<p>I apologize if this seems like a foolish question</p>
<p>Though I would say that my family’s been “well off” for a while now, my dad, the only one with a job at the moment now, is 64 and will be retiring this summer and we’ve also been dealing with a lot of medical issues within our family lately so I was considering seeking financial aid.</p>
<p>However I’ve noticed much relating to financial aid is based on what our family received the previous year.
Should we (and can we) seek out financial aid?</p>
<p>If you are talking about the 2014-15 school year, the FAFSA would still be based off 2013 income. You can file it and then contact your school to tell them about a change in circumstance. </p>
<p>Just because he is retiring doesn’t mean there will be a big change in income. He may have a good pension plan or retirement income. Discuss it with your parents and see what they think the changes will be.</p>
<p>Yes tell us what year you are entering college. Do you know how aid is calculated? There is a financial aid 101 thread pinned at the top but it is lengthy. Basically, if you are eligible, you should take it, there is no reason not to. But you may not be eligible. There is a income portion, which is the majority and an asset portion in the calculation. Some schools will consider extra unusual burdensome medical costs but others don’t.</p>
<p>Anyone can apply for financial aid.</p>
<p>Your dad’s retirement income will be considered income for financial aid purposes (except I believe untaxed portions of SS might not be included). So, as noted above, his pension income, any income from 401K or other retirement accounts will be considered income.</p>
<p>Presumably, if your dad, the sole breadwinner, is retiring, your family has crunched the numbers to feel confident they can pay their day to day bills.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you talk to your parents to find out about how much they can/will contribute to your college costs each year. Start there.</p>
<p>For the record, I tried talking to my parents but my dad was annoying vague about his plan while my mom just told me that she’s not entirely certain what they were going to do other than that he’s applying for social security and invested in a 401k plan (what exactly is in the plan she didn’t say).</p>
<pre><code>I actually tried seeking input from them initially about this but my dad wouldn’t give me a straight answer (ironic how much he gets on my case like as if I either don’t understand or don’t care that college is expensive) while my mom doesn’t know enough to give much advice.
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<p>Also I’m starting this fall</p>
<p>If you are starting this fall, I’m hoping your family already has a plan for dealing with the costs. You will be getting a bill very soon!</p>
<p>It sounds like you did not apply for financial aid for the upcoming year yet. Is that correct? Was this because your family had the income to pay college costs, or did you just not do it for some other reason. </p>
<p>Usually with the letter of acceptance, or on the college website in your portal, there is a breakdown of your costs to attend. Look there, and make sure your parents see this too. Someone will need to pay your bills!</p>
<p>You can complete a FAFSA with your parents now. This would enable you,the student, to take a $5500 Direct Loan in your name only. </p>
<p>At this point, institutional need based aid application deadlines for the 2014-2015 school year are long in the past. The likelihood of you gaining institutional need based aid is low, in my opinion. You missed the application deadline.</p>
<p>Your dad planned to retire. This was not an unexpected layoff, or job loss. It was planned. Hopefully there is a plan for meeting living costs, as well as your college costs.</p>
<p>How much does your university cost?</p>
<p>If you are starting college this fall, you and your parents need to fill out the 2014 FAFSA. To fill out the form, the 2013 federal tax return will be necessary and a list of the market value of all of your assets on the date you fill out the form It’s an online submission and you will be given what is called an EFC (Expected Family Contribution) based on that information which is pretty much the minimum you can expect to pay before becoming eligible for fianancial aid. Unless your family had very low income in 2013, it is doubtful that you will be PELL eligible, which is a grant for low income students. The only other entitlement that the federal government has are loans in the amount of $5500 for you for freshman year with the amounts increasing a bit each subsequent year. </p>
<p>If your family has been going through a lot of unreimbursed medical expenses, those can be submitted to the financial aid office with a request for some professional judgement on them What kind of consideration you can get depends on the extent of the money your family paid out of pocket. </p>
<p>Since your father was actively working last year, his retirement is not going to have much impact on your financial aid for this first year. If your family income goes way down this year as a result of his retirement, it will show up as a lower EFC for on the 2015 FAFSA which uses 2014 federal tax return income.</p>
<p>None of this may make much difference depending upon your school . Most schools do not meet full need regardless of what it may be, whether it goes up or down. You are also late in applying for aid for this upcoming year, and it is possible that your college doesn’t have a whole lot left. PELL and the DIrect Loan are guaranteed as the federal government provides the funds. ANything else is a school thing. ALso you should be checking out if your state has aid for college students and what those deadlines are . If you missed them this year, you can earmark for next, and check if you are eligible to get anything.</p>
<p>Though your father’s 401K will not be included on FAFSA in terms of an asset, any money he takes out of it will be considered income. However, non taxed Social Security will not be so included. as income. So if his Federal 1040 income is much lower in 2014, 2015 and future years, you may have some financial aid eligibility, but as to whether you get it met is up to the school. Also some schools require a PROFILE application as well for aid, so you do need to check what your particular college requires. Missing deadlines can result in loss of aid, be aware.</p>
<p>It’s a long story as as to why we didn’t do this sooner. </p>
<p>So gathering from your responses, we probably won’t be able to this year (a combination of missed date and father’s income last year) but it maybe worth still looking into for the following years. Hopefully though things don’t go too badly the upcoming years. Thank you for responses.</p>
<p>You didn’t miss the date. You can file a FAFSA up until June of 2015.</p>
<p>You can file a fafsa to get a direct loan.</p>
<p>It is unlikely you will get additional aid from your college for 2014-2015. That deadline has passed.</p>
<p>It all depends upon your college. At very least, you, the student will be able to borrow up to $5500 (if you have freshman status) in your own name if you file a FAFSA, and your parents would be able to apply for PLUS. If your EFC does indicate eligibility for financial aid, you can ask the financial aid office at the college for any funds they have left. They may come up with something. You might qualify for work study. You can also check again for the second semester. WIthout a FAFSA on file, you would be that much more behind. So go on ahead and file and see what is available.</p>
<p>Also, find out what your school’s policies are on Fin AId. Should you fill out a PROFILE as well? What are the prospects for next year? Any state aid available to you? </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I had a student who was accepted to a college and before she could apply for aid her dad passed away. She went to a CC for 2 years and then got accepted to an even better college. If financial aid is a concern you may want to a CC.</p>
<p>ChickenFetus -</p>
<p>Talk with your parents about how this first year of college will be paid for, and get some information out of them about how the next three will be paid for. If they can’t get you that information, you need to contact your college/university and find out how to defer enrollment for a year. Do not start college this fall without a plan for paying for all four years. Don’t even enroll at a community college until you have this sorted out. If it turns out that you will indeed need significant financial aid, you want to preserve your freshman applicant status for that new list of possibly affordable places.</p>