I BELIEVE MANAGING money should be kept as simple as possible. That’s usually the route to lower costs, fewer mistakes and greater financial peace of mind. But, alas, three crucial areas of our financial life defy simplicity: health insurance, taxes and paying for college.
This is hardly an original insight. Folks have complained for decades about the maddening complexity involved with all three. All are ripe for a total revamp, but there’s no sign that’ll happen any time soon. Instead, if we want simplicity, we’ll have to take matters into our own hands. To that end, here are some suggestions.
Income taxes. The tax code is not only baffling, but also arbitrary. For instance, on HumbleDollar, we’ve run articles about how the income thresholds for both the net investment income tax and Social Security benefits taxation aren’t inflation-adjusted, and about how the Medicare premium surcharge known as IRMAA can result in a 28,000,000% marginal tax rate.
For the past decade, I’ve paid someone to prepare my taxes. To me, it’s money well-spent to avoid the hassle and the worry that I’ve made mistakes. But at the same time, I like to think I’m a good client because I maintain meticulous records and I keep my finances as simple as possible. For instance, my taxable investment account consists of just one money market fund and one stock-index fund, and I rarely do any trading.
But it wasn’t always that way. At one time, I had many more investments in my taxable account. In fact, if I could go back and whisper in the ear of my younger self, I’d advise never buying anything in a taxable account except cash investments and total stock market index funds. What if you’re hellbent on messing around with your portfolio? Save all your trading for your retirement accounts.
Paying for college. This year, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid—or FAFSA, the federal government’s financial-aid form—is being simplified, so it no longer necessitates answering more than 100 questions. Good news? That depends on your definition. Apparently, the new form will still have 46 questions.
That’s hardly the only financial hurdle on the way to a college degree. Students applying to colleges don’t know what the real price is, how much aid they’ll receive and whether that aid will take the form of grants, loans or work-study. If they apply to select private colleges, they may also need to fill out the CSS Profile form, which further complicates the financial-aid picture, because the way assets and income are assessed under the so-called institutional methodology can differ from the federal aid formula.
Need help repaying your loans after college? The federal government just introduced a new student loan repayment plan known as SAVE, replacing the previous much-vaunted repayment plan known as REPAYE. This is on top of the two other federal government income-driven repayment programs. I, for one, have given up trying to understand how they differ. If you want to get a sense for how complicated the government’s income-driven repayment plans can be, check out Logan Murray’s recent article.
Where does that leave parents? Given the uncertainty over how the aid formulas will evolve in the years ahead, whether a family will qualify for aid and whether a child will even go to college, you might be tempted not to save for college—or, at least, not save in a special college account.
That could be a smart move for those likely to get heaps of aid, who might focus instead on funding retirement accounts and paying down debt. But for more affluent families, a 529 college savings plan still looks like the way to go. Let’s say you build up a 529 for your daughter to $50,000 by the time she’s age three, and then leave the account to grow without adding any further money. Assuming a 7% annual return and 15 years of investment growth, the tax savings would be $19,350, assuming you’re in the 22% federal income-tax bracket when you empty the account.
Health care. Buying health insurance is confusing and dealing with insurance claims is maddening. What to do? For me, Medicare is four years away. In the meantime, I’ve settled on a three-part strategy—but, I readily admit, it isn’t a strategy that’ll work for everyone.
First, inspired by Rick Connor’s 2019 article, I use a quick-and-dirty method for analyzing health insurance, which involves calculating the minimum and maximum cost I’ll likely incur each year. The minimum cost is represented by the total annual premiums I’ll pay, while the maximum should be capped by the out-of-pocket maximum. I buy the policy that has the most attractive combo of minimum and maximum cost.
Second, I try to avoid the frustrations of the health-care system by living a healthy lifestyle, including exercising every day and limiting things like booze, fried food and red meat. Still, no matter how careful we are, almost all of us will need to see a doctor occasionally, at which point we could face the frustration of dealing with our health insurer.
