Determining financial aid is based on a family’s “need.” Need is determined by looking at a family’s income and assets — and, in some financial aid applications, expenses like medical
Key Takeaways Reporting assets under the wrong family member or including non-assessable accounts like retirement can artificially inflate your Student Aid Index (SAI) and reduce aid eligibility. Confusing FAFSA rules
Key Takeaways: A retirement paycheck isn’t one investment doing a salary’s job. It’s several resources, Social Security, pensions, cash, and your portfolio, coordinated into one system.
Key Takeaways: Your savings balance doesn’t answer the income question on its own. What matters is what your retirement life is actually expected to cost each month once
Key Takeaways The FAFSA uses the Federal Methodology (FM) to assess income and assets without considering expenses, determining eligibility for federal and state aid. The CSS Profile uses the Institutional
For families with a student headed to college, financial aid can feel like a black box. Between a federal formula that has changed significantly in recent years, differences from one
Key Takeaways Gift aid and self-help aid are not the same thing — only scholarships and grants lower your bottom line; loans and work-study still have to be earned or
Key Takeaways: Start with the after-tax income you actually need. A tax-efficient plan works backward from the spending your life requires, then figures out how much of that your portfolio
Key Takeaways: Where you withdraw from determines how much tax you pay. The same amount of money can carry very different tax bills depending on whether it comes from a
Key Takeaways There are two distinct kinds of appeals. Special circumstance appeals address real financial hardship, and competitive appeals help you beat a peer school’s better offer; each requires a
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Capstone Wealth Partners is a fee-only independent Registered Investment Advisor in Columbus, Ohio. We are financial planners for college-bound families.
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