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.