That brings me to my third strategy: I now buy a high-deductible health insurance policy and fund an accompanying health savings account, or HSA. As I see it, with a high-deductible policy, I don’t need to fret so much about how the insurance company treats my claims, unless it’s clear I’m going to have hefty health care expenses that exceed the current year’s deductible, at which point the insurer should start coughing up money to cover my medical costs. In the case of my current policy, that $5,800 deductible is the same as my out-of-pocket maximum. An added bonus of funding an HSA: The initial tax savings effectively reduces a health insurance policy’s minimum and maximum annual cost.
Jonathan Clements is the founder and editor of HumbleDollar. Follow him on Twitter @ClementsMoney and on Facebook, and check out his earlier articles.
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I wish I had purchased more Roth funds. The HSA was also a difficult concept to get a handle on because the deductible can be daunting. I kept up funding throughout my last few working years as, once you have enough in the account to cover any deductible, worry is gone. HSA allows you to pay for the medical services you use without high premiums. I have also used the remaining funds during my years on Medicare for co-pays. (One cannot contribute to an HSA while on Medicare, but you can use the accrued funds)
My employer added a HSA to our benefits. It’s even better than a match; they pay in and it’s not optional.
Given that many medications are not covered by Medicare and cancer centers view the infusion business as moneymakers, this is very welcome.
Something to consider with education savings accounts is that you have to take the $ out in a narrow window and they have to be spent on education.
Not all kids will complete college within 6 years after high school.
But it’s the timing of the investments that I am writing about.
We opened education IRAs for our kids. When the first went to college, the market was down. At least we didn’t lose $. If it had been four years earlier, it would have been a loss.
We waited to tap the next IRA until the very end of college and the beginning of professional training with our second child and the account had doubled. In this case, the gains and tax savings were substantial.
The market is up even more now. What will the market be like in the narrow 4 years or so when you have to withdraw and close the account?
This needs to be factored into risk.
It’s a different calculation than retirement.
Another thought about college tuition: Some folks may qualify for loan forgiveness after 10 years of employment with a government or non-profit organization.
“….about how the Medicare premium surcharge known as IRMAA can result in a 28,000,000% marginal tax rate.”
But in the next paragraph you say you don’t actively manage your taxes, just keep good records. This is not a good idea – you might just end up $1 into an IRMAA bracket.
In my own tax accounting, I keep a running MAGI throughout the year as income comes into my accounts. I know exactly what my target is to go to the top of an IRMAA bracket, but not over it. Of course, you have to guess what the IRMAA brackets will be in 2025, but I am very conservative and assume only a 2.5% increase over 2024.
I do actively manage my tax bill. In fact, just yesterday, I was figuring out how to hold down my taxable income to avoiding losing various tax benefits. But I have no desire to spend February or March fiddling around with tax software.
I do a “what if” account on my Turbo Tax when I need to figure things out. I like using “save as” for my last tax return and then the what if seems to fit my circumstances since it is real numbers.
Until this past tax year I didn’t know that TurboTax had a “What-If” worksheet available in the forms view (at least in the download version). This has the brackets for the next year and allows several scenarios to be modeled. A great check on my tax spreadsheet.
I’ve used tax software every year except once, when I used a CPA. I compared his results to TurboTax and there was no difference, except his cost was exponentially more. If you are a good record keeper, all you need to do is input that data online. It may take a few hours at most, if that much. You may not have to do much inputting, because you also can download all your tax information from your brokerage accounts directly from the software site, so you do not have to input the data.
We keep anExcel spreadsheet for medical costs. Each column reflects a tax line (premiums, RX, copays for doctor and dentist). It makes tax time much easier.
Good point. Now retired and considering what we could be doing with our time wherever we are, hiring someone starts to have some appeal.
Is your tax preparer part of your planning on what you might do to hold down taxable income, or are they just doing paperwork?
