This will be a taxable scholarship as it’s not used for tuition. If your kid’s total taxable scholarships plus earnings go over the standard deduction (~$12500) then you will have to pay kiddie tax at your marginal rate. So it’s not just the scholarship money you would be wasting, but potentially your own as well.
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Different plans have different networks, copays, coinsurances, deductibles, etc. With both plans (one primary and one secondary), your D will not only have access to both networks, but also she’ll end up paying the lower of the two plans if the medical service provider is on both networks.
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OK, well I just went down a totally baffling rabbit hole of searching the web to try to understand what a kiddie tax means in general and for my family in specific. The outside scholarship has sent us 20+ pages of information about how the scholarship works, and what it covers and doesn’t cover. And yet there is not a single mention of taxes in all of those pages! Hmm. I think a call to the school tomorrow is definitely in order because I think the original financial aid package from the college mentioned health insurance anyway, but maybe that aid is only available for students who don’t have comparable insurance through a parent.
In simple terms, scholarships covering tuition and fees are tax free, those covering room, board and incidentals (travel, insurance etc) are taxable. Your kid gets to use their standard deduction (~$12500 or so last year) against these taxable scholarships (though you need to add any of their earnings as well) then anything over that is taxable under kiddie tax rules at the parents’ marginal rate.
So simplified example: full scholarship, say $50K tuition plus $25K room and board etc. Kid earns another $3K during the year. Then $28K must be reported and just over $15K is subject to kiddie tax, which if parent is in the 22% bracket is ~$3300 federal tax due (state tax is additional).
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One thing to consider is, how likely is your child to go to a doctor on their own in a new city/town? The college plan might be on campus, easily accessible and overall faster in case of an emergency. Plus they’ll have referrals and will likely tie in to other college services, if needed like mental health, rape crisis, etc.
We have very good health insurance ( in fact I’m 100% sure it’s better than the U). But I’m getting the college plan for convenience. My kid hates doctors and I want to make sure it’s as easy as possible in case of health care needs. Just a thought.
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Interesting and still confusing. So if my daughter is receiving 75K in aid from the college, how does that get factored into her aid package the next year? Will the college just ignore the taxable aid from freshman year in calculating the new aid package? Otherwise, it seems like my daughter would get less aid for junior and senior year because the freshman year aid package makes me look 28K wealthier than before, which seems a little counter-productive, particularly for a college that claims that parents earning under a certain threshold will have no billed expenses.
Sorry. I just realized that I may be taking this thread off the general topic. I will start a new one with my specific questions!
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Can someone remind me whether the particular twin XL mattress topper discussed on CC is specifically better than any twin XL memory foam mattress topper, and how/why it’s better? There seems to be a lot of them on the market, most advertising as memory foam and many as “cooling” and most with good reviews on Amazon. Thanks!
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I’m interested in the mattress topper reviews also. I don’t usually shop at Walmart but I am considering getting one from there. They have a brand called Allswell that we bought for the rock hard beds at Grandma’s mountain house. Walmart was the only game in town. I believe we got 3inch (maybe 4 inch) toppers and we have been pretty pleased with them.
I will get a waterproof cover for it though, whatever kind we end up with. They make some nice ones now that aren’t noisy/rustley.
I recently got a topper from Target for a very firm futon we have here at home. I was in a rush to get it and Target was closest, but they only had a 1.5 inch topper and I feel like thicker would have been better. It’s okay and definitely helped but it’s not as good as the thicker ones we got at Walmart.
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It was this one that several folks recommended last year -
It is on sale this weekend 40% off. It is pricey, but my D21 was very, very happy all year. She said it was the best thing we purchased for her room.
Warning - Moving a thick mattress topper is no joke, so do not open it the first time until you get there in the dorm. We are 1000 miles away so it is in a storage unit with many other things for the summer. The best plan of attack is to roll them up in a sheet and then into an XL garbage bag and tape into a cylinder shape for storage. My friend called from her son’s dorm room a few weeks ago for moral support as she tried to figure out how to get it in her trunk or back seat.
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Thank you so much! Do you know if the cooling upgrade (+60$) is worth it? If you didn’t get the cooling version, does anyone else know? Kid tends to run hot and heading to much warmer climate…
Thanks again!
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We did not have a cooling option last year. We were also headed in the opposite direction 
This is the one we have in grandma’s mountain house: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Memory-Foam-Mattress-Topper-Twin-Cooling-with-Graphite-3-Inch-Allswell/598003426 It’s $90, but I would get a waterproof cover for it. The Tempurpedic looks nice with the cover that comes on it. And I totally agree, don’t open them before you get there. Best choice might be to just buy them once you’re there because they are bulky even in the box. I think I’m gonna get the Allswell because I know we like it and it’s $100 less. I’ll probably get this mattress pad from Target because I have one of those already and like it. Machine Washable Cooling Waterproof Quilted Mattress Pad - Room Essentials™ : Target So, $120 total.
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That is hugely helpful to know! My D22 is headed to Barnard from Alaska, so we’ll be getting a lot of her things when we get there.
Thank you!
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In our case, we just emptied our car and brought stuff up to her room during the assigned time/parking slot. But we didn’t start unpacking. Instead I parked the car while my daughter figured out where the “yard sale” was taking place before there were only slim pickings left.
Once we saw the location of outlets, vs. her bed, etc., I ran out to the local hardware store on Broadway, two blocks south, and picked up surge protected power strip with the appropriate length cord (fire codes might frown upon regular extension cords - so to avoid any argument, you should have the long-cord power strip. Of course, you can’t buy it up front, because with your luck, HER desk/bed might be right next to an available outlet and you don’t want 7 feet of cord piling up.)
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You should buy a long one. He bed next sem/year may be somewhere else.
Yes, I’ve seen the warnings and experienced the pain of having to roll up thinner toppers after summer camps for years. So I bought the Temperpedic one the last time it was on sale and it’s still sitting in its original shrinkwrap ready to go to college. It’s not getting aired out beforehand. If there’s a chemical smell, DS is just going to have to deal with it for a few days.
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Hi - if the student makes say $2000 during summer ( first time) , how does the process work for tax filings etc. Can the student join parents for joint filing? Are student wages taxed at this level?
Thanks
Should not owe federal. Were income taxes withheld by employer? Would file for refund.
Also, student might file if eligible for refundable tax credit.
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S22 was able to see his AP CSA score on the college portal. He got a 5 and will get credit, which is always nice. He’s programmed for the robotics team for years, so a 5 was expected really. But it was still good to see!
Now the wait until Wednesday for the IB scores. He has some ideas, but I don’t know how sure he feels. I’m sure others are waiting - good luck!
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My daughter had that one last year and it fits perfectly in the Ikea fratka bag but it does take a minimum of 2 people to get it in there!
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