In the international student financial aid application I have to list specific expenses for utilities, household necessities and entertainment, among others. Could somebody explain exactly what these categories encompass? Also, regarding the possessions where I should list money that correspond to antiques, savings, land etc. owned by my family, should I list those owned by my grandparents as well? Also, what amount of “emergency funds” is a student advised to have?
Also, my father is a pensioneer due to illness but technically he has a registered a company which used to be actively working but ceased all activity in the 1990’s. The company in question, although inactive and producing no profits, has not been “erased” as such so should I list my father as being a pensioneer or self-employed and furthermore, should I say “Yes” to the question whether my family owns a business?
Utilities = electricity, home heating (gas or other), water
Home necessities = phone line, insurance,
Entertainment = movies, eating out
They are not black and white but reasonable categories for what you spend your money on.
Land, etc are assets. Savings are usually in a separate category called savings or liquid assets. Nothing from the grandparents. Emergency funds would depend on the culture and cost of living. No way for us to guess.
If your father is pensioned off and no longer actively working his business then he would be retired. No to owning a business.
Thank you an awful lot for your help!
As far as land goes though, in case there are multiple people owning the land, should I list it as an asset if my parents possess a certain % and can’t really sell it due to being dependent on the relatives’ decisions?
…also, as far as this emergency funds account goes - I thought this type of savigs account was supposed to cover at least some portion of tuition. So, I can basically leave the money as a source to use for personal expenses?
The %age your parents own is the asset. The value minus whatever mortgage may exist. It’s unfortunate but it still needs to be listed. Assets don’t count nearly as much as income, though.
I don’t know how they will use the number identified as emergency $. They may just consider it a normal liquid asset available to pay for college.
So, should I write the amount from the emergency account in the assured/projected support sections concerning the amount of money that my family could cover from tuition, should I add that as emergency funds or should I put that into “sources available to you during the summer” and enclose a document from a bank official?