<p>"Don't tell me I should sell my expensive home and move into something small and affordable. We have looked at that and if we did, we coudln't itemize and I would be giving the govt 45% of gross income instead of 30."</p>
<p>I won't! What people usually tell my high-EFC working middle-class family is, basically, to FORGET about those high-priced LACs that only the affluent and low-EFC families can afford these days. Forget that you've worked and pinched-pennies for 18 years to save for tuitions that have skyrocketed far beyond your ability to pay. Forget that your kids worked long hours, studied hard, and over-achieved all those years, so they could attend the school of their choice. Forget that. Just fall down on your knees and weep with gratitude that there are probably still schools out their that you CAN afford--like the big public U (in-state, of course) or a lower-tier LAC that will give your high-achieving middle-class student some merit aid. Those can be good schools too! (Well, of course they can. I have a daughter at one of those.) Make peace with the fact that you simply cannot afford those expensive, elite LACs without going broke in the process. (I have a daughter at one of those, too.) Forget it and stop your whining. Well, that's what they tell me! ... Oh yes, and our 1998 and 1999 late-model cars have 140,000 and 130,000 on them, respectively.</p>
<p>Anything under 200,000 miles would be exciting at our house! I had to laugh as I filled out the PROFILE questions about cars. Ours are worth pretty much nothing ... but then the folks who owe a fortune on their Beemers will probably get a break on their EFC's because of their debt. Sigh.</p>
<p>I'm posting this reply here as well as in the thread 2 kids in college is 29137... It fits in both places and continues on with the "whining" that many of us middle class people are doing, rightfully so. BTW, the title that the op gave to this thread is hysterica!</p>
<p>I have posted in several locations my frustration with EFC; I guess I'm "blessed" in that our EFC is a little over 1/3 of our take home pay. Better than those of you at 1/2. What is truly amazing to me is that some how, some way it became a given that parents would save/pay for their children's entire 4 year education, or close to it. That parents would sacrifice putting money into their retirements (which ALL financial planners tell you not to do) to send their children to college and it is also assumed that parents would use their home equity to put their children through college. Many of us need that equity to "downsize" as the price of a home is ridiculous in the part of the country we choose to live in. Perhaps the home equity is also part of the "saved" retirement. Lastly, that parents would take out a PLUS loan to pay for school if they needed is absurd, more debt being incurred in bad economic times! Have you checked out a PLUS loan, it's hardly a deal or anything along the lines of "financial aid". It is a typical consumer loan, which is also available to the student under the disguise of "a student loan". Nothing like the federal student loans that come in a financial aid package. Sadly the cost of college for public and private has increased astronomically. Yes, your child can choose the local public school, but in our case the EFC covers the cost of that and we don't have it! He's attending a private school now which is darn close to the cost of the local university after his "financial aid" package. Either way all the money saved for college is gone and he's only 1/2 way done. A number of things need to be changed, and I'm not sure who or what has the ability to make that happen. Even the federal student loans are not adequate for the cost of a public university. The maximum amount a student is allowed to borrow doesn't even make a dent in the overall cost.</p>
<p>^^ Yeah... I can really relate to this thread, particularly because my mom spent years with a very low income, only recently began making more, and thus is still in $18000 of consumer debt accumulated from when she was making a lot less and still trying to pay for our education. We live near Boston, so not quite Boston, but still, COL is rather high I believe. To make things MUCH worse, it turns out my noncustodial dad makes twice as much as she, so that, while if her income was being considered for Harvard's new plan she would not have to pay more than $7900, if my dad's income is considered, we probably wouldn't even qualify for the 10% plan (not that I'll get into Harvard, but since Harvard seems to have the best plan, I can only imagine what's going to happen to my aid at the schools I'm looking at..). He claims not to have much money. Especially where my dad owns a house, has a lot of money, but might not contribute, and my mom has given her ALL to pay for my education and my sister's education, and still is in debt, I don't know WHAT we're going to do... Loans :-(</p>
<p>"I had to laugh as I filled out the PROFILE questions about cars. Ours are worth pretty much nothing ... but then the folks who owe a fortune on their Beemers will probably get a break on their EFC's because of their debt."</p>
<p>Debt may explain why people who live in big, expensive homes, with new cars (and maybe a boat) in the driveway, "qualify" for significant need-based aid. While we were busy saving money, being frugal, and paying everything off as we went along (including our modest home), they were busy going into debt. ... We even knew a kid who drove a new BMW his senior year of high school, while my girls had to squabble over our ten-year-old high-mileage Subaru--which they had to share with me. Yet, Mr. BMW got a substantial need-based grant from a school where my older daughter received zip. Alas.</p>
<p>I don't think any schools take consumer debt into account- so having a car or a boat with a big loan against it is no finaid help at all- now paying cash for that Bimmer and using assets that would not have been protected could help, but if you bought a $100,000 car (!) you only protect $6k in finaid need- so these people who have these stories may not be telling the exact truth :confused: Or they could have had a lot of good years in business, paid for the house and cars, have no debt, and then have a business reversal wherein their income qualifies them for aid.</p>
<p>Most of the formula for FAFSA is based on income not assets.</p>
<p>PROFILE has questions about consumer debt, and certain schools ask even more in-depth questions of their own about debt. I haven't decided if they factor in the debt, or if they want to know how "wisely" a family spends the money they earn! Just kidding ... the idea that schools would somehow reward the frugal among us is just too silly to even entertain.</p>
<p>just as a point of reference to the person with a $2500 mortgage payment......</p>
<p>My take home pay for the MONTH is $2784
And my EFC is 1/3 of my net take home pay</p>
<p>I wish the fafsa didn't add back in the money we are emphatically told to save for our retirement. </p>
<p>How can it be retirement money and disposable income at the same time.
