College Discussion - View Single Post - Financial Aid "Credit" for Church and Charity Gifts?

happymomof1 · 04-01-2008, 08:15 AM

chaucers_pal is right on here.

The FAFSA and Profile calculations of EFC are designed to squeeze as much money as possible out of the families. Basically, beyond certain living expenses and taxes, every additional cent we earn, have in savings, have in home equity, are likely to earn in the future, the kid is likely to ever earn in the future, etc., are considered to be available to pay for the cost of higher education. This is the reality that all of us parents have to just accept once and for all. Each family has to figure out individually how to live with that.

In our case, for example, the FAFSA calculators that I have run indicate that FAFSA will estimate that we have $22,000 available for the EFC. Happychild has two parents now aged 50+ who put $6,000 into their IRAs this year, and a grandmother whose partial support this year is expected to be about $10,000. This adds up to precisely $22,000. There is no home equity, because we are renting. There is only about $140,000 total in retirement funds (401-k and IRAs). Since we began to contribute to grandma's support, all charitable giving was halted. And yes, we are tightening down the belts this year (10th grade) to see just how hard things are going to be when happychild hits college.

Each family makes its own financial commitments. Some tithe. Some support grandma. Some put money away for retirement. Some buy houses. Some save for college. Some manage to do all of those things. In the end, each family has to live with its own decisions. In our case, what grandma's support (and all indications are that the amount we contribute will have to increase with time) has done to the budget has taught us that our retirement funding should come first. This may mean that happychild can only go to a commuter school rather than the LAC of someone's dreams, but that is a reality that we have to accept.

If a family feels compelled to tithe, and that decision affects how much cash is readily available for college funding, that is that family's business. No whining is allowed about it any more than we are allowed to whine about how our choice help to support grandma affects our cash-flow.

04-01-2008, 08:15 AM	#9
happymomof1 Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Maryland Gender: Female Threads: 1 Posts: 630	chaucers_pal is right on here. The FAFSA and Profile calculations of EFC are designed to squeeze as much money as possible out of the families. Basically, beyond certain living expenses and taxes, every additional cent we earn, have in savings, have in home equity, are likely to earn in the future, the kid is likely to ever earn in the future, etc., are considered to be available to pay for the cost of higher education. This is the reality that all of us parents have to just accept once and for all. Each family has to figure out individually how to live with that. In our case, for example, the FAFSA calculators that I have run indicate that FAFSA will estimate that we have $22,000 available for the EFC. Happychild has two parents now aged 50+ who put $6,000 into their IRAs this year, and a grandmother whose partial support this year is expected to be about $10,000. This adds up to precisely $22,000. There is no home equity, because we are renting. There is only about $140,000 total in retirement funds (401-k and IRAs). Since we began to contribute to grandma's support, all charitable giving was halted. And yes, we are tightening down the belts this year (10th grade) to see just how hard things are going to be when happychild hits college. Each family makes its own financial commitments. Some tithe. Some support grandma. Some put money away for retirement. Some buy houses. Some save for college. Some manage to do all of those things. In the end, each family has to live with its own decisions. In our case, what grandma's support (and all indications are that the amount we contribute will have to increase with time) has done to the budget has taught us that our retirement funding should come first. This may mean that happychild can only go to a commuter school rather than the LAC of someone's dreams, but that is a reality that we have to accept. If a family feels compelled to tithe, and that decision affects how much cash is readily available for college funding, that is that family's business. No whining is allowed about it any more than we are allowed to whine about how our choice help to support grandma affects our cash-flow.