<p>I've come across 20K that I'd like to Hide from view of the financial aid offices. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Don’t do it.</p>
<p>Switzerland, or the Cayman Islands? In all seriousness, though, we need more information here. Is the money in the student’s name or the parent’s name? FAFSA doesn’t require as much of the parent’s assets to be used toward college as it does student’s assets, so the risk of trying to “hiding assets” might be ill-advised anyway. Honestly, we need to know more about your situation. Have you filed the FAFSA, yet?</p>
<p>Just do the right thing.</p>
<p>Sorry for the lack of detail: Just getting started with CC. OK… I received a bonus at work, and I’d like for the finaincial aid offices to see it as liquidity. Is there any merit to hiding liquid assets from the eyes of the financial aid offices? And no - I wout be filing Fafsa until Jan of 2013.</p>
<p>I am the parent of a 17 year old</p>
<p>To save a big $1000 in EFC, you are going to cheat? </p>
<p>You got a bonus at work that you can afford to invest somewhere. Put it in a 401K if that $1Kis that important to you.That’s only of any potential benefit. I doubt it’s going to make any difference in financial aid.</p>
<p>I would think that an employment bonus would be considered “income”. If it is included on your W-2, you won’t be able to hide it. If this money will still be sitting around in your bank account in Jan of 2013, then it will be considered an asset for FAFSA purposes. The FAFSA does treat assets differently, depending on a lot of circumstances. Is this money the student’s money, or are you a parent? What is your overall income level? Do you have other assets? </p>
<p>It sound like you don’t really want to “hide” the money, so much as you want advice on the best lawful strategy to use to minimize the effect the money will have on your financial aid in 2013. Thinking ahead is a good thing, so don’t be afraid to ask specific, detailed questions!</p>
<p>I literaly have no idea how the FAFSA offices view liquid assets - that’s why I’m asking.</p>
<p>Here’s whats driving the issue for me: I have 2 children for which I’ve been saving since they were 1 using the 529 plan. THey both have roughly the same balances (21K each). Since it is rare that I get employment bonus’s, i’m afraid that financial aid offices will view my new emergency cash nest egg increase as “oh - you’re cash rich now so you need less aid”. I realize that i’m oversimplifying, but I’d hate to be the benefactor of a one-time slug of cash and have it “redefine me” in the eyes of the financial aid offices. </p>
<p>Am I making any sense?</p>
<p>I don’t see that there is anything you can do. Every bonus I ever received was listed as income on my paycheck and thus it would be included in the total income for the year (i.e. W2’s). Your 1040 return’s AGI is the first item used to calculate your EFC on FAFSA so it won’t matter one bit how you spend it or what you do with it. That being said, if you don’t get one next year it will lower your EFC for your kid’s sophomore year.</p>
<p>Yes. You make sense. But the fact of the matter is that if you get a one time slug of cash, you are going to be hit up for it. What drives the FAFSA numbers the most is the income. Unless the bonus is being illegally slipped “under the table” to you, it will be reported for tax purposes, and that is where it will most impact your EFC. Your assets are hit at 5.6% after a certain protection amount. If your family is on the brink of qualifying for PELL, all of this might make a big difference, but for most purposes it is not.</p>
<p>I suggest you read a guide to financial aid and colleges and work through some sample FAFSAs so you see how it works… Please don’t expect to get advice to do anything illegal here.</p>
<p>you should blow it on booze and hookers</p>
<p>Have you maxed out 401K and IRAs? The income will still count, but it wont count as assets.</p>
<p>Thank you all - I am realizing that the focal point here is my income level and not my cash status level. THat’s the common sense advice I was looking for.</p>
<p>Since you haven’t filed a FAFSA yet, you need to run your numbers through the formula so that you can learn which factors most affect your results. Google EFC formula 2013 and you will get the link to a PDF of this year’s formula. Print it out and work through it on paper using different scenarios. Yes the formula does change a bit each year, but this is the best way to get an estimate.</p>
<p>If you plan to use this for your kids’ educations, you may as well just stash it in the 529s.</p>
<p>If you work through the FAFSA formula worksheets it will give you a better idea on how income/assets are calculated to determine your EFC.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/010512EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/010512EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf</a></p>
<p>The only pages you should need are 9-10 and 17-20.</p>
<p>happymomof1, just saw your post. Great minds think alike. ;)</p>
<p>After you file the FAFSA, you can usually file something directly with the school stating that you will have a substantial reduction in income. Sometimes they will consider this. This would be something to investigate if you really believe that the bonus is a one-time thing. In the mean time. You might want to plug some numbers into this year’s formula to estimate where you might be landing next January when you DO fill out the FAFSA. </p>
<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf</a></p>
<p>Three4three…the OP got a bonus. It WILL be reported as income. A reduction in income would need to be documented by the employer and employee. Would this OP really want to request a letter stating he would NOT be receiving a bonus in the future? All to save $1000? I doubt it. </p>
<p>Yes if a person is laid off and a new job has lower pay…or if the persons hours are reduced to part time, or if they lose a job, they can tell the college.</p>