Did your older siblings go to college? If so how was that paid for and what did it cost?
Are you looking at your parents’ tax return - where are these crazy numbers coming from?
@Madison85 They did, my sister paid her own. My parents pay for my brothers debt starting 2015. I
Actually, as you all already knew, I mis-read. The deductions are 15k.
Yes it does matter how many cars there are…as well as the value of those cars. Your parents own the cars on that lot. All of them. The value of those cars is PART of the value of the business.
The land the building is on has a value. The building does too, as well as all of its contents. This would include any items the business owns…even a desk, computer or printer.
Deductions are $600? They don’t deduct property taxes, or take any depreciation on any of the business assets?
Did you look at their business schedule? That is separate and would deal with all the business money.
There should also be a separate schedule for the rentals. Are you saying that your parents don’t take any depreciation for their rental properties?
Like I said…go ahead and apply to Cornell. Just be very prepared to walk away from any offer from them that is financially NOT doable for your family.
You don’t have to post this info from your parents’ tax forms but here are some areas of concern:
2014 tax forms:
Form 1040 line 22 total income is ?
Form 1040 line 37 AGI is ?
Schedule C line 13 is ?
Schedule C line 7 is ?
Schedule C lines 24a and 24b are ?
Schedule C line 28 is ?
Schedule E lines 3, 18, 20, 26 ?
Usually the car dealerships do not own the cars, they have paper on the cars and a floorplanning agreement with some lender or the car manufacturers. When they sell the car, they pay off the lender and the lender releases the car title from the master security agreement and the dealer takes They do not take title to the vehicles. Even for used cars the titles are held under the security agreement, but not transferred into the name of the dealership. When you drive by a dealership and see 300 brand new cars sitting there, the dealership owner doesn’t own those cars
OP, your parents will know the value of their business.
I do not believe this student should apply ED. Not Cornell, not anywhere.
If you apply to Cornell ED and are accepted, you will be handed a FA package that you may not like. But what can you do with that? You will not have other offers to compare it to. If it seems high to you, and you reject it on that basis, you can’t get it back.
Your family’s finances are messy for purposes of FA predictions because different colleges handle these situations differently. You could reject your ED offer only to find that your subsequent RD offers are worse.
Edit: auto merit colleges like Alabama can be your fallback should you choose the ED route, but otherwise you will be restricting your ability to compare offers as outlined above.
You can’t apply ED. Apply EA and rolling admission ASAP but your financial situation may be understood in very different ways by different colleges and the NPCs won’t tell you what you will be expected to pay. It could be close to the NPC, or double that!
Read these articles from a financial adviser specialized in colleges with your parents and devise a strategy that applies to your family as per the information contained therein about specific colleges and their ways of considering assets.
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/assets-you-dont-need-to-report-on-the-fafsa/
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/will-your-home-equity-hurt-financial-aid-chances/
In any case, you must applu widely, both at “merit” aid schools and at “big financial aid” schools.