My tax preparer (he’s really a financial planner who does tax prep on the side) has helped guide me on the income level I should endeavor not to breach.
Right sir, can’t count on folks, they can “Mess us up.”
My 2022 tax ‘professionals’ over stated my income by a huge amount, and add to that, finishing it in June with out filing an extension. I paid the bills to the I.R.S. as soon as I got them and am now I’m trying to work the rest out. What a MESS!
In regard to the new and yet to be released final FAFSA simplification form and formulas I have read articles that are well detailed in a April 2023 report by the Brookings Institute where their comment is it “leads to one conclusion: FAFSA simplification may make it easier to complete the form, but its impact on college pricing is far from simple”
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/20230417_CCF_Levine_FAFSASimplificationDraft2wApp-1.pdf
My younger children were in college at the same time for a number of years and the result was under the old rules was a reduction in both of their expected family contributions. That discount will apparently now go away.
From the Brookings report –
“The current FAFSA reduces a family’s EFC proportionally to the number of students in a family who are in college at the same time. If a family has two children in college, each student’s EFC would be roughly half of what it would be if they did not have any other children in college at the same time; with three children in college, the EFC is set to approximately one-third its value when only one child is in college.”
“The simplified FAFSA will continue to ask about the number of siblings in college at the same time, but it will not use that information in the SAI formula. That is, the effective “sibling discount” will be eliminated. This change will have a sizable impact on financial
aid eligibility for students with siblings in college at the same time.”
My guess is that many parents financial planning will be disrupted by this change.
I’m going to politely disagree with some of Jonathan’s assumptions about the benefits of the 529 route. Superfunding an account when the kid is young – if the family is financially able to do that – is a smart move. But the timeline for aggressive or robust investing is limited. When the kid reaches her/his teen years, the sensible move is to reduce investment risk in that portfolio. A move to bonds or cash will undoubtedly reduce the assumed 7% growth rate for, perhaps, one-third of the investment horizon. Later contributions surely will be less heavily invested in the market and will earn lesser returns. And don’t get me started on threading the needle on state tax benefits / costs. It’s difficult to gauge, and difficult to get to the overall rate of return that many folks kick around.
I completely agree with you and RIck Connor on how to assess the cost of health insurance. Based on the articles of HD contributors and several helpful podcast/radio shows for federal workers, I switched to a high-deductible plan (from the same insurer) and an HSA. Christine Benz at Morningstar gave good advice about opening up an independent HSA account at Fidelity. My plan is to let the investments grow in that account until I’m eligible for Medicare (I’m now 57). I’ll withdraw funds from the account in the amount of my premiums – that’s an easy expense to document for the IRS – for as long as I can. Too bad that I can’t use those funds for my wife’s premiums. The regs make clear that it’s only for the named insured.
BTW, I enjoy your “Down the Middle” monthly podcast. Fun to have your voice in my ear after so many years of reading your work.
Regarding your comment: “Too bad that I can’t use those funds for my wife’s premiums. The regs make clear that it’s only for the named insured.”
Mike,
I just checked the 2022 IRS Publication 969, HSA, and clipped 2 sections:
Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons.
AND
Insurance premiums. You can’t treat insurance premiums as qualified medical expenses unless the premiums are for any of the following
4. Medicare and other health care coverage if you were 65 or older (other than premiums for a Medicare supplemental policy, such as Medigap).
My conclusion is you should be allowed to use the HSA funds to reimburse yourself for your wife’s Medicare premiums (not the Medigap though) as long as she is at least 65. Please clarify how you interpreted the regs to disallow your wife’s Part B premiums. Thanks.
Sorry for lack of clarity – commenter below is correct. My wife will be on Medicare before me. My reading is that I can’t use HSA funds for her premiums while I’m still contributing to account and not on Medicare myself. Just another reason to let the money stay in account for as long as possible.
