Fafsa?

[SoonerTexan]

I just figured out a med student can fill out a FAFSA form--I had no idea. Did any of you do this, and was it beneficial? Technically, we will not be married until June, so I'm assuming I don't have to be a part of this year's form, correct?

Is it worth it to fill out? DF's family is pretty comfortable, but he is one of six (and #2 is off to college this year)

Any financial help in general would be greatly appreciated I'll freely admit we are both pretty naive when it comes to financial aid (we both had college scholarships). While Texas tuition isn't really expensive, and I'll be working, it seems stupid to not figure out where you can get a break!

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

1) Fill it out
2) Don't tell them about you earning $$ until the absolute last second you have to. He would lose out on a lot of grant money that he might qualify for.

[scarlett09]

Yes, fill it out. Your DF should qualify as an independent, so they won't be looking at his parents' income. Being independent is based upon a variety of factors, including date of birth, marital status and degree being sought. They have a form you can look over to determine independent status and a "practice" FAFSA on the FAFSA website: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm.

Each state has different deadlines for filing in order to be eligible for $$, so make sure you know them and file as soon as he has done his taxes.

And your getting married this year will not affect his FAFSA at all. The FAFSA for 2010-2011 is based upon tax information from 2009. You will need to worry about claiming married on the FAFSA (and on your taxes) next year.

[scrub-jay]

You will need to worry about claiming married on the FAFSA (and on your taxes) next year.

I was going to mention this. Your income wont matter at all because you weren't married in 2009.

It is definitely worth filling out - he may qualify for a scholarship, but often filling out the FAFSA is required to be considered. Worth a shot even if you don't accept any of the aid.

ETA: Also, at this point, your income is speculative because you haven't earned it yet (from a tax perspective).

[ladymoreta]

Definitely fill it out - I think it's required, and it will qualify him for the government loans.

Bad news - UTSW requires students enter their parents' income, even if the students are married. (At the intro session, an older (50+ year old) student asked, and even he had to. You're never actually "independent" in their eyes.) That was bad news for us - DH's parents are pretty well off, but they did not contribute, which left us with an expected family contribution of around $20k. Sucked. We still got some loans, though.

[SoonerTexan]

Bad news - UTSW requires students enter their parents' income, even if the students are married. (At the intro session, an older (50+ year old) student asked, and even he had to. You're never actually "independent" in their eyes.) That was bad news for us - DH's parents are pretty well off, but they did not contribute, which left us with an expected family contribution of around $20k. Sucked. We still got some loans, though. __________________

Boo

[poky]

Definitely fill it out - I think it's required, and it will qualify him for the government loans.

Bad news - UTSW requires students enter their parents' income, even if the students are married. (At the intro session, an older (50+ year old) student asked, and even he had to. You're never actually "independent" in their eyes.) That was bad news for us - DH's parents are pretty well off, but they did not contribute, which left us with an expected family contribution of around $20k. Sucked. We still got some loans, though.

I wondered about this. I remember DH had to have his parents fill out a FAFSA form even though he hasn't lived at home or gotten any money from them since 1990. Pretty silly.

[SoonerTexan]

If anything, this has prompted me to really start taking action on my finances now. I've known what expenses are coming, but it really doesn't hit you until you start adding it up! We'll still be fine, but if we are going to try and pay tuition as we go as originally planned (out of my salary), then we are going to have to really sit down and prioritize our expenses.

Good Lord, I've been looking at the way I've spent my own money for the past year, and I'm downright ashamed. This girl is jumping on the budget train fast!!!

[MarissaNicole]

In IL most schools won't give you ANY loan or scholarship money unless you fill it out.

Right now you are NOT married, so he should just put what income he has which I imagine should be little to none. That way you should be able to get the full loan amount next year.

We lucked out because I didn't start working until the end of DH's second year (2008). This meant that I only had half a year's salary on my taxes -and it didn't effect the amount of loans he got for fourth year (2009). And 2009 was the first FULL calendar year I worked but since he is a fourth year we won't have the FAFSA this year.

The good news is you get a tax break for all his student expenses. Although I only worked half a year last year I got all my federal taxes back because the amount of school expenses (even though paid for by loans) exceeded my income!

Also I don't know about tax purposes but I would talk to an accountant about the money you get for your wedding. Because I think if you have it in a bank account you will have to claim it, because it tells you to list your bank accounts.

[SoonerTexan]

Although I only worked half a year last year I got all my federal taxes back because the amount of school expenses (even though paid for by loans) exceeded my income!

Now that's good news

Thanks for the heads up about the wedding money too!

Ahh--this is when I am extra happy I found you guys!