and the other insult in the fafsa calc is the fact that single parents (there is not and never was a father in my son's life) have less than 1/2 of asset protection than a 2 parent family</p>
<p>fwiw, my car has less than 100K miles, but it's a 1991 civic that I hardly drive anymore (telework and walk to stores)</p>
<p>For those in high COL areas, no sympathy here. So you live in a $1,000,000 home (on paper) that cost you $100,000 20 year ago. Borrow $100,000 against for 30 years and make some payments. You are paying no more than the people in Nebraska living in a $100,000 home. When you retire, sell it, net $900,000 or so and move to an island. The family in Nebraska will sell theirs for a net $100,000 or less. That's why equity counts.</p>
<p>bandit, not everyone is in that position. Not every home sells for $1M or anything close to it. Also, if someone did have a couple of hundred thousand or more in equity, they still need to make payments on it if they borrow. Not everyone's salary will allow for that. If they could do that, they might not be applying for financial aid in the first place. As I understand it, now that homes are foreclosing, banks are no longer jumping to give HELOC anyway. The reason is because people cannot make the payments.</p>
<p>"For those in high COL areas, no sympathy here."</p>
<p>And folks with $900,000 equity in a home in a high COL area might respond that if one can't afford to rear a child with the college education one deems necessary for a child's success, one should be satisfied with a taxpayer funded high school education or one shouldn't have a child. Furthermore, one shouldn't get taxpayer aid (welfare/food stamps or Federal grants/subsidized loans for college) to help rear a kid, or more aid for more kids, because one shouldn't have had any kids if one will require taxpayer aid to rear them.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I am expressing "A" point of view, not "MY" point of view. I do not have $900,000 equity in a home in a high COL area , I do not live in Nebraska in a $100,000 home, I cannot afford to pay tuition at a private college/university, and I do not receive financial aid from any school.</p>
<p>Agree with northeastmom! taking out a loan against your home is still a LOAN and needs to be repaid. It's all relative. The greater the income the greater the debt.</p>
<p>The thing about equity loans is that many people are already paying out every month all they should be allowing for home related expenses- mortgage/ins/repairs/taxes.</p>
<p>When housing prices increase because of new jobs or because the county wants more taxes ( & from flippers who move from an even higher priced area)- there isn't any guarantee that those prices will still be good 10 years from now. My brother bought a house last year- and it already assessed at $80,000 less than what he paid for it, because they are putting up so many homes in his area & they aren't selling as expected.</p>
<p>Our house is supposedly worth more than what we paid, because of increased density & the scarcity of entry level single family housing. However, making a bigger mortgage payment- is not something I feel comfortable with, it is difficult enough to pay the increased taxes.
It is also at a tipping point in our neighborhood.
Rows of single family homes are being torn down to put up unattractive townhomes. The more this is done, the less attractive the neighborhood becomes and the price goes down ( unless you want to use the lot for a condo)</p>
<p>It would be nice to be able to live here after we retire- & I am looking at ways to keep income coming in. I also see that many people across the country already have loans for more than what they can pay back & that is not even taking into account college costs.</p>
<p>And you probably have heard of the ecoterroists in our state, who attempted to burn down behemoth houses that were encroaching on the neighborhood in their area. </p>
<p>Housing is an emotional issue & IMO is too important to use it for a line of credit for college or vacations or medical expenses.</p>
<p>You can't pay your mortgage- where will you go?</p>
<p>And by the way, bandit, the $63,000 income limit for a family of two that I mentioned - that's to be considered for "affordable housing" rentals. No equity there. Don't even think of buying on that "affluent" salary.</p>