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Emergency savings and tuition assistance
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 5:44 pm
So I read on here that it is important to have 6 months of emergency savings in case of something unexpected like job loss, illness, chas vshalom or anything else...

So I live very simply and im trying to put away that amount I save of not hiring cleaning help etc..so that I can have emergency savings ...IM NOT TALKING ABOUT SAVING FOR DOWN PAYMENT but in case I have unexpected expenses or extras like my kids all will need braces so I want to put away money or for simple simple bar mitzva...weddings... do I have a right to scrimp and therefore save that extra for expenses that will occur soon ...and emergency...even though im requesting tuition deduction???

Yes, the tuition committee sees all my documents/statements....but recently one school decided they dont want to know all the details so every school is different...

But, I live very simply so that I can save and im thinking we both work so hard. WE PAY HIGH TUITION N GET A SMALL DEDUCTION so why put away to save if the school will charge me more tution but am I not entitled to save??

How can I have emergency savings if im requesting deduction??

And I want to explain that I personally believe that as long as both parents are working and trying to pay tuition then its different than sahms who say "its too hard to work"(but its not my place to judge and I kbow im supposed be dan lkaf zechus") but if im going to cut corners to pay high tutions then I should be able to also save because its important to save for things like braces...plus emergency savings...

Wat do u think??

Pls only reply if u and ur dh both work full time and u get a small tuition reduction(if u are not in this position, there is no way for u to understand).
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amother
Olive


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 5:50 pm
Why do you think the schools will have a problem with this? Their goal is not to have you run up credit card debt every time you're hit with an unexpected expense.
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 6:18 pm
amother wrote:
Why do you think the schools will have a problem with this? Their goal is not to have you run up credit card debt every time you're hit with an unexpected expense.


Thanks for replying. You are making a good point. But, if the school is asking me for my bank statements(which includes savings accounts) and for any mutual funds or stocks....(ppl may put their savings in a fund to "grow" ) then this makes me think they have a problem with savings because the school already has my w2s and tax forms which has to have all my income. So, for example, if my w2 shows 100,000 as our income and the school sees 10000 in savings. Well, that 10000 was included in our income of 100000 and we already explained to the school that we dont go to hotels for pesach, dont have hired help, dont own 2 cars etc(we have to give the school an accounting of how we spend our money )so the school already knows all the information why would they need to see our savings accounts statement ??? So I thought they want to see how much we saved so that we should pay more.

Anyway, wat do u mean that their goal is for us not to run credit card debt?? I thought they want our credit card statements to see if we are spending on luxuries and if someone is spending on luxuries, they would insist to use the credit card for tuition too??

Again, I didnt think they would need savings account statements and stocks info if they didnt care how much one saved(they get w2 salary info and tax forms).
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amother
Olive


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 6:24 pm
They want to have all of the information, but your analysis of what they're expecting is not in line with any school I'm familiar with. If you're being honest, you'll be fine. It's the normal, responsible thing to have an amount in savings. When that amount is more than they would expect, they may follow up with some questions. Again, they're not expecting parents to be financially irresponsible.
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amother
Amber


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 6:31 pm
amother wrote:
Thanks for replying. You are making a good point. But, if the school is asking me for my bank statements(which includes savings accounts) and for any mutual funds or stocks....(ppl may put their savings in a fund to "grow" ) then this makes me think they have a problem with savings because the school already has my w2s and tax forms which has to have all my income. So, for example, if my w2 shows 100,000 as our income and the school sees 10000 in savings. Well, that 10000 was included in our income of 100000 and we already explained to the school that we dont go to hotels for pesach, dont have hired help, dont own 2 cars etc(we have to give the school an accounting of how we spend our money )so the school already knows all the information why would they need to see our savings accounts statement ??? So I thought they want to see how much we saved so that we should pay more.

Anyway, wat do u mean that their goal is for us not to run credit card debt?? I thought they want our credit card statements to see if we are spending on luxuries and if someone is spending on luxuries, they would insist to use the credit card for tuition too??

Again, I didnt think they would need savings account statements and stocks info if they didnt care how much one saved(they get w2 salary info and tax forms).


Your tax returns doesn't list your assets.

If you are earning 100,000 a year and have 1,000,000 saved - I can see the tuition committee looking for some of your assets to pay for tuition.
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 7:09 pm
I'm not in the category your describing but I agree with previous poster- they probably want to know assets in order to know if you have A LOT of savings. I think it was discussed before on here and it seems it depends om the school. Someone can have a million dollars in the bank but not working currently- do you think they should get a scholarship? I would hope the school wouldn't begrudge you "emergency funds"
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amother
Lemon


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 7:16 pm
amother wrote:
Your tax returns doesn't list your assets.

