FAFSA Open date delayed for 2024-2025?

[Roadrunner]

So Grinell offered my kid a very generous merit. Haverford offered need based aid and came in cheaper than Grinnell just slightly. Oberlin, forget it. Generous merit, but still a lot more than others. 

[kokotg]

7 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

So Grinell offered my kid a very generous merit. Haverford offered need based aid and came in cheaper than Grinnell just slightly. Oberlin, forget it. Generous merit, but still a lot more than others. 

Oberlin is fascinating to me...my oldest got his best FA package by far from Oberlin (but didn't go), but I've heard the same thing from other families...Oberlin much less generous than similar schools (including one person whose kid did ED there, thinking it would be similar to her other kid's package at Pitzer, so they were kind of stuck). But since they waitlisted kid #2, I don't know if we just got lucky with the first one or not.

[Heartstrings]

On 6/7/2023 at 7:33 AM, 8filltheheart said:

It is easy to see how wealth can be hidden and the system gamed.  The CSS Profile, otoh, requires all of those assets to be declared

I read a whole thing about a parent who saved medical receipts for years, then cashed in several years' worth at once to basically use their HSA to pay for college tuition, effectively hiding that money.  Could be apocryphal, I don't know, but it's an example of one way to hide wealth. 

[Roadrunner]

21 hours ago, Heartstrings said:

I read a whole thing about a parent who saved medical receipts for years, then cashed in several years' worth at once to basically use their HSA to pay for college tuition, effectively hiding that money.  Could be apocryphal, I don't know, but it's an example of one way to hide wealth. 

When I had an HSA account, it was so restricted in amount. And you had to spend it the same year I believe. Stories like that always make me scratch my head. 

[Heartstrings]

3 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

When I had an HSA account, it was so restricted in amount. And you had to spend it the same year I believe. Stories like that always make me scratch my head. 

My FSA was like that, but HSA's let you carry from year to year.  I agree to scratching my head about the story though.  

[ScoutTN]

1 hour ago, Heartstrings said:

My FSA was like that, but HSA's let you carry from year to year.  I agree to scratching my head about the story though.  

Our HSA’s have never rolled over to the next year. It all has to be spent on expenses incurred in that year. And the amount is not huge. Would be 1/4 of my Dd’s annual room and board at college. 

[Heartstrings]

32 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Our HSA’s have never rolled over to the next year. It all has to be spent on expenses incurred in that year. And the amount is not huge. Would be 1/4 of my Dd’s annual room and board at college. 

We might not be talking about the same thing then.  HSAs roll over every year, it’s how they are designed.    You can even invest parts of it once it reaches a certain amount.  They’re designed to save money now towards retirement heath expenses.   Us all using them for routine medical stuff is a quirk of the system, just like the 401k was never intended to be used the way we use them.   Quirks of a Byzantine tax system.  
 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Heartstrings

[ScoutTN]

5 minutes ago, Heartstrings said:

We might not be talking about the same thing then.  HSAs roll over every year, it’s how they are designed.  
 

 

Health Savings Acct? 
Ours has never rolled over, in the 21 years Dh has had one. Part of the benefits at his job, not administered by a lender. We have a debit card for it, but no direct access to the funds. Can only be used for specific, covered medical/health things.

Edited September 30, 2023 by ScoutTN

[Heartstrings]

2 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Health Savings Acct? 
Ours has never rolled over, in the 21 years Dh has had one. Part of the benefits at his job, not administered by a lender.

Ours never has much to roll over, we have too many health expenses, but it does roll over what’s left.  Interesting, nothing I read on them before we signed up indicated that some didn’t roll over.  Everything talks about using them as investment accounts and saving for retirement.  
 

Our FSA didn’t roll over.  We got emails and letters every year saying to use it or lose it.  

[cintinative]

14 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

Health Savings Acct? 
Ours has never rolled over, in the 21 years Dh has had one. Part of the benefits at his job, not administered by a lender. We have a debit card for it, but no direct access to the funds. Can only be used for specific, covered medical/health things.

We have a Health Savings Account, and it can roll over.  The government limits the amount you can put into an HSA per year.  Like Heartstrings, we always spend it all (unfortunately). Ours is part of the benefits of the job, but it is administered by a lender and we have direct access to the funds.  So we can reimburse ourselves if we spend out of pocket (not via the HSA card). Ours can only be used for specific things also.

Millions of years ago when I was working and had traditional medical insurance, I had an FSA (Flex Spending Account) administered by my employer. That was different. I had to submit my expenses for reimbursement from the FSA account which was not under my control. I designated how much to put into it each year and if I didn't spend that, it was lost.  We used it for things like dental care, glasses and prescription co-pays, etc.  Currently, my husband's company only has HSA's available not FSAs. 

AFAIK, you can't have an HSA if you have a traditional medical insurance plan (one with copays).  You are only eligible if you have what they call a high deductible health plan   https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/health-savings-account-hsa/

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by cintinative

[ScoutTN]

I think ours is an FSA designated for healthcare expenses only. 

[MagistraKennedy]

On 9/30/2023 at 12:33 PM, cintinative said:

We have a Health Savings Account, and it can roll over.  The government limits the amount you can put into an HSA per year.  Like Heartstrings, we always spend it all (unfortunately). Ours is part of the benefits of the job, but it is administered by a lender and we have direct access to the funds.  So we can reimburse ourselves if we spend out of pocket (not via the HSA card). Ours can only be used for specific things also.

Millions of years ago when I was working and had traditional medical insurance, I had an FSA (Flex Spending Account) administered by my employer. That was different. I had to submit my expenses for reimbursement from the FSA account which was not under my control. I designated how much to put into it each year and if I didn't spend that, it was lost.  We used it for things like dental care, glasses and prescription co-pays, etc.  Currently, my husband's company only has HSA's available not FSAs. 

AFAIK, you can't have an HSA if you have a traditional medical insurance plan (one with copays).  You are only eligible if you have what they call a high deductible health plan   https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/health-savings-account-hsa/

 

Very good explanation! 

We went with a HDHP and an HSA, because we would blow through the FSA limits every single year. (family of 7) 
I MUCH prefer the HSA, and at some point, we will be able to invest the money in that account. (at the moment, using most of it from year to year)

 

[ScoutTN]

Dd’s uni just sent an oversized postcard with a very clear timeline for how all the money stuff will work this year. I appreciate the excellent communication.

The FAFSA late opening doesn’t delay info about Dd’s uni funds bc they are merit aid, not FA. Our state requires the FAFSA to be eligible for the lottery scholarship, but the late opening won’t affect funds being allocated to her next August. 

[cintinative]

This is just a bump. FAFSA is supposed to  open in December, but from what I can find, they have not committed to a date. Let's hope it's not December 30th or something crazy like that.  

 

[jplain]

There was an update a few days ago.  It'll open by Dec 31.  Colleges won't start getting student info until late January.

https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2023-11-15/update-simplified-streamlined-redesigned-2024-25-fafsa

[cintinative]

5 minutes ago, jplain said:

There was an update a few days ago.  It'll open by Dec 31.  Colleges won't start getting student info until late January.

https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2023-11-15/update-simplified-streamlined-redesigned-2024-25-fafsa

So December 30th is a possibility?  😆