Well, there is this, from IRS Pub 969:
“Items (2) and (3) can be for your spouse or a depend-
ent meeting the requirement for that type of coverage. For
item (4) (Medicare premiums, except Medicare supplement policies), if you, the account beneficiary, aren’t 65 or older,
Medicare premiums for coverage of your spouse or a de-
pendent (who is 65 or older) aren’t generally qualified
medical expenses.”
Maybe Mike’s spouse is much older than he is, and is on Medicare right now? If that’s the case, then he’ll have to wait until *he* is 65 before he can use use his HSA funds to pay those premiums penalty-free.
Thanks, wtfwjtd. I see your reference in the next paragraph that I referenced in IRS Pub 969. As usual, the IRS rules are full of if, ands, and buts. If only they were candy and nuts, we would have a Merry Christmas.
I would like to add several comments on the health care insurance topic:
So I think you need to maintain some kind of reserve for unexpected health care expenses, I don’t know what the best way is to do this but I do think it is prudent. A significant number of people that I know are now using doctors who will not deal with Medicare.
Bill
There is a difference between not dealing with Medicare and not accepting assignment of Medicare fee. Very few physicians opt out of Medicare and those who don’t accept assignment are limited by law the extra they can charge. The most expensive doctors generally are the ones that don’t accept any insurance and people automatically assume they are better doctors – not necessarily.
I do wish the government paid a fair rate for care as well as making timely payments to the doctors for their time.
I have not had any problems with Medicare getting appointments to see specialists. When I had something that looked bad on a scan, I was in the office of one of the top thoracic surgeons in the country two days later. Next week, I was on the operating table having core samples of my lymph nodes taken.
(Verdict: not cancer).
I don’t know where you live but I don’t see a lot of value in concierge doctors, who are just glorified PCP’s. I live in the Boston area, on Medicare, and I am always seen the same day or next day by my PCP or specialist.
My brother in law has a concierge and the only difference I see is fancier graphics on the lab reports.
What are “non typical” health problems??
My husband, with diabetes, kidney and urological problems, and afib is non-typical. No getting into PCP for covid/flu or other illnesses due to the long wait for an appointment.
I agree. My former PCP gave concierge practice a try in NYC and couldn’t make a go of it.
I also recently moved to a high end CCRC in affluent Westester County, NY (just north of NYC) and have yet to meet a resident who uses a concierge doctor, although there probably are some who do.
We already have a tiered system. What are non-typical health care problems? If plans covered “everything” costs would be even higher. Keep in mind that whatever coverage pays is reflected on taxes and or premiums.
Richard is right, insurance will be more expensive if it covers all of these. If you are under 60 you may not be too concerned about these problems if you have not seen them earlier in your life but as the body ages more things start to crop up.
Supplements are rarely, if ever covered by insurance of any kind. Not tolerating a generic is rare because the only difference may be fillers or dyes. Many generics are made by the same company making the brand. Price is not the determinant in covering a drug, but rather is there an alternative as effective. Some new and expensive drugs are very marginally better than older versions.
A Part D plan may have its own formulary but must include categories and classes of drugs that cover all disease states.
On generics, the inactive ingredients are the ones that can be troublesome for patients. They do vary by manufacturer.
Exactly which money market fund and which stock index fund are you using?Both Fidelity and Schwab have a few MM funds paying a little over 5% now.
One time I heavily traded in my taxable acct. and the 1099 was 18 pages and made my tax return MUCH more difficult for just a little profit.
For 2 years, my Wife and I both had High Deductible Health plans and put money into an HSA. We are retired now and grateful for $22K each to use tax free for Dental etc.
My portfolio is at Vanguard, so I use one of its money market funds and one of its broad market index funds.
Another angle on tax returns: My parents saved all of their tax returns going back 40 years. It was an interesting look back at the family history. (A complete physical checkup at Mayo Clinic for $378. Ah, the good old days.) It also pointed out what Jonathan mentioned about the increasing complexity. I see it as an ongoing challenge to move forward financially and yet keep things as simple as possible. I’ve handled the estate settlement for two estates and simpler is definitely a nice gift to your heirs.
