<p>Before 401Ks if you wanted to save anything more than what you might receive in a defined benefit plan or social security…you saved. If you put $$ in mutual funds, stocks, bonds and never moved them into an IRA, annuity etc. then they are considered available.even if those $$ are “part of” your total retirement planning and what you need to live on until you are 100. There is no “generic” “retirement fund” different people, especially “older” parents may have done things differently. Read the instructions carefully…they are quite clear what gets counted and what doesn’t get counted.</p>