Tired of FAFSA scams - need reliable info sources for first-time parents

Welcome to the group! You're smart to be cautious. There are SO many scams targeting parents during FAFSA season. For legitimate information, stick to studentaid.gov, your son's high school counselor, and college financial aid offices. They're all free resources.\n\nTo answer your questions:\n1) Retirement accounts (401k, IRA, etc.) are NOT reported on the FAFSA as assets\n2) Rental property income DOES need to be reported (Schedule E from your taxes)\n3) Your son's income likely won't hurt much since the student income protection allowance is around $7,600 for 2025-2026\n\nThe new FAFSA is actually simpler than previous years, but calling the Federal Student Aid hotline for specific questions is still helpful!

Thank you so much! That's such a relief about the retirement accounts - we've been saving since he was born but were worried it would count against us. Do you know if we need to report the value of the rental property itself as an asset? It's nothing fancy, just a small duplex we inherited from my parents.

Omg i feel you!!! the amount of \

It's ridiculous! Someone messaged me saying they could

The new FAFSA system is supposed to be easier but it's still confusing. My nephew is applying this year and I've been helping my sister. We lost THREE WEEKS trying to figure out why his SAI calculation seemed wrong...turns out we had checked a box incorrectly about farm assets (we don't even own a farm!). Had to call FSA and waited for 2+ hours before giving up THREE DIFFERENT TIMES. Finally got through on the fourth try after a 1 hour 45 minute wait. The agent was actually super helpful once we finally reached someone.

Those wait times are ridiculous! I actually found a service called Claimyr that helped me skip the wait time when I needed to contact FSA about my daughter's verification issues. Their system holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of frustration! You can see how it works at claimyr.com or check out their demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - it was honestly worth it because I was going insane with the constant busy signals and disconnections.

Wait, really? Does it actually work? The FSA phone system is like psychological torture. I'll definitely check that out because we still need to confirm some things about the income calculations.

To address your rental property question specifically: Yes, you must report both the net income (from your tax return Schedule E) AND the property's net value (current market value minus what you owe on it) as an asset on the FAFSA. Investment properties are considered assets even if they were inherited.\n\nRegarding your son's job - the student income protection allowance for 2025-2026 is approximately $7,600, so since he makes less than that, his earnings should have minimal impact on aid eligibility. The FAFSA is designed to expect students to contribute some of their income, but there's a reasonable protection allowance.\n\nOne other thing to be aware of: if you have multiple children in college simultaneously, that's no longer a factor in the new FAFSA calculation as of 2024-2025. This was a significant change from previous years.

Thank you for the detailed explanation! That makes sense about the rental property. We'll need to get an updated appraisal then, as the last one was several years ago. And I had no idea about the change regarding multiple children in college - our daughter will be starting two years after our son, so I guess that won't help us anymore. The system keeps changing!

all these ppl telling u to do it yourself but honestly we hired a financial aid consultant for my twins and it was WORTH IT. she found scholarships we never would have and knew all the tricks for maximizing aid. not all paid help is a scam just saying

While there are legitimate consultants, it's important to distinguish them from scammers. A real financial aid consultant shouldn't promise specific results or guarantees, and they typically charge reasonable hourly rates rather than large upfront fees. They also focus on legitimate strategies like proper asset positioning and scholarship applications, not on \

yeah thats true our lady had like 20 years experience and didnt promise anything specific just said shed help us navigate everything. and she charged by the hour not a huge flat fee. so i guess thats how u can tell the difference

I HATE THE FAFSA SO MUCH!!!! My daughter's application has been \

Oh no, that sounds absolutely awful! I'm worried we'll run into the same issues. Did you ever figure out what was wrong with the application? I'm terrified of making a mistake that will take months to fix.

While the system definitely has frustrating flaws, verification is usually triggered randomly or by specific data discrepancies between your tax info and what's entered on the FAFSA. About 25% of applicants get selected for verification each year. The best approach is to carefully document every conversation with FSA (get agent names and case numbers), submit any requested documents through the portal rather than mail when possible, and follow up weekly. Your daughter's school financial aid office can often help advocate for you too.

We DID submit everything through the portal and called WEEKLY!! Their own agents gave conflicting information EVERY SINGLE TIME!! Finally got it resolved when I contacted our congressional rep's office. SUDDENLY they could fix everything in 48 hours. Amazing how that works!!!

Quick update - I looked at studentaid.gov last night after reading everyone's advice here and you're all right, it IS simpler than I expected. I created my FSA ID and my son created his too. We haven't started the actual application yet since we're still gathering documents, but it's a relief to at least have that first step done. I'm going to talk to his guidance counselor next week too. Thanks again for the help!

That's a great first step! If you're preparing documents, make sure you have:\n\n- 2023 tax returns for both you and your spouse (if married)\n- W-2 forms from 2023 for all jobs\n- Current bank statements and investment account information\n- Social Security numbers for you and your son\n- Documentation of any untaxed income like child support or disability\n\nAlso, create a separate folder on your computer to save screenshots of each completed page as you go through the application. This has saved countless families when there are technical glitches. Good luck!

That's a brilliant tip about taking screenshots! I would never have thought to do that. I'll make sure we have all those documents ready. My son's high school is hosting a FAFSA workshop next month too, so hopefully that will help with any remaining questions. I'm feeling much more confident now!