FAFSA asking for investment net worth - do employer stocks and retirement investments count?

Yes, you need to report stocks on the FAFSA, even if they came from an employer. The basic rule is that any investments that aren't in qualified retirement accounts need to be reported. So: - Regular stocks/bonds/mutual funds: MUST be reported - Employer stock not in a retirement plan: MUST be reported - 401(k), 403(b), traditional and Roth IRAs: DO NOT report these The key question is whether your husband's employer stock is held inside a qualified retirement account (like a 401k) or if it's just regular stock he was given that you're planning to use for retirement someday. If it's the latter, you need to report it.

i had the same question last yr when filling out my kids fafsa!! so confusing right?? ended up reporting my husbands company stock but NOT our 401ks. make sure u dont include ur primary home value tho, thats def not supposed to be there

The FAFSA instructions are specific about what counts as investments. You MUST report: - Stocks, bonds, mutual funds not in retirement accounts - Money market funds and CDs - Real estate (except your primary home) - 529 and Coverdell accounts - Commodities You do NOT report: - Your primary residence - Qualified retirement plans (401k, 403b, IRAs, pensions) - Life insurance policies - UGMA/UTMA accounts for which you're the custodian (those are reported by the student) For your husband's employer stock, you need to determine if it's in a qualified retirement account. If it's just regular stock held in a brokerage account that you're "saving for retirement," that doesn't make it a retirement account - you must report its current value.

report everything except your house and retirement accts. anything else & they'll make you verify and thats a huge headache trust me

My daughter works in financial aid office at her university and she says people get this wrong ALL THE TIME. You absolutely have to include non-retirement stocks. And guess what happens if you don't? They'll flag you for verification and you'll spend months trying to get it corrected!!

This is one of the most common FAFSA questions! Here's the simple version: 1. If the stock is inside a qualified retirement account (401k, IRA, etc) → DO NOT REPORT 2. If the stock is in a regular brokerage account, even if you mentally label it "for retirement" → YOU MUST REPORT Employer stock is just like any other stock. What matters is the account type it's held in, not where it came from. Also, when reporting investments, use the current market value (what you could sell it for today) minus any penalties or fees you'd pay for selling early.

btw has anyone tried calling the fafsa helpline about this stuff?? i tried 5 times last month and never got thru!!!

Just to add a clarification - when reporting these investments on FAFSA, they're specifically looking at the net worth as of the day you complete the application. So if your husband's employer stock is worth $10,000 today, that's what you report, even if it was worth more or less when he received it. Also, if these investments are producing income (dividends, capital gains distributions), don't forget that this income should be reported in the income section of the FAFSA as well. The SAI formula counts both your assets and your income.

I filled out 3 FAFSAs for my kids and got TOTALLY different aid offers even though I answered everything the same way!!! The whole system feels rigged to me. They just want to see how much money they can squeeze out of families. Whether you report those stocks or not probably won't make a huge difference unless they're worth a ton.

Thanks everyone for the helpful answers! I'm going to report all of our stocks, including my husband's employer stock, since they're held in regular brokerage accounts. I'll make sure not to include our primary home or our actual retirement accounts (401k and IRAs). I feel much more confident about completing this section now!

Just wanted to add that if you have any employer stock options (like ISOs or NQSOs) that haven't been exercised yet, those typically don't need to be reported on the FAFSA since they don't have a current market value until you actually exercise them. Only report the stocks you actually own and could sell today. Also, keep good records of the values you report - if you get selected for verification, you'll need to provide statements showing those asset values as of your FAFSA completion date.

One thing I'd add is to be really careful about the timing of when you check your investment values. Stock prices can fluctuate daily, so make sure you're using the actual values from the day you submit your FAFSA, not from when you started filling it out days earlier. I learned this the hard way when my investments dropped significantly between when I first looked up the values and when I actually submitted the form. Also, if you have any mutual funds, don't forget that those count as investments too and need to be reported at their current net asset value (NAV). The FAFSA doesn't care that you're planning to hold them long-term for retirement - if they're not in a qualified retirement account like a 401k or IRA, they get reported as regular investments.

As someone who just went through this process with my daughter's FAFSA, I can confirm what others have said - you absolutely must report employer stocks if they're held in regular brokerage accounts. The mistake I see a lot of parents make is thinking that because they're "earmarked for retirement" they don't count, but that's not how it works. The FAFSA only cares about the account type, not your intentions for the money. One tip that saved me time: if you use online brokerage platforms like Fidelity or Schwab, they usually have a "portfolio summary" or "account value" page that shows your total holdings as of any given date. Screenshot that page on the day you submit your FAFSA and keep it for your records. Makes verification much easier if you get selected. Also, don't stress too much about getting the exact penny-perfect amount. The financial aid offices understand that investment values fluctuate, and they're more concerned with you making a good faith effort to report accurately than they are with minor discrepancies.

I went through this exact same confusion last year! The key thing to remember is that the FAFSA doesn't care about your personal retirement plans - it only cares about the official account type. If your husband's employer stock is sitting in a regular brokerage account (even if you mentally consider it "retirement money"), it absolutely must be reported as an investment. Here's what helped me get organized: I made a simple list of all our accounts and marked each one as "report" or "don't report." Regular brokerage accounts with stocks/mutual funds = report. 401k/403b/IRA accounts = don't report. Primary residence = don't report. It really simplified the process once I had it laid out clearly. And definitely use the current market value on the day you submit - I bookmarked all my account login pages and checked them right before hitting submit. Good luck with the rest of your FAFSA!

I went through this same situation two years ago with my twins' FAFSAs! The confusion is totally understandable because the wording is so unclear. Here's what I learned after calling the financial aid office at my kids' college: If your husband's employer stock is in a regular taxable brokerage account (not inside a 401k or similar retirement plan), you MUST report it as an investment, regardless of whether you're planning to use it for retirement someday. The FAFSA doesn't care about your future plans for the money - only the current account type matters. One thing that caught me off guard: if you have dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) for any of your stocks, those count too and need to be included in your investment total. Also, don't forget about any HSA funds beyond what's needed for current medical expenses - those are technically investments if you're using them for long-term savings. My advice is to gather all your brokerage statements from the same date and add everything up. It's better to over-report slightly than to under-report and get flagged for verification later. The verification process is a nightmare that can delay your aid for months!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a first-time FAFSA parent and was making this way more complicated than it needed to be. After reading everyone's experiences, I now understand the simple rule: if it's not in an official retirement account (401k, IRA, etc.), it gets reported as an investment - period. My question for the group: we have some I Bonds that we bought a few years ago during the high interest rate period. Those aren't in any retirement account, just regular Treasury Direct holdings. I'm assuming those need to be reported too at their current redemption value? Also, what about a small 529 account we opened for our younger child (the FAFSA is for our older child) - does that get reported as a parent asset even though it's technically for the sibling? Thanks again everyone for sharing your real-world experiences. This community is so much more helpful than the official FAFSA instructions!