FAP896: Credit cards, jobcast, mail bag, TONS of free stuff
FAP896: Credit cards, jobcast, mail bag, TONS of free stuff
Listen now:
Weekly Financial Aid Roundup
Major changes to credit cards including student credit cards coming as soon as 90 days away.
The usual roundup of diminishing funds.
Also, W-2s and 1099s should be in, so get your taxes done and get your FAFSA filed.
Oh yeah, and new President of the United States.
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Jobcast
Doing something different with your resume.
News You Can Use
Go grab our old meditation episode if you missed it last year.
We also talked this week about economic stress and how to deal with it.
Mail Bag
Kim writes:
I have a question about my taxes and the affect on the FAFSA - Question 85.
I was laid off in May and am getting unemployment, so meet the dislocated worker definition. I earned $24,000 in my job, and I also received $16,000 in unemployment. There is no way I can get my AGI below $30,000, but if I take the Hope Credit off the front end, it would lower my AGI to $36,000 however I would lose about $1,200 in refunds.I met with a tax advisor today, but am not sure which way to go. Counting my daughter’s tuition on the front of the 1040 will reduce the AGI, but not below $30,000 to qualify for zero EFC. How much difference will it make to the EFC if my AGI is $32,000, $36,000 or $40,000? With any of those as the AGI, would she qualify for a Pell Grant? Or am I better off to take the tuition as a deduction on the second page of the 1040, and get the refund?
Not being a tax expert, what I’d recommend is that you feed the two scenarios into the government’s official FAFSA forecaster. This will give you an estimated EFC based on the FAFSA data you provide and you can then judge if the difference in EFC merits the tax refund loss. My instinctive guess (and it’s a guess) is that the refund is worth more than the EFC change, but try out the forecaster and see what it says.
Free Stuff Friday
There’s a lot of valuable stuff in this week’s show. Just to be clear, everything in here is 100% legal - so when I mention a free audiobook or something, the offer is legit and not from some sketchy MP3 site in Lower East Dragonblight or wherever software pirates do their work.
+ Watch Lost plus other network television on your Mac or Apple TV live
+ Free Dark Chocolate Raspberry something or other from Quaker Oats
+ Free federal tax prep and filing from TaxAct
+ Free Dora potty training kit from Pampers
+ Free microwave popcorn from Orville
+ College Goal Sunday in a lot of places this weekend, including Massachusetts
+ No knead pizza dough for DIY pizza - and believe me, it’s tasty AND saves you money
+ 7 Habits of Highly Effective People audiobook for free!
+ Have I flogged our free eBooks enough?
+ Near Providence, Rhode Island? NewBCamp is February 8, and there are free tickets available. I’ll be speaking.
+ Speaking of conferences, check out the Pixelated Business Marketing Conference In a Box. It’s great speakers’ sessions for free.
Free Song of the Week
5 most recent Financial Aid Podcast posts
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Reminders
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+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Online degrees programs and directories at Edvisors.com
+ Free college scholarships contests!
+ Open an FDIC-insured savings account today!
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ Parent PLUS loans at ParentPLUSLoan.com
+ Graduate student loans at GradLoans.com
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit PrivateStudentLoans.com
+ FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.
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