I was hoping someone could clarify the third to last question on the net price calculator under PARENT INCOME. The following is the question:
When you click on the little question mark it tells you which lines to look for to get the answer in your 1040. I am unable to get access to the 1040 from that year until about a month from now. I saw in another thread that this particular parameter is a game-changer and can fluctuate your award by as much as $10k.
My question is, is this question asking for how much you contributed to your retirement fund that year in question, or is it asking how much you have contributed in total for all 30 years of employment (in other words how much is in there in total currently)?
@Slimmy that question refers to the annual contribution. The amount the parents contributed during the year in question. So one year’s worth of contributions to retirement plan and not the current value of the plan.
I’ve just spent an hour on this question, trying to figure out if my automatic contributions to a State of Michigan retirement system need to be included on that line. I think they do. And even with just one year of contributions (a little over $9K), my net calculator results change a LOT. I tried UMich (in state) and UChicago and both reduced the grant aid by about $4000.
I was just catching my breath again after figuring lots of tuition amounts without filling in that line, and now I’m hyperventilating again thinking that all my estimates are off $4K.
@TwoHearted our net price calculations changed as much as $10k in some cases so we had to re-do our list of schools. I really wish they would ask what line off the 1040 to fill answers from just to make the calculation as precise as possible because it seems each one of those questions can skew results by large amounts.