Sunday, December 2, 2007

The sooner you take action the better!

For Parents of high school seniors: The month of December is critical for you because it is this year, 2007, that will be the tax return you will use to complete the FAFSA for your child's freshman year of college. You could make some significant changes this month which will help increase your child's aid possibilities.

For example, make sure you don't have any capital gains on the sale of stock - it will increase your income too much. Or, ask your employer to push off any bonuses to January instead of paying them this month.

If you own your own business make sure you aren't paying your high school too much if he is on the payroll. For every dollar of his earnings over $3,080 for the year your EFC will increase 50 cents - sounds small but you'd be surprised how quickly it adds up.

For Parents of high school juniors: now is a great time to look for colleges that have large endowments and FULLY meet demonstrated need. Those are the colleges that you'll want to visit this spring. They would also be very good choices for your child to apply to because they'll probably give you very good aid.

I know, lots of new terms, feel free to ask questions, I'll do my best to answer them quickly.

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