<p>Good post, goaliedad.</p>
<p>One more thing. In PROFILE, you are asked to enter your mortgage amount - this is ‘protected’ income. As I discovered last year, you CAN include a first and second mortgage in this amount, but NOT a first mortgage and HEL or HELOC. </p>
<p>We are borrowing more than I would like, but are still on track to pay off the house (including the HELOC bits) before retirement, and are still contributing to 401k at the same rate.</p>
<p>I don’t know a lot about FA, but I do know that a grandparent’s assests do not need to be reported. Grandparents can pay up to the full cost of tuition (only) to a college directly, without it counting towards gift tax.</p>
<p>Can a parent “gift” a child 12k, if the child is attempting to claim independent?</p>
<p>I think that “gift” might really be “support”</p>
<p>ohio_mom,</p>
<p>Do you know if the HELOC exclusion from Profile consideration applies during the whole term (both the accumulation AND the payoff period) or just during the accumulation period? </p>
<p>I’m glad you mentioned that (I wasn’t aware that there was a difference in treatment as like a conventional mortgage it is secured by your home - I guess they consider it like revolving credit because it is not a fixed amount to be depreciated) exception. </p>
<p>I guess if you take on a HELOC late in college process (after you file for the Senior Collegiate year aid 1/2 way through the Junior Collegiate year) it won’t impact any future award, so I would say that is the preferrable time to consider going HELOC.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>