As to healthcare, I’m on Medicare and bought the most comprehensive prescription plan and supplement I could find. That flattens my expense (and makes it more predictable), at a cost, which I’m willing to pay. I never receive a deductible or copay bill and that makes record keeping easier, at a cost.
In 1990, I started college savings using a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act account for my first two children. I’d open a no-load equity mutual fund account, seed it with $1,000, and start monthly contributions. Then the Coverdell ESA came out. I had four of those maxed out for many years. Then, fortunately, for two years, I exceeded the income limit to contribute to those for my two youngest and rolled them in to 529s. As Jonathan alludes to above, you may want to save part of your “college” money in a regular account in the parent’s name just in case your child gets a huge scholarship or they don’t go to college sparing you the trouble of the unnecessary 529 account. That’s something my wife and I did and when one of my boys went on to medical school after receiving a great undergraduate scholarship, we passed on some of that extra money to him. Bottom line, parents need to have the emotional intelligence to objectively assess their children’s academic abilities. Not every child is from Lake Wobegon and above average, on the other hand, if you have objective reasons to believe your children will score high on college admission tests–well, you may want to adjust your savings accordingly.
Just wanted to comment on a slightly different approach. We also used UTMA accounts for our three children. We attempted to fund them equally. Because of the 10 year age difference between youngest and oldest, the youngest’s account had more time to grow but costs also inflated during that time. My wife and I also tried to be very clear that we were treating them equally and if there was money left over in the account after education expenses, they were able to use it to get their “life” started. That seemed to encourage thriftiness to some degree on their parts. Two used their funds entirely, one had money left. I know there are differing opinions on this, but my wife and I wanted to create the atmosphere that they were all being treated equally, although they still joke about the youngest being the favored one!
“For instance, my taxable investment account consists of just one money market fund and one stock-index fund…”
Wow. There’s a best practice. I am a long way off, but if there’s ever a capital gains tax holiday… And meanwhile, instead of gradually migrating toward five broad indexes…
I’m guessing it’s a global total market fund like you’ve mentioned being the only thing in your Roth. Or you keep taxes even simpler by going US total market and not claiming credit for foreign tax paid?
In a sharp downturn, are you open to harvesting losses and shifting proceeds to another broad index fund, or is the intention more to set and forget?
I’ve owned my taxable account’s U.S. stock index fund for so long that the vast majority of the fund’s value is represented by unrealized capital gains. It would be great to harvest tax losses — except, for that to happen, the stock market would have to lose four-fifths of its value. Careful what you wish for.
Indeed. That’s one to let wait – hopefully a very long time – for a stepup.
Something is really amiss in our country’s priorities. Recently, on an Op-Ed in the NY Times, I read that 2/3rds of American families financially support their children aged 22-40 with an average monthly expense of $700.
With this kind of odds stacked against our future generation, we really need to think through making it better for them. Simplification of our tax code with an incentive towards saving and raising families, a serious debate on our housing policies, and improved access to college education, all come to mind.
Nobody said life has to be fair. Nothing is wrong with our tax codes, Americans enjoy some of the lowest tax rates in the world. As for free loading young adults living at home, parents only have themselves to blame perpetuating this behavior. Send them on their way, let them figure it out. Most of us boomers had to and did just fine.
Do you really think those are the fundamental problems? Have you looked recently at all the various incentives, credits, etc already available? It’s not the access or availability that’s the issue in my opinion, it’s the individuals who ignore or misuse them. A college education is no better than the person uses it or not.
I am not an authority on the matter, but from my own journey, I feel there is a stark contrast in the challenges faced by young couples in raising families today compared to three decades ago.
During my early years, my wife and I managed to survive on a sole income, handling a modest mortgage while welcoming our first child—a decision made possible through careful planning.
However, contemplating the circumstances my children now navigate, it seems implausible for them to replicate this scenario.
