Determine your earliest FAFSA deadline— it will either be determined by a college or a scholarship that requires the FAFSA (like the Buffett)— and coordinate with your parent(s) to get taxes done in advance of that deadline. You can contact your local EducationQuest office to get dates for your Nebraska colleges. Parents don’t file taxes? Then you won’t need ‘em (though you will need W-2s if anyone has them).
File your taxes, if required. If you filled out a W-4 for any 2015 jobs, you’ll get a W-2 sometime by early February. If the box 1s on any W-2s add up to more than $6,300, you need to file taxes! If you made less but there are any amounts in box 2 (federal withheld) and you want it back, you need to file as well! It’s your money!
Determine if your family had any FAFSA-required untaxed income in 2015. Most commonly this is child support, either paid out of the house or received into the house for any household members, not just the soon-to-be college student. Other types of untaxed income the FAFSA needs are:
- workers’ compensation (beyond coverage of medical bills)
- housing, food or living allowances paid to military or clergy
- employer-paid disability (not SSI)
- pre-tax contributions to retirement accounts, located on the W-2 box 12a-d
What about assets? That depends on the eldest parent’s age (as of 12/31/16) and marital status. For example, if the parent is single and 45-years old, assets are protected up to $8,800— $17,400 if the parent is married. The older the parent, the greater the protection. These same numbers would be $11,100/$22,500 if the parent is 55, and so on. To make this clear, if your parent(s’) numbers are below these when considering their non-retirement investments, including cash, savings and checking but excluding cars and the primary residence, it means they won’t have to report any asset information on the FAFSA!
If this seems confusing--call EducationQuest--they can help!