fafsa

Smart to Use Roth IRA for College

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roth ira for college

Should I use my Roth IRA for college? As a former financial planner, I would often get these questions from clients who read something somewhere. Much like patients asking doctors about drugs they heard about on TV, such questions rarely ended up being a good idea. When it comes to using a Roth IRA to save for college, it actually is a good idea. Can You Use Roth IRA to Pay for College First, you probably know that a Roth IRA is designed for retirement savings. The corresponding vehicle for parents saving for college is a 529 college savings plan. In general, the best way to save for college is in a 529 plan versus a Roth IRA. However, if you are planning to seek need-based financial aid, a Roth IRA might be the better solution for your family. Can I Use Roth IRA to Pay for College? Let’s start with CAN you use a Roth IRA to pay for college. We’ll look at SHOULD you use a Roth IRA for college next. As you may know, a Roth IRA offers tax-advantaged growth for investments within the account. This creates two kinds of money inside of a Roth IRA. The first …

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Using Roth IRA to Lower Assets for Financial Aid

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college financial aid

You have probably heard, but college is very expensive. Make that very, very, expensive. College is so expensive that even if you do pretty well with earnings and income, it can be hard to afford. In fact, having a higher income might actually make college harder to afford. Financial Aid for Higher Income Parents I’m going to make some assumptions here so that you know whether this is the right article for you. I’m going to assume that your child does well in school, has good SAT scores or ACT scores, and is applying to some higher tier universities. I’m also going to assume that your family income is in the six figures. There are two main types of financial aid. The first type is merit based financial aid. Often called scholarships, this kind of aid is offered to students based upon some factor other than need. The second type of financial aid is need based financial aid. This is financial aid that is based upon how much money you and your parents have. More specifically, need based financial aid is based on how low your income and assets are. Need Based Financial Aid with Higher Incomes Here is where …

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FAFSA Scam on FAFSA.com

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fafsa real website

A FAFSA scam is a bad way to start off your hunt for financial aid. If you, or someone you know, is going to college, or starting at a university, then chances are you need to apply for financial aid. Even if you don’t think you’ll qualify, there are often partial grants, federal loans, and various work-study programs that can help pay for college. Remember: the legit FAFSA website is FAFSA.gov. To apply for any federal financial aid, you’ll need to fill out a form called the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This form requires you to submit detailed financial information, which is verified against IRS records, and requires you to sign that all information is true under penalty of perjury. This is better than anyone else can really do as far as verifying your financial status, so many other financial aid grantors, including the universities themselves, rely on your submitted FAFSA. You have to fill out a FAFSA every year you are in college to continue to qualify for need-based financial aid. This is not one of those programs where you fill something out once. The easiest way to submit your FAFSA is online at fafsa.gov …

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