<p>UNEPgirl,</p>
<p>“1) ohio_mom, you mentioned earlier that “you have to add yearly 401k contributions BACK into your folks income.” What exactly does this mean?”</p>
<p>Ok, when your mom does her taxes, 401k deductions she made are already deducted from her pay, so she is not taxed on them. However, when you complete the beastly PROFILE, you have to add the yearly deducation (not the total in her account) back in. This my least favorite part of the whole process :-/. Although Chicago asked for retirement assets last year, it didn’t seem to impart the grant portion of the finaid (it went up a little, in fact).</p>
<p>Since your folks have virtuously been paying down their mortgage, they will have equity in their home. Some of it is considered to an asset that may be borrowed against.</p>