Savings Bonds and GiftTrust for FAFSA

Paying for College
1

<p>First-time soon-to-be FAFSA filer here, and wondering if some savings bonds and GiftTrust account given to S by his grandparents when he was an infant are to be listed on his portion of the FAFSA.</p>

<p>I don't know the value of the savings bonds. Do I take them to a bank to find out? And the balance in the GiftTrust cannot be accessed by him until he is 21 years old.</p>

<p>Are these assets or income or does it matter? It is not a large amount of money by any means, but they are things in his name.</p>

2

<p>Yes they have to be reported as student assets. Even if he cannot access the fund it is still treated as an asset by FAFSA.</p>

<p>If they are US treasury binds you can value them here</p>

<p>[Calculate</a> the Value of Your Paper Savings Bond(s)](<a href=“http://www.treasurydirect.gov/BC/SBCPrice]Calculate”>Calculate the Value of Your Paper Savings Bond(s))</p>

3

<p>They are assets. Colleges will expect that he can borrow against the trust.</p>

4

<p>Thank you both for the quick response. And I just told S he could buy a car (an old one) with that money when he’s 21 if he doesn’t have one by then. I guess I shouldn’t have said that!</p>