With the burden of college loan repayments, an unpredictable job market in an interconnected global landscape, and high housing costs, the prospect of supporting a family on a single income appears increasingly elusive.
In this era of heightened financial strain, I find myself wondering: What provisions in the current federal tax code exist to alleviate the burdens on young families? I feel the incentives for young families today are means tested tax credits while the older generations enjoy entitlements.
As we always hear … it depends.
A couple of my kids do fine on one income with a “stay at home” spouse.
A couple of them NEED two incomes to meet their expenses.
My 7 decades of life has shown me, or at least I believe it is so, that managing one’s expectations are the key.
During our marriage of nearly 55 years at this point we survived on a sole income with a mortgage at 9-1/2% and paid for college for four children. Our lifestyle – living in a house built in 1929 for forty years -.for example and spending habits might not be acceptable to younger people, but that is part of the problem today
I agree. Staying in the same house, remaining married and living within your means by not using savings for overspending really work for the best.
I designed and managed health plans of all types for decades and during those years, I dealt with thousands of complaints from employees and their spouses.
Health insurance can be confusing, but there are several basic reasons for that.
There are too many choices and people overestimate their risk and are afraid of making the wrong choice. The result is frequently over insuring and paying more in premiums than necessary.
The insured pay little attention to their coverage, rarely read important information and even less trying to understand the information provided or select the best option. Not easy or fun, I admit.
Health care providers provide misinformation about coverage and try to interpret different coverages creating inaccurate expectations.
Americans do not see paying for healthcare as a personal responsibility. If a service is not paid in full by a third party they feel ripped off.
We also see all prescribed medical care as appropriate and necessary – as long as we are not paying the bill. It’s not true. Even physicians estimate at least 25% of care is unnecessary.
Workers don’t realize that among large employers their health benefits are self-insured, meaning the employer determines the benefits and hires someone to pay claims. Even if that administrator is a well known insurer, it has no financial incentive to deny any claim. It has no claim risk.
Insurance companies have profit margins about the same as regulated utilities, CEO compensation has insignificant impact on premiums
The only viable solution is a single universal insurance plan. Call it Medicare for All if you like, not socialized medicine, but insurance, everyone in the same risk pool, paid for by a combination of payroll taxes, and income based premiums, and out of pocket costs.
Insurance has effectively been around since the 1940s and we haven’t found a better solution yet.
While I don’t necessarily buy into your views on your former fellow workers, for once I entirely agree with your conclusion. Sadly, in an environment where politicians are calling for repeal of the ACA, and even of Medicare, I see no good path forward. Especially when “socialism” is thrown around as a discussion-closing slur. The medical non-system is an unfortunate example of the worst of American exceptionalism.
Trust me, I could write a book of some length on my experiences dealing with employees, their relatives, and health care providers. I haven’t exaggerated one bit. In fact, participating in several FB groups of my former employer the issues I’m involved with continue today.
I always cringe when someone says “It’s free” about something (anything). Free always has some cost attached to it. When citizens of other countries say their healthcare is “free” I always wonder how much that is actually costing them. It could be like the new deodorant they came out with. It doesn’t get rid of the smell. It just spreads it around so no one knows where it’s coming from.
When flood insurance was “nationalized” back in the 1970s, they projected a savings of 7 or 8 million dollars a year because of increased efficiency. The program currently (as of October 2023) has a debt of $20.5 billion. I think that’s part of fear of nationalizing health insurance.
Part of the problem with flood insurance is that it encouraged building in areas that flood.
Also, climate change is increasing flooding in many areas.
Are there really direct parallels to problems in medical care?
We spend about twice as much per person as the other western democracies, for worse outcomes. There is massive overhead not required in single-payer systems (the doctor I saw in France had no back-office staff at all), and a lot of profiteering. Do you really not think that the money can be better allocated?
Controlling costs is actually a separate issue from universal coverage and insurance.