If you are earning 100,000 a year and have 1,000,000 saved - I can see the tuition committee looking for some of your assets to pay for tuition.


Assuming the million dollars is not in cash, but is held in some type of account where it is earning interest at the least, that income should be included in your tax return. And then the school can ask for more info on that account.
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 7:22 pm
amother wrote:
Your tax returns doesn't list your assets.

If you are earning 100,000 a year and have 1,000,000 saved - I can see the tuition committee looking for some of your assets to pay for tuition.


Exactly my point!! My point is that if I have too much in savings, the tuition committee would say that one shld use ur savings to pay.

BUT IM NOT TALKING ABOUT 1 MILLION SAVED. if I had that much saved, I would not be asking for a reduction.

I guess I should ask what u think is "excess in savings" such that the committee would say pay more tuition from ur savings!!. Example, if someone has 8 kids and saved 100,000 thats not a lot of emergency savings for big expenses especially since school registration fees for 6 kids alone is more than someone s income of 100k can cover.

How much is considered reasonable to have in savings especially considering we need to make weddings and even takana weddings are at least 10k plus theres shabbos sheva brachos...
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 7:24 pm
amother wrote:
They want to have all of the information, but your analysis of what they're expecting is not in line with any school I'm familiar with. If you're being honest, you'll be fine. It's the normal, responsible thing to have an amount in savings. When that amount is more than they would expect, they may follow up with some questions. Again, they're not expecting parents to be financially irresponsible.


Ok so please tell me ur opinion of how much the committee thinks u can have so that u are not financially irresponsible. How much is ok to save??
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 7:28 pm
amother wrote:
Assuming the million dollars is not in cash, but is held in some type of account where it is earning interest at the least, that income should be included in your tax return. And then the school can ask for more info on that account.


Good point. The tax returns would mention assets indirectly because any income from stocks etc...must be sent to irs and one has to record exactly what the capital gains were, dividends....and then taxes are paid on that.

Also, my kids schools ask for credit report authorization form so they can check for assets with that report too.
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amother
Amber


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 7:50 pm
amother wrote:
Good point. The tax returns would mention assets indirectly because any income from stocks etc...must be sent to irs and one has to record exactly what the capital gains were, dividends....and then taxes are paid on that.

Also, my kids schools ask for credit report authorization form so they can check for assets with that report too.


Nobody at the tuition committee is interested in deriving the value of your assets by how much income they are generating... especially since they can be very wrong.

I don't think your credit report would provide all that information. Certainly mine doesn't.
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amother
Amber


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 7:53 pm
amother wrote:
Exactly my point!! My point is that if I have too much in savings, the tuition committee would say that one shld use ur savings to pay.

BUT IM NOT TALKING ABOUT 1 MILLION SAVED. if I had that much saved, I would not be asking for a reduction.

I guess I should ask what u think is "excess in savings" such that the committee would say pay more tuition from ur savings!!. Example, if someone has 8 kids and saved 100,000 thats not a lot of emergency savings for big expenses especially since school registration fees for 6 kids alone is more than someone s income of 100k can cover.

How much is considered reasonable to have in savings especially considering we need to make weddings and even takana weddings are at least 10k plus theres shabbos sheva brachos...


I don't know the answer to that - but you started this thread assuming that six months would not be acceptable. Not sure why you think that.
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 9:33 pm
amother wrote:
I don't know the answer to that - but you started this thread assuming that six months would not be acceptable. Not sure why you think that.


Thanks for your comment and my response is that I do think that 6 months of emergency savings would be a different amount to different ppl so I didnt think they would allow too much.
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amother
Amber


 

Post Tue, Feb 05 2019, 9:38 pm
amother wrote:
Thanks for your comment and my response is that I do think that 6 months of emergency savings would be a different amount to different ppl so I didnt think they would allow too much.


Every school is going to have their own matrix on what they think is reasonable.

It would be nice if all of this was a conversation - and not full blown investigation.
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Raisin




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Feb 06 2019, 5:46 am
I kind of find it mindblowing that OP thinks it is frivolous to save for a downpayment, but not for a Bar Mitzva or wedding or braces or $10000 weddings.

If somebody doesn't own a house, I hope tuition committees are allowing them to save for that. Not doing so is extremely short sighted.
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amother
Lilac


 

Post Wed, Feb 06 2019, 7:13 am
My personal involvement with a tuition committee (only one school) is that no one expects a family to have zero savings. That's irresponsible in the long term. We feel bad enough that not everyone can pay in full, and we really appreciate how hard families work. Believe it or not, we're partners. We want your child to get an education. We also want you to be able to pay medical bills, buy a house (though not necessarily a mansion) and retire with dignity.

