About David Disraeli Expertise I can answer questions about the financial aid process and the formulas used by the Department of Education in determining who qualifies for funding. I can also help people qualify for more funding by making strategic decisions to avoid being penalized for having "countable" assets. I cannot answer questions about scholarships.
Experience 23 years financial, estate, investments, insurance
Question My husband and I are both self-employed (same business)and combined income is less than $100,000. (income varies based on cash flow as well considering lousy economy) We are just starting to fill in the FAFSA form. It appears there is no place to explain our self-employement on the form.- Does this matter to colleges? Do they consider this when considering financial aid?
please advise
Answer Hi being self employed provides you with many potential benefits. The FASFA asks for Adjusted gross income which for self employed people is lower because you can deduct so much and w2 employees can't. So to answer your question, no, they don't care if you are self employed. Everyone has an agi.
Keep in mind the FASFA is complicated, you get one chance to submit it. Knowing how to fill it out is hard ever for financial professionals. To be more specific, you may leave money on the table if you don't take advantage of every possible opportunity to reduce your "Expected Family Contribution". This is the net result of a FASFA and takes into account your child's income and assets, gifts from relatives and on and on.
My advice is to seriously consider having an expert fill it out and file it. Some will even argue with the schools on you behalf if they don't offer what they are supposed to. Unfortunately this data is not readily available. There is probably someone in you area with this training. Please let me know if you are interested.
