FAFSA didn't ask about 529 plans or investments - will this affect my child's SAI?

Don't panic! The new simplified FAFSA intentionally eliminated questions about many assets that used to be included. If your family's AGI is under $60,000, OR if you received certain means-tested federal benefits, OR if your student is an independent with dependents, the system automatically excludes asset questions. The IRS Data Retrieval Tool takes care of the income reporting, and for many families, that's now all that's required. If you weren't asked those questions, it likely means you qualified for this simplification, and your SAI calculation is correct based on the current formula. The system is working as designed.

same thing happend to me!! i submitted last week and it never asked about my wifes 401k or our savings account. the number they gave us for SAI seems really low compared to what the old EFC calculator estimated. not complainin tho lol

This is actually a known issue with the new FAFSA system that rolled out. The asset questions should have appeared for families with income above the simplified needs threshold (generally $60,000 AGI). If your AGI is above that amount and you weren't presented with asset questions, you should contact Federal Student Aid to report the issue. You might need to submit a correction once they resolve it. And yes, your SAI will likely increase if they end up including your assets in the calculation. The general formula counts about 5.64% of parent assets above a protection allowance toward the SAI. So for example, if you have $50,000 in reportable assets after the protection allowance, your SAI might increase by about $2,820.

I had the same problem trying to reach FSA about a verification issue. After wasting hours on hold, I found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me through to a live agent in about 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Their system holds your place in line so you don't have to stay on the phone yourself. When I finally got through, the agent confirmed there's a known issue with asset questions not displaying properly for some applicants, and they could note it in my file.

anyone know how much the sai goes up if u add assets? we have like $25k in savings and my kid got a 12000 sai with just the income stuff. will it completely mess everything up if they add assets later??

The new FAFSA is a DISASTER!!! I work in a financial aid office and we're seeing this CONSTANTLY. The Dept of Education rushed out a half-broken system and now students are paying the price. The asset questions SHOULD appear for families above the simplified needs threshold, but the system is glitchy and unpredictable. Some families get the questions, others don't. Sometimes it depends on which browser you're using! And here's the worst part - some schools are holding aid packages until issues are resolved while others are just going ahead with whatever SAI they received, right or wrong. It's a MESS!

To answer your questions directly: 1) You ARE supposed to report assets like 529 plans, investments, and bank accounts if your income is above ~$60,000. The fact that you weren't asked is a system error. 2) You'll need to submit a correction once you reach FSA. Currently, there's no self-service way to add asset information if the questions weren't displayed initially. 3) Yes, your SAI will increase once assets are included, but the impact is fairly modest. Parent assets are assessed at 5.64% after protection allowances. For 529 plans specifically, they count as parent assets (which is better than being counted as student assets). If the 529 is owned by a grandparent, it's not reported as an asset but distributions will count as student income on future FAFSAs.

Just adding - dont forget that with the new FAFSA, they increased the income protection allowance which means less of your income counts toward the SAI. So even tho assets might add some $$ to ur SAI, overall many families are getting lower SAIs than with the old system. My sons SAI came in 4k lower than what the old EFC calculator estimated last year!

Update: I finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid! They confirmed there's a known issue with asset questions not displaying for some applicants. They said I should contact my daughter's school's financial aid office directly to let them know about the issue. They're planning to release a fix soon that will allow affected applicants to submit corrections and add asset information. In the meantime, they're notifying schools about the issue so they can take it into account when preparing aid packages. Thanks everyone for your help! This community has been amazing.

As someone new to this community but currently navigating the FAFSA maze with my own family, this thread has been incredibly enlightening! We're dealing with a similar situation where the asset questions never appeared despite our income being well above the simplified needs threshold. It's both reassuring and frustrating to know this is a widespread system issue rather than user error. I've been beating myself up thinking I somehow missed or skipped important sections. The information about the 5.64% assessment rate for parent assets and the increased income protection allowances in the new formula is really helpful for setting expectations. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions - especially the tip about Claimyr for getting through to FSA! This community is such a valuable resource for confused parents trying to navigate financial aid.

Just wanted to add my perspective as another newcomer dealing with this exact issue! My family's FAFSA also skipped the asset questions despite our AGI being around $85k. We have a decent amount in 529 plans and savings that should have been reported. What's been most helpful from this thread is understanding that this is a known system bug, not something we did wrong. I was panicking that I somehow missed critical sections or filled something out incorrectly. The detailed explanations about how parent assets are assessed (5.64% after protection allowances) and the examples of how much SAI might increase have really helped manage my expectations. I'm planning to try the Claimyr service mentioned earlier to get through to FSA, and I'll definitely reach out to my daughter's financial aid office proactively to let them know about the situation. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and solutions - this community has been invaluable for a stressed parent trying to navigate this broken system!