[madeintaiwan]

DH went to school in STL and I had to fill out the FAFSA every year including his parents' incomes. In addition the school had another "outfit" that we had to also submit tax and living information from us and all three of his parents. The last year he had a falling out with his father and we had to submit a signed letter stating why we could not provide his father's information and it had to be approved.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Definitely fill it out - I think it's required, and it will qualify him for the government loans.

Bad news - UTSW requires students enter their parents' income, even if the students are married. (At the intro session, an older (50+ year old) student asked, and even he had to. You're never actually "independent" in their eyes.) That was bad news for us - DH's parents are pretty well off, but they did not contribute, which left us with an expected family contribution of around $20k. Sucked. We still got some loans, though.

This is true at DH's school too. We thought it might help him. 6 kids, 3 in college, barely making ends meet (and I do mean BARELY - we've helped with their mortgage before) and yet it somehow doesn't help at all. It's like they want you to fill it out to screw people with well-off parents but not to help anyone else!

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Also I don't know about tax purposes but I would talk to an accountant about the money you get for your wedding. Because I think if you have it in a bank account you will have to claim it, because it tells you to list your bank accounts.

That's one thing about med schools taking your parents into account, people can't hide money. I had friends who wrote checks to their parents so they could report no savings and then took all the money back as soon as their aid packages came through. No one can hide money in med school! They want to know about EVERY dime.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

If anything, this has prompted me to really start taking action on my finances now. I've known what expenses are coming, but it really doesn't hit you until you start adding it up! We'll still be fine, but if we are going to try and pay tuition as we go as originally planned (out of my salary), then we are going to have to really sit down and prioritize our expenses.

Good Lord, I've been looking at the way I've spent my own money for the past year, and I'm downright ashamed. This girl is jumping on the budget train fast!!!

So, I think it is awesome you're considering paying for his tuition right out of your salary but just wanted to say a couple of things:

1) That is going to be REALLY hard. It's a LOT of money and he should file for aid/loans while he thinks about it. We theoretically could do this as well and we choose not to because:
2) You need to think about what your money could make in investments while the interest on your loans is deferred. So if med school = $10,000 for 4 years (I wish!), it equals $40K. But if you took that $40K and invested it (even conservatively), you would likely have more after 4 years with compounded interest than you would have in the value of paying off his loans. We live completely off my salary and bank his loans. When he graduates, we will pay off every penny we can in a lump sum (it still won't be close to all his loans because he has undergrad loans but it will make a big dent)

My only point is that you should talk to an investment professional about investing vs. paying off immediately with your specific income and his school costs. I was all for paying as you go (if you can) but when I thought about the economics, I felt that semi-conservative investing with that exact money was likely to reap more benefits while the loans are interest defered.

Let me know if you have questions on this. It took me a few times before I got it myself.

Lastly, not paying in full would give you flexibility if your financial situation every changed (kids...for example) because you could liquify those assets to get the money. If you pay it to the school, it's gone and so is the safety net it represents.

Anyway, you're smart to think of all this before you even start!

[SoonerTexan]

My only point is that you should talk to an investment professional about investing vs. paying off immediately with your specific income and his school costs. I was all for paying as you go (if you can) but when I thought about the economics, I felt that semi-conservative investing with that exact money was likely to reap more benefits while the loans are interest defered.

Let me know if you have questions on this. It took me a few times before I got it myself.

Lastly, not paying in full would give you flexibility if your financial situation every changed (kids...for example) because you could liquify those assets to get the money. If you pay it to the school, it's gone and so is the safety net it represents.

You know--I almost started another post on this subject. Thanks for chiming in! It really is going to require some thought on our part.

Even though I think we could comfortably pay for his tuition/expenses out of my salary (thank GOODNESS for Texas tuition!), I think some loans are inevitable. Reading what the MS4s are going through right now paying for the whole interview process has really opened my eyes as to how expensive that will be.

We may be able to consider another source of loan funding as well--good old mom and dad. I know my parents would happily give us a very low interest loan, though their resources are somewhat limited. I think DF's would have no problem with it as well. I'm not sure we want to go down that route for obvious reasons, but it does seem like it could be a good option--after all, parents tend to care just a wee bit more supportive than lenders (in most cases). Both sets of parents are very supportive of DF's education--ha, in fact, DF's parents are getting a pretty good deal--I'm 99% positive they would be paying for DF's tuition no questions asked if he were still single.

You're right about kids too--they are very much *on the horizon* for us and we would like to have a child before he finishes med school (of course this is all totally speculative, but it's on our minds). So that is another good thing to think about.

Can anyone point me to some good threads about loans and deferment? (though it seems there are some new rules for this?)