FAFSA is a joke

I'm in total agreement. I haven't done the FAFSA yet because I know the result will be pretty bad. I will be punished for saving lots of my money. Sad, isn't it?

Kry you own a house that you plan on selling. Pay down the mortgage and stash that money in your equity. Max out your IRAs for 07 and 08. You can hide your money fairly well if you want. What sucks is try being married to someone who has a good income...our combined salaries makes it look like we can afford a lot. Only problem, I wont be working and she will be paying all the bills herself.

Maybe we should get rid of welfare, for that matter. How about any type of aid to the needy? I know, I know, it's not exactly the same situation.

Not trying to antagonize you guys, but I'd rather be the guy with the house and complaining about the lack of funding than the guy w/o the house, happy that I'm getting a lower interest rate.

I don't think you will be punished - you will simply need to take on a lot less in loans than someone else who has been a lot less financially responsible.

Graduate financial aid as determined by the FAFSA very rarely constitutes "free money" in the form of non-merit scholarships, grants etc. It simply qualifies you for some federal loans, which you have to pay back eventually.

And less debt = good.

Unfortunately. EFC is not an accurate assessment of the money you need to borrow for the duration of graduate studies...

river, true, I can do that, but in the end, I cannot hide my salary and I'm not willing to liquidate all my stock investments just to try to get some subsidized loans. Those are the two things hurting me right now.

Cute kidderek =) haha... (honestly I would have replied that way to my post as well) Thats why I said for 2 people making the same money. Also - this is my response to the post about "debt is bad". I would rather not have to liquidate savings/investments to fund this. I am WILLING to, as school is my choice. However, I would much prefer a low interest loan. You know, the one the guy that made the CHOICE to spend his money will get =)

Anyhow, not trying to start a flame war or anything of the nature.. just to make this point:
All things being equal - the government should not reward peoplle who chose to be responsible. Which I daresay is not in dispute.
(Before i get flamed for this - read my example again, 2 people who earned the same, guy who saves gets LESS aid)

Do you need your 2007 tax filing to complete the FAFSA?

Of course of course, flaming of any sort by anyone won't be tolerated here. We're just having a discussion. I completely get your point. I'm just showing you the flip side to that coin. Not that I'm into hot air ballooning, but I remember reading a quote regarding flying on windy days.

"I'd rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, than be in the air wishing I was on the ground."

haha, kidderek and westside, you both have good points, but I'm also on the side of westside that if two people have the same income, both should get the same low-interest loan, regardless of savings. Punishing someone who saved up a lot of his/her own money is just not right.

This does not mean that we should get rid of financial aid for the poor, which is a different topic altogether. But I do get what you're saying, kidderek.

Miami: You don't need to finish your taxes to do the FAFSA, but if your estimated income and investments change, you'll need to modify your FAFSA after your initial report.

Indeed, we are all pretty much on the same side with this one...

As for the taxes, it isnt strictly required, but I did mine anyway. Nice to have it out of the way in a "now i know how badly i'll get screwed" sort of way =)

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Disclaimer before I comment on this. I'm not a US citizen and have recently started looking at B-Schools( admissions, cost e.t.c) so very little knowledge about FAFSA. My comment is more on the "social" policies of the state. I agree with you but how does one go about identifying those in need and who have been responsible. For any policy (pick any welfare, equal opportunity, diversity) government uses a broad brush to identify beneficiaries to keep it implementable. Unfortunately this is a zero sum game. Some benefit and some get screwed . In the example given by westsider how does government figure out the lack of savings is because of irresponsible behavior. It could be because of extenuating circumstances they have to deal with.