<p>Does a Roth IRA affect EFC? My college uses the CSS and FAFSA</p>
<p>Are you making a ROTH contribution or taking a distribution from a ROTH or converting a traditional to a ROTH?</p>
<p>I’m beginning a Roth </p>
<p>A Roth IRA is not considered in calculating FAFSA EFC. Probably not as well for CSS/Profile purposes, although schools that require Profile can use that data supplied in any way they please. (I can’t remember if Profile even asks for qualified retirement account balances.)</p>
<p>As a student, contributing your earned income (up to $5500/year) into a ROTH IRA should lower your (FAFSA) EFC because the money will not be counted/assessed as an asset.</p>
<p>Okay thanks! My grandpa is having me start one, and I just didn’t want it to count against me!</p>
<p>Excellent! Thank your grandpa heartily and give him a big hug!</p>
<p>It depends on school. A school using css can still count student’s roth as assets</p>