Everything we would spend on a universal plan is being spent today in any number of ways. There will be no major savings and managing future increases will be a shock to health care providers and patients. Some efficiency is possible, but capturing the value is not easy.
A simple example, one claim filing system would reduce admin costs for all providers. Do the savings accrue to a medical practice or do we reduce allowable fees to capture the savings?
In any case the cost would be more equitably distributed, not dependent on who you work for, the subsidy you receive, etc.
Excellent points, and would add that the increase in networked plans to save money (aka preserve profits) has also contributed to dissatisfaction among insureds. Even if someone has a plan today and their own doctors are “in network”, there is no guarantee that a doc won’t switch practices to one that doesn’t take your plan, or drop out of that network for other reasons. Doctors also make referrals to specialists who may not be in your plan’s network. Or, if surgery is needed, the surgeon may take your insurance, but the hospital doesn’t, or it might, but only with an administrative waiver which can take months, if ever, to get approved.
Very true. That all started as a response to closed networks of HMOs
We’re finding out that discovering the bottom line for college cost is a step-wise process. After picking her schools, my daughter first learned how much “merit” money her academic prowess had earned her. She’s now in the midst of trying for some competitive scholarship money, which involves essay writing and interviews. One school is the top choice for all of us, but her parents are encouraging a plan B–just in case–and for interview practice. Plan C is a state school, for which she’s already met the academic threshold for full-tuition. Tuition is just part of the picture, room and board and other costs will add up to a hefty sum. The balance of the burden will mostly be met with 529 money. We didn’t fully fund this account while we were focusing on retirement savings.
She won’t quality for aid, but the delay in the FAFSA revamp is holding up the whole process for college admissions staff. Apparently, a programming glitch will negatively impact funding for some families, and won’t be corrected before next year. Some good news–the question count may be down to 38.
The college picture was murky, but becoming clearer. Still undiscoverable–trying to get a final quote from your healthcare provider, including your physical therapist.
I’m curious where you go to get FAFSA intel such as your reference to the computer-glitch and 38 questions. I’m preparing to do it for the first time, read a Princeton Review book on the topic, but haven’t seen many sneak peeks at what the changes are. Thanks!
From my wife! Seriously, she’s more tuned in than me, reading all correspondence from the college admissions office. I’ll update this reply this evening when I have chance to ask her.
Thanks to both of you. I’ll check back later.
John, my wife says the information about the 38 questions was sent to her by one of the universities. Another source says 36. Here is some information indicating possibly even less. Here is a Washington post article about a FAFSA error. And this link leads you to the FAFSA update page from the DOE. I wish you and your child the best as you work through this daunting process.
Thanks ! Really helpful. Great of you to share the wealth ( of knowledge)!
John, it looks like the opening rush may have overwhelmed the FAFSA site. It’s currently “down for maintenance.”
Me too. Dependent grandson in 11th. Almost 20 years and living in a different state the last time I did this, but time to start researching. Thanks.
Oh that last sentence is one of my pet peeves. Health Savings Accounts were supposed to make us become smarter consumers, but just try getting a quote!
Agree. Only gov. bureaucrats could come up with a plan that mostly benefits the upper middle class who don’t need this benefit, just gives them yet another tax break. O’yes, and adds more complexity to an insane health care system. Only financially savvy folks use HSAs and they are typically not the ones who really need this benefit. Poorer folks don’t want to take on the financial risk or just don’t have the bandwidth to figure this out. Same goes for health care reimbursement accounts. Only an insane bureaucrat could come up with this. Why??? My company farmed the management of our reimbursement account. So a company was created, and added expense to pay them, for a marginal tax benefit which again, generally goes to the upper middle class….
That was a farce from day one. No patient will ever be a consumer, nor should they be. Aside from taking a generic drug, we are not shopping for the best price for our health care. Even today most people equate cost with quality.
Could not agree more Dan – Just getting through to speak to a human being at health providers offices is a challenge anymore!