Great to see you got all the answers you needed! Just want to add one quick tip from my recent experience - when you're entering your tax information, have your actual 2023 tax return handy rather than relying on memory. The FAFSA asks for very specific line items from your 1040, and getting even one number wrong can trigger verification requests later. Also, if you haven't already, make sure your son has his Social Security card accessible too - the system is pretty picky about exact name matches. Good luck with the application!

Just wanted to chime in as someone who completed this process last month! One thing that really helped us was setting up a shared document with all the information we'd need before starting - things like our FSA ID credentials, 2023 AGI, bank account balances, and my daughter's Social Security number. Having everything in one place made the process much smoother and we didn't have to stop mid-application to hunt down documents. Also, don't panic if you see different SAI numbers when you're comparing with other families - every situation is unique and the formula considers things like family size and number of kids in college simultaneously. The whole process took us about 45 minutes once we had everything organized. You've got this!

UPDATE: I just checked the 2024-2025 FAFSA guidelines and it specifically states: "Investments do not include the home in which you live; cash, savings, and checking accounts; the value of life insurance and retirement plans (401[k] plans, pension funds, annuities, non-education IRAs, Keogh plans, etc.)." So you're definitely doing the right thing by correcting this!

As someone who just went through this process with my daughter's FAFSA, I can confirm this is one of the most common mistakes parents make! The terminology is really misleading - when they say "investments" most people naturally think retirement accounts are investments. But the federal government treats them completely differently for financial aid purposes. One tip that helped us: when in doubt, always exclude rather than include. The FAFSA is looking for assets that are easily accessible, not funds that are locked away until retirement with penalties for early withdrawal. Your correction should definitely improve your financial aid eligibility significantly!

Update: I finally got through to FSA this morning! The agent confirmed that the IRA rollover shouldn't count as income and said they're seeing this problem a lot with the new FAFSA. They submitted a correction for me, but also suggested I contact my schools directly as backup. She said it could take up to 3 weeks for the correction to process in their system (ugh!), but the schools can make adjustments on their end in the meantime.

This is such a widespread issue this year - thank you Charlie for sharing your experience! For anyone else dealing with this, I want to emphasize that time is critical. Don't wait for the FSA correction to process if you have upcoming deadlines. I've seen students lose out on aid because they assumed the FAFSA correction would happen automatically. One tip: When you email your schools, include your FAFSA confirmation number and the exact amount of the rollover that was incorrectly counted as income. This helps the financial aid officers process your case faster. Also, if your first school responds quickly like Charlie's did, ask them what documentation they need - then you can send the same package to all your other schools immediately rather than waiting for each one to tell you what they want. The system definitely needs to be fixed, but in the meantime, the professional judgment process does work if you're proactive about it!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm going through the exact same issue with my son's FAFSA right now. The SSN/birthdate mismatch error is so frustrating, especially when you know the information is correct. I'm definitely going to check my old FSA ID profile first thing tomorrow morning - it sounds like that's where most of these issues stem from. It's reassuring to know that even if we miss the initial deadline, schools are usually understanding about technical problems. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions!

Just wanted to add another potential solution that worked for my family! We had the same SSN/birthdate mismatch error and after trying everything else, we discovered that my husband had accidentally created TWO FSA IDs over the years - one when our oldest applied to college and another one a few years later that he forgot about. The system was pulling conflicting information from both accounts. We had to contact Federal Student Aid to merge/delete the duplicate account, but once that was resolved, everything worked perfectly. So if you're still having issues after checking your FSA ID profile, it might be worth asking the support team if you have duplicate accounts in the system. Hope this helps someone else avoid the stress we went through!

This whole new FAFSA system is SUCH A DISASTER!! My son's college keeps telling us they're missing information from his FAFSA but when we log in it shows complete!!! I've tried calling 18 times and can't get through to anyone. The whole contributor system is so confusing and the colleges don't even know what's going on. We might lose his financial aid package because of all these technical problems.

Just wanted to share my experience as someone who went through this exact situation last year! Yes, only one parent needs to complete the contributor section when you file jointly - I had my husband handle it while I was traveling for work. The key things to double-check: make sure whoever fills it out has your 2023 joint tax return handy, knows where to find your AGI (line 11 on Form 1040), and has access to current bank account balances for both parents. Also, don't forget about any 529 plans or other education savings accounts - those need to be reported too even if they're in the student's name. Good luck with the NJ deadline - you've still got time if you tackle it this weekend!