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CFP

Education Planning - Funding Strategies and Ownership of Assets

C. Funding strategies
  • Systematic saving
  • Paying from current income
  • Financial aid
  • Student work

D. Ownership of assets
A primary question facing parents saving for college expenses is whether accumulated assets should be owned in the names of the parents or the names of the children. Generally, unless a family is absolutely sure a child will not qualify for financial aid, it should save money in the parents' names, not the child's.

Financial aid formulas assume a child will contribute a greater portion of his or her assets than parents to cover higher education expenses. The federal formula includes 35% of student-owned assets in its Expected Family Contribution and just 5.6% of parent-owned assets. (The inclusion rate for student-owned rates will drop to 20% starting with the 2007-2008 school year). This means placing assets in the child's name means he or she will qualify for less financial aid.

There may be tax benefits to placing assets in a student's name, but those benefits are often outweighed by the financial aid cost. Also, an expansion of the so-called kiddie tax on children up to age 18 has reduced the possible tax benefits. Under the kiddie tax, unearned income in excess of $1,700 received by somebody under age 18 is taxed at the parent's marginal tax rate, eliminating the benefit of shifting income from a parent to a child.

Under 2006 legislation, Section 529, "custodial accounts" owned by a dependent student are no longer treated as a student asset for purposes of federal financial aid.



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