@LMK5 They want to know if you are moving cash. They’re interested in unbalanced assets vs. income. For example, an income of $125k, zero in non-retirement savings, and $10M in qualified retirement accounts.
I see. They want to make sure we’re not “laundering” hehe. Question: When I had to submit the tax returns via IDOC, I realized that there was no hand signature on the returns because they were efiled. Will the documents get kicked back because of this? What do they expect you to do?
I never expected to get any financial aid and as it turned out I did. I make a decent salary, have a nice amount in retirement accounts and had 529 for my 3 kids. I have 2 kids in college at the same time. Having 2 in college at the same time made a big difference. Also, I feel schools have gotten to the point that they charge so much, it’s almost become a sliding scale payment system meaning they give alot more aid percentage wise than in the past. I would say don’t assume anything.
At my kid’s school, they asked me to print my Turbotax filled out return, sign it and then send it to them. They don’t use IDOC, but that is what I did even though it seems wrong to sign/date something from the past.
One other point. I too was a bit concerned with my kids seeing my whole financial life. I find my kids have more access than they realize. I just filled out the forms and they never looked. At some point I felt it was not such a big deal. My kid asked me about my finances during his second year of college. Even though he had access to all the information and didn’t realize it, I still was open and honest about it.
Thanks privateID. I’ll wait to see if IDOC asks me to resubmit anything with a new signature. When I was uploading, it specifically said not to include any pages from the tax preparation SW, which would of course have shown that the return was e-filed.
As far as kids seeing parents’ financial details, I’m not a fan. Seems like a no-win for everyone concerned. Kids can very easily get the wrong impression when they see the figures because they don’t have any experience or reference points in what it takes to run a household, fund parents’ retirement needs, allow for emergencies, etc. We also live in an area where kids tend to feel entitled and there is just no benefit for them to see information they really have no business seeing, IMHO.
If your kid gets the wrong impression about your finances or exhibits an attitude of entitlement, this is the perfect opportunity for you to be a good parent and help lead your kid into adulthood. Lifelong lessons can take some effort to impart, but spending the time to do it can pay lifelong dividends. Nobody ever said being a good parent was always easy.
Absolutely, but all kids are different. I have one in college and she takes care of all her needs other than tuition and housing by working a part time job. She understands her role in pitching in. My other 2 kids are a little different. They want to go to an elite private school regardless of the cost. We have told them that the only way they can go to a private school is if some aid comes along with it, however, they are convinced, for whatever reason, that we don’t need the aid. Having them view our finances would only give them more ammunition, even if they aren’t equipped to interpret the data. Many kids think if you make 100k per year that you can afford 75k per year for college.
And there is no time like the present to show them the entire picture - the mortgage, the health insurance cost, the grocery bill. The TAXES.
My kids were clueless. I went to the store, put gas in the car, paid the bills. One time I filled up with gas (with them) just before drove about 2 hours, spent the day, and then headed home. About half way home, my daughter looked over at the gas gauge and was shocked that it was no longer full, that we’d used up the gas and had to buy more! Yes, I said, the car eats the gas and I have to buy more all the time!
My other daughter learned the cost of a Starbucks when she started working and realized she had to work an hour to pay for 2 drinks.
You are the parent. It is your money. You can show the kids how you budget in broad terms like current bills, taxes, retirement savings, even vacation money (that they’ll understand). Show them how much college costs and how much you have to divide over 3 kids in college. If they can’t understand, they don’t need to go to an elite college.
If you handle making doctors appointments, dentist, new eye glasses for your kids, picking up prescriptions at CVS- stop. My kids thought these things were free. The first time one of my kids said “how much will insurance cover for these new glasses” and I said “Zero, we don’t HAVE eyecare insurance”… well, you should have seen the look. Yes, the bank of good old mom and dad. Paying for braces, a $50 copay for every doctors visit, that new cream the dermatologist recommended which costs $40 a month and there’s no generic yet…etc.
Kids understand finances pretty quickly if you let them. And you are doing them a HUGE favor once they understand what a paycheck has to cover-- payroll taxes? Who is FICA anyway? Insurance costs HOW MUCH a month? Your kids will be working in four years… no time like the present for them to understand that if they are earning a 35,000 salary in their first job, that doesn’t mean they have 35K to spend…
Oh yes, they’ve heard all this and more. My latest is: “The cost of a simple bachelors degree at a private school costs more than the house you live in, and I’m still paying for said house after 22 years.” But one thing not discussed here is not whether the money is available, but what is the value of the money spent. This is much harder for kids, and many adults to absorb. We have great UC schools here, but many kids want to reach higher. Trying to get most kids to ascertain whether it’s worth paying 75k per year vs. 35k per year for a liberal arts degree is quite a stretch.
Agree with @BelknapPoint , it’s the parents’ responsibility to teach kids about finances, what it takes to run a household, how retirement savings work, mortgage/debt terms and consequences, etc. Without our guidance, I am not sure how they would learn about financial things, their high school consumer ed and/or fin mgmt classes definitely aren’t enough. I guess parents could pass on this knowledge by using made up numbers and situations, but it does seem more straightforward to work with reality.
Definitely, adults don’t even agree on how to do this, and have different criteria to evaluate the decision
You just have to be the parent and say “this is how much we are paying for school” or “we don’t think it is worth it.” Kids want the fancier guitars and cars and clothing and new skis. Parents say yes or no using their own values about their own money. College is really not that different in that kids may not understand why they can’t spend $60k but there isn’t much they can do about it because it is not their money.
Some people do put the decisions on their kids by giving them a 529 account and letting them pick to spend it on undergrad, grad, or even take it in cash if they don’t spend it on college. The amount in the 529 might restrict choices.
It’s not just teaching them about budgets. It can be the concern wehether they then keep their lips zipped. One of mine came home with all sorts of info friends had told her about their parents’ incomes, what a trip cost, etc. So it’s also the milieu.
Right timing matters.
Reach higher than UCLA or Cal or UCSD, or CalPolySLO?
Really? Folks from around this country would be thrilled to attend these schools at instate costs.
Who told your kids there weren’t first rate public colleges in CA?
Oh I know they’re great schools. It’s just that they got 1540 and 1560 respectively on their SATs so they think they should be reaching higher.
I’m sorry…but in my opinion…both UCLA and Cal are quite high…no real need to reach higher.
They could also apply to USC…were either NMF? If so…1/2 tuition.
I’m with you. No, I don’t think they were NMF. I think their PSAT scores were just outside the limit.
It sounds like you are willing to be full pay at Stanford and Yale. You asked if you should fill out FAFSA/CSS and that’s up to you. A few have posted that even if the NPC says you will get nothing, their experience was that you might. If you have 3 in college, you’d have to be very well off not to get anything.
But it is up to you.
It’s one thing to “reach higher” for the heck of it, being rational, versus assuming UCLAand UCB are somehow lesser. You get this, but need to encourage your kids to view this in an informed way, not the usual kee jerk mania for a top private.
Plus it takes a lot more than SAT scores and some schmancy ECs to get into S or Y. This could be an exercise in futility if those are how your kids match themselves.
You said not a very high income, some 529s. Is that enough to pay the higher costs (even with some aid) or how would you pay?