Mandatory retirement contributions not reported on PROFILE

Paying for College
1

<p>Am I reading correctly--the CSS PROFILE Frequently Asked Questions about the Application Questions
(page 7 of 18) <a href="https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/9application_faq.jsp#Top%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/9application_faq.jsp#Top&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"If participation in the retirement plan is mandatory and there is no discretion as to the contribution amount, nothing needs to be reported on the PROFILE Application. An explanation can be provided in Section ES."</p>

<p>So I don't put those mandatory retirement contributions in untaxed income for PROFILE?!!!
This is wonderful news for us. Too bad FAFSA is not the same!</p>

2

<p>That is correct. Since the contributions are mandatory, and not by choice, those are dollars that are not available to pay towards college.</p>

3

<p>Does the same hold true for FAFSA? I didn't see any FAFSA instructions about mandatory versus voluntary, only about reporting untaxed contributions to retirement.</p>

4

<p>W-2 from new employer arrived today. None of the mandatory contribution amount showed up in any box 12, so I took it out of Untaxed Income on the FAFSA.</p>