<p>There is a question in FA Parent Questionnaire . They asked me retirement savings and cash value in retireement saving . What does it mean ? 401 or IRA or Roth IRA or something else ?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I take it that you mean a school specific form (and not the SSS form because I didn’t see that question there). You’d have to ask the school that question. </p>
<p>Quite frankly, I don’t like it because retirement savings are not something you can easily borrow against in most cases. Yes, I know they are trying to assess the overall financial strenght of the family, but a lot of people lost a lot of retirement assets a while back (ENRON), so who is to say how secure a family’s retirement is from a simple balance. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the same question will be asked come college time if your child goes to a private university where the use the CSS Profile.</p>
<p>“retirement savings” AND ‘cash value in retirement savings’ - that seems oddly phrased. I would guess that they mean 401s,IRAs, and any other retirement specific savings. Calling the school to be sure sounds like a good idea.</p>
<p>The school replied: if you have any retirement savings in funds or accounts separate from
other savings, they should be reported. Some people have funds deducted
from their monthly paychecks that go towards retirement savings. The
total cash value would be the total amount of any retirement savings. If
you have no retirement funds, just report “none”.</p>