Does anyone know how to report Survivor’s benefits on the Profile? It’s not reported under parent’s untaxed income but I have seen conflicting info on whether it’s reported under child’s untaxed income.
Also, some advice for everyone 
Take a look at your life insurance policies, then call the company and double them, especially if you’re younger, have kids and your retirement or pension plan has not had time to grow.
On the Profile worksheet for question SI-160 (other student untaxed income received), there is a catchall category of “Any other untaxed income and benefits” (SI-160WW). Whether or not SS survivor’s benefits belongs here is probably a matter of debate, just like an inheritance and life insurance proceeds, which are not clearly covered in the Profile instructions and examples. You can try asking CSS/Profile representatives via email or phone, but I’ve never had a warm fuzzy with the level of knowledge these folks have exhibited when I’ve contacted them with questions.
I don’t know about reporting of survivor benefits either but if you definitely qualify for auto zero EFC with your income, then parent assets, student assets and student income aren’t counted on the FAFSA as far as I know.
How are the NPCs scary? With only a $25,000 income?
I just tried Brown’s NPC with 90,000 in parent investments and 100,000 home equity and 25,000 income and it gave a net price of $12,000. Of course I don’t know if Brown considers student owned 529 a parent asset or not.
Whether your son gets free tuition with merit or a generous need based institutional grant of $50k, you will probably end up with a net price of about $10,000-$15,000 which can be covered with inheritance, work income, maybe even subsidized loans.
I’m registering for Profile right now and read through the FAQ’s. I came across this:
Q: My father is deceased. I receive social security benefits until I reach 18. Should this money be listed under my or my parent’s social security benefits?
A: Untaxed social security benefits received by the student or the surviving parent in the student’s name should not be reported on the PROFILE Application.
I’m sure it’s because it ends at 18 and we’re required to return any unspent money. Not allowed to save it.
Good to see it in writing.
I’m sorry for your loss.
If the NPC asks if you are a one parent family, you will get OK results. It it doesn’t ask your marital,status or something where you indicate only one parent…it could be off…because the assumption would be two parents with that income.
Look at the requirements for auto $0 EFC. Of you qualify, no assets will be reported for FAFSA purposes.
Profile schools…well…that’s another story.
Also, as mentioned…if your son qualifies, look for places where he might qualify for excellent merit aid.
UChicago, Brown, Wash U are not a given anyway as far as acceptance goes. Even with high stats.
But you could call their FA office and ask some of your questions about 529 account, survivor benefits, etc.
With several instate and OOS options with guaranteed or possible merit, he should have several affordable choices.
SS benefits will end when your son turns 18 OR when he graduates from high school, whichever is later (or at 19 and 2 months if he still hasn’t graduated).
I don’t know of any requirement that you spend it monthly, or any way to report that you have. My daughter got SSI for a few months. No one asked me what I did with it.
I received a letter this week terminating his benefit (which starts up again immediately payable to him until graduation) and it is asking if I saved any of the money received on his behalf and they gave me an envelope to send them a refund check. Seriously. He received $700 per month. It’s not nothing but I spent far more than that.
@mommdc I was entering the 529 as student owned when running the NPCs. Scary. I’d rather be ready for the worst and then happily surprised. I hope in the end we’re looking at the $15,000 - 20,000 range. Much above that is too close for comfort with possible price increases after the first year.
I know UChicago, Brown and WashU are a long shot but he’s throwing his hat in. Of those three, UChicago had the best result, $19,000. There are scholarships for Chicago-area students, too. You never know. I know I need to look most carefully at safety schools and make sure they’ll be affordable and have him come up with a few more. The list above will likely change a bit.
@thumper1 Yes, the NPCs ask for marital status and I select widowed. They really hit student assets hard. It’s time to look for merit aid other than Alabama (which is a great option!).
I would talk to a financial advisor before funding the 529 plan. Just to be sure it is done in the most advantageous way for him. I would try and keep the minimum possible out of the 529 but enough for you to get the AOTC tax credit would be a good investment. Perhaps a joint account with you as primary to hold that set of funds ($4K per year) which would keep it as a parent asset and would help you help him keep from potentially using it unwisely. Definitely pay back everyone you need to. I wouldn’t buy a car for him now because many schools won’t even allow cars. On whatever day you do all the financial aid forms print out your investment and bank statements so that you can prove the numbers were correct on the day you filled in the forms. The ones who have been asked to verify funds among son’s friends are the ones who did not sync up their taxes with the FAFSA or those who had assets on the CSS that didn’t make sense with their income (seemed like it was all people with multiple properties). I’m so sorry for you loss. My brother died with young kids but he had never changed his life insurance from before he got married/divorced/had kids so it actually went to my Mom and she put it in 529s for his kids.
^^^It would have to be a financial adviser who knows how college FA works. 99% of them don’t.
@acdchai & @brantly We’ve spoken with quite a few financial advisors and we’re working with one now. Unfortunately, none of them know much about college financial aid. The one we’re working with was the only one that knew 529s count as a parent asset on FAFSA.
In other news, I made a few phone calls this afternoon to financial aid offices and all of the counselors I spoke with were terrific and more than willing to talk to me. I asked how they treat a student-owned 529:
Lawrence - It is assessed at 25%
Washington University - It is treated as a parent asset
Grinnell - treated as a parent asset
Pomona - treated as a parent asset
Two of the people I spoke with said that, if a student is a dependent, a student-owned 529 should be listed as a parent asset, never the student’s, on Profile and FAFSA both. They consider it a mistake when listed under the student’s assets and make a correction. I asked for clarification because I want to be certain I’m completing the Profile correctly and they both read the pertinent info out loud.
Also, WashU has it’s own financial aid form that can be used instead of Profile.
@adchai That’s good advice about keeping cash out for the AOTC. I had forgotten about that tax credit. I’m trying to figure out how much to keep in savings for the four years, probably $20,000. As far as the car, I slept on it and think it’s likely a bad idea.
That’s interesting, because it directly contradicts the Profile directions for student-owned 529s:
If you have a 529 plan as part of a Uniform Gift to Minors Act (UGMA) account or Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA) account or that was funded from assets from an UGMA/UTMA, it is considered a student asset and should be reported here.
The “here” is the student asset section of Profile, specifically question SA-110.
But, good for you for reaching out to the various FA offices with the question and getting substantive answers.
Hi, yes the UGMA/UTMA was mentioned. In my son’s case, the 529 was not funded through either of those so the federal guidelines are followed. I’m going to call the College Board’s help line tomorrow, as well.
Fair warning: my experience has been that the reliability and usefulness of the information provided this way can be hit or miss.
Got it. I called FAFSA with a question about this before I landed here and they were not helpful beyond reading the info available online.
@foxford, good for you for being proactive and getting some info directly from FA offices.
Looks like all the ones you talked to but Lawrence treat 529 as parent asset.
Even Lawrence assessing it at 25% would not be that bad. Since your income and you son’s income is very low, the net price should be pretty low.
Figure 25% of $50,000 would be $12,500, so about the cost of room and board.