The request for statements is to make sure that someone with low income isn't sitting on a huge pile of undeclared cash. Sometimes people play tax games to look poor, when in fact they have significant assets. It's rare, but it can happen. And when it does, the school and honest parents lose out.
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Wed, Feb 06 2019, 7:29 am
Raisin wrote:
I kind of find it mindblowing that OP thinks it is frivolous to save for a downpayment, but not for a Bar Mitzva or wedding or braces or $10000 weddings.

If somebody doesn't own a house, I hope tuition committees are allowing them to save for that. Not doing so is extremely short sighted.


Where did I say that?? I never explained my thoughts on what I thought about savings for a downpayment but I figured telling the committee I'm saving 130000 for downpayment is different from saying I need the money for my kids braces, registration fees, weddings, bar mitzvah etc.. I'm sorry but I do believe buying a house is not a necessity but braces for teeth health etc....are necessities...

I would love to be able to sav for downpayment too but with all I need to report (which I do) it seems any large amount I save ...

Pls dont derail this thread to talk about what ur assumptions are about my thoughts on priorities of what to save for.

This is really about what u think committee would allow and u Did say u hope they allow saving for downpayment but I dont think majority applying for deduction of tuition have a million hidden plus high salaries....

And with all the documents I need to give it seems if I have 300000 saved(which I donthave that at all) and say well I need for downpayment and 6 months emergency savings. And...so I can't pay more tuition, I dont get a sense that the committee would give a deduction...otherwise they would focus more on salary and spending on luxuries....(my savings came from my salary I reported and I'm frugal so I can save)
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amother
Lilac


 

Post Wed, Feb 06 2019, 7:31 am
amother wrote:
Where did I say that?? I never explained my thoughts on what I thought about savings for a downpayment but I figured telling the committee I'm saving 130000 for downpayment is different from saying I need the money for my kids braces, registration fees, weddings, bar mitzvah etc.. I'm sorry but I do believe buying a house is not a necessity but braces for teeth health etc....are necessities...

I would love to be able to sav for downpayment too but with all I need to report (which I do) it seems any large amount I save ...

Pls dont derail this thread to talk about what ur assumptions are about my thoughts on priorities of what to save for.

This is really about what u think committee would allow and u Did say u hope they allow saving for downpayment but I dont think majority applying for deduction of tuition have a million hidden plus high salaries....

And with all the documents I need to give it seems if I have 300000 saved(which I donthave that at all) and say well I need for downpayment and 6 months emergency savings. And...so I can't pay more tuition, I dont get a sense that the committee would give a deduction...otherwise they would focus more on salary and spending on luxuries....(my savings came from my salary I reported and I'm frugal so I can save)


Why would it look like you have $300k saved if you don't?
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Wed, Feb 06 2019, 7:47 am
amother wrote:
My personal involvement with a tuition committee (only one school) is that no one expects a family to have zero savings. That's irresponsible in the long term. We feel bad enough that not everyone can pay in full, and we really appreciate how hard families work. Believe it or not, we're partners. We want your child to get an education. We also want you to be able to pay medical bills, buy a house (though not necessarily a mansion) and retire with dignity.

The request for statements is to make sure that someone with low income isn't sitting on a huge pile of undeclared cash. Sometimes people play tax games to look poor, when in fact they have significant assets. It's rare, but it can happen. And when it does, the school and honest parents lose out.


Well if that's true about ur school that's good to know but that has not been my experience.

And are u really saying that the schools are requesting all savings accounts stocks...just because there are some dishonest ppl (which u said is rare that poor ppl are sitting with tremendous amounts hidden ) I mean if someone wanted to hide then they can easily not give in all their bank statements....and these ppl are already signing falsely on their tax returns and on the tuition application, so they clearly have no problem with dishonesty... I believe most dishonest ppl are usually not found out.

But, since u say your school does want to work with parents and even want them to buy a house, then pls tell me wats a reasonable amount of savings ur school would allow for someone with 6 kids and salary of 120k if they want save downpayment and for weddings braces registration fees. Emergency savings...and they live simply ????

Pls enlighten me bec I agree that schools shld know a lot of information if u want a deduction but savings that are from the salary I reported already on w2....makes me think they don't allow enough savings (this has not been an issue yet bec I have very little saved but if I want to save more...)
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Wed, Feb 06 2019, 7:59 am
amother wrote:
Why would it look like you have $300k saved if you don't?


I'm not saying it will look like I have 300k saved. I was asking that poster if she thinks the committee would give a deduction if I had 300k saved(and I would explain I need it for downpayment, emergency savings, etc...) or would they say well with that amount saved, u could certainly pay full tuition bec u only need 40k emergency savings???
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