be applying for these scholarships? </p>
<p>Yea he did recieve some and I’m attending a CC ATM the college isn’t very expensive but i plan on going to medical school after so trying to save some money. A scholarship would help so I could use some of that money to pay for medical school. I am doing the connected degree program where i do two years at a cc then last two at a 4 year again to save money. So essentially another question i am asking is do i need to fill out a fafsa to get scholarships I’m currently in clubs and phi theta kappa too.</p>
<p>Or have your father put the money into a 529 plan in his name, and then it will be excluded from your income. You need to sit down with a financial aid officer to figure out the best plan for your current cc, the 4 year school, and then med school.</p>
<p>Who said you can’t get a scholarship because of lack of FAFSA? Why didn’t you just fill a FAFSA and get it? It is a particular CC scholarship you are eligible for?</p>
<p>FAFSA for fall 2014 is filled out with income for 2013. You fill out FAFSA for fall 2015 on or after Jan 1 2015.</p>
<p>When are you transferring to a 4 year? What state are you in? Do you know what colleges you will be applying to?Did you run a FAFSA EFC calculator yet or a college NPC calculator yet?</p>
<p>Sorry for late reply, the scholarships are offered by my cc and they specifically say that I need to “display financial need”. I’m eligible for a majority of the scholarships but again I have the problem stated above. I live in delaware and i plan to apply to university of delaware (as backup),temple university ,university of Maryland and also Johns Hopkins but I don’t think that they accept transfers. I am planning on transferring at the end of this year or the fall semester of next year. I’m not sure when I should do it because I’m double majoring in bio and chemistry at the moment. I have not run a Fafsa EFC but I’ll check it out. Also would i have better luck just applying to ones not given by my cc.</p>
<p>Scholarships are usually offered irrespective of need. Are you talking about grants? </p>
<p>Are you talking about applying for,scholarships,for,when you transfer, or for now at your CC?</p>
<p>Your posts have me pretty confused.</p>
<p>There are need based aid that depend on need. There are also merit based scholarships that may or may not require need as well. Usually you get the largest awards from the college themselves along with any Federal Pell and state education funds that may be available. Sure apply for outside scholarships you find. </p>
<p>Now that you have the loss of your mother and her income, you should plan to file a FAFSA each year at least starting in 2015 so that the 4 year can give you aid. </p>
<p>Probably the money should go to a 529 plan in your father’s name, to be used for your education expenses. then you can apply for FAFSA. It seems a bit late for your college to have any money left so be sure there is something before you rush. You should learn about 529 accounts. Student only assets are assessed at 20 percent a year. Parent assets are assessed at 5.6. It is possible you aren’t eligible for the CC awards since, indeed you do have funds to pay for it this year. When you have higher costs and higher need you should get something. Be aware that colleges don’t let you earmark fund for special purposes like professional school, vacations, emergencies and such. Funds you have are considered available for undergrad studies. </p>
<p>In response to your original question, yes, you should transfer the insurance money to your dad or to a 529 college savings account before you complete the FAFSA. And, once you’ve transferred the money, you can complete the FAFSA immediately - you don’t have to wait. FAFSA wants a snapshot of your finances on the day you file. What was in your bank account the day before, or the day after, is irrelevant.</p>
<p>And, if you’re over 18, you can deposit the money to a 529 account yourself, in your own name, and it still won’t be counted as your asset for FAFSA purposes. The account does not need to be opened in your father’s name in order to be treated as a parent asset. So open a 529 account (with yourself listed as both custodian and beneficiary), and then include that money on the FAFSA as your dad’s asset.</p>
<p>I am sorry about your mother . . . best of luck getting all of this taken care of!</p>
<p>I agree that a 529 should be opened. But the student needs to understand that his money then MUST be used for educational expenses.</p>
<p>
Must? Not really. Yes, the student will have to pay income tax on any earnings that are withdrawn for purposes other than education, as well as a small penalty (on the earnings only), but he or she would have to have paid taxes on those earnings regardless, and the penalty . . . well, how significant is it going to be if the student opens the account at age 19, for example, and closes it again by age 21? The earnings over a two to three year period just aren’t going to be significant enough (in the current economy) for that to be much of an issue.</p>
<p>And an adult student can’t legally “just transfer that money to dad” without tax consequences. Even between relatives, there’s a cap on how much may be gifted before the donor becomes obligated to pay a gift tax, and $50k is over that cap.</p>
<p>Yes, the student can avoid that by simply lending the money to dad, rather than gifting it. (Make sure the loan is documented!) But that leaves what could potentially become a much more significant problem, depending on dad’s financial circumstances. The money now belongs to dad. He can spend it . . . and his creditors, if any, can attach it.</p>
<p>What this student decides to do depends on (1) what he plans to do with the money; (2) how much money is involved; (3) dad’s financial circumstances; and (4) the student’s personal ethics. The student could lend the money to dad on Monday, complete the FAFSA on Tuesday, and ask dad to pay the loan back on Wednesday. Doing it once might well constitute fraud . . . but doing it repeatedly, each year FAFSA is filed? I’d hazard a guess that that would definitely constitute fraud.</p>
<p>Ok…must use 529 money for educational purposes, or there is a penalty for using it otherwise.</p>
<p>My initial question remains…why wouldn’t the student use this for educational purposes? But yes…I think a 529 is the way to go so that the balance is assessed at 5.6% instead of 20% for FAFSA EFC purposes.</p>
<p>Penalties are also not assessed on 529 account earnings not needed for college because the beneficiary was able to fund his/her education with tax-free scholarships. But, regardless of whether that exception would apply here, a 10% surcharge on the earnings accrued on 50k over a two to three year period just doesn’t seem like a significant obstacle.</p>
<p>Opening a 529 account in the student’s name just seems like it would be the simplest solution for a family that’s already had a difficult year. (And it’s quick and easy to do - if the funds are already in a bank account, the 529 can be set up online and the funds transferred electronically.)</p>
<p>I’m sorry for your loss. However, moving your money into different accounts probably won’t change much. Your college will probably still see it. Have you looked at independent scholarships that have essays or activies you have to do? It may not be much, but you wouldn’t need your FAFSA</p>