Money talks for the kitchen table

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The FAFSA for the 2027–28 school year asks about our 2025 tax return. So we work from a return that’s already done, not this year’s.

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The federal form has to be received by June 30, 2028. State and college deadlines can be as early as October 1, 2026, and some aid goes first-come, first-served. Let’s write our state’s date and each college’s date on this card tonight.

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If you were born after 2003, aren’t married, and none of the special situations on the form apply to you, the form treats you as a dependent student. Then a parent fills in the Parent section, even if you don’t live with that parent. Grandparents, guardians and stepparents who are widowed don’t count as parents on this form unless they adopted you.

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The student and every contributor have to give consent for tax information to move into the FAFSA. If one of us doesn’t, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid. So this one isn’t really optional for either of us.

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No. Your Student Aid Index shows up on the FAFSA Submission Summary. A college takes its cost of attendance, subtracts the SAI, and the gap is your financial need. Each college then builds its own aid offer from that.

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A UGMA or UTMA custodial account counts as your asset on the FAFSA. A 529 college plan counts as a parent’s asset when a parent fills in the form. Retirement accounts, like a 401(k) or an IRA, aren’t reported at all.

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Online, you can list up to 20 schools. For federal aid the order doesn’t matter, but it can matter for state aid, so we check our state’s rule first.

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No. The FAFSA is free, and the form itself says paid preparers aren’t allowed. Free help is at StudentAid.gov/fafsahelp or 1-800-433-3243.

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We fill out the form as it asks, then tell each college’s financial aid office what changed, like a lost job, a pay cut or big medical bills. The form tells families to do exactly that once it’s submitted.

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Aid is paid through the college. It usually goes to tuition, fees, and housing and food first, and anything left can come to you for other school costs. That leftover is the money to plan a budget around.

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At 14 or 15, federal rules allow up to 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week. Work has to fall between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., or 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. At 16 and 17 there’s no federal hours limit, and our state’s rules can be stricter than the federal ones.

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The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. A worker under 20 can be paid $4.25 an hour for their first 90 days in a row with a new employer. If our state’s minimum is higher, the employer has to pay the higher one.

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Form I-9 checks that you’re allowed to work. Your part is due by your first day, and you show original documents. Form W-4 tells your employer how much federal income tax to hold back from each paycheck.

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Social Security takes 6.2% of your pay and Medicare takes 1.45%. Your employer pays the same amounts again on top of that. Federal income tax can come out too, based on your Form W-4.

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Yes. If you get $20 or more in cash tips in a month, you report them to your employer by the 10th of the next month. Tips under $20 a month still go on your tax return.

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Maybe not, but if income tax came out of your pay, filing is how you get it back. When tax comes out of your pay, your employer has to file a Form W-2, the Wage and Tax Statement, for you. We keep it in one folder until tax season.

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Once you have earned income, a parent can open a custodial Roth IRA for you while you’re under 18. For 2026, the most anyone can put into all their IRAs is $7,500, or their taxable pay for the year if that’s less.

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Money in a deposit account at an FDIC-insured bank is covered up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each ownership category. Some teen apps say plainly that they aren’t banks and keep money through a partner bank, so we read where the money actually sits.

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IRS Free File’s guided software is free when adjusted gross income is $89,000 or less. Start at IRS.gov/freefile, because going straight to a tax company’s own site won’t get you the Free File version.

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A UGMA or UTMA custodial account is a gift that can’t be taken back. It passes to you at the age our state sets, typically 18 or 21, and up to 25 in some states. Until then, the money can only be used for your benefit.

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It depends on the bank, so we look ours up. Capital One’s MONEY Teen Checking stays open, and at 18 you can apply for an adult 360 Checking account. Chase closes a Chase First Banking account by age 25 if no other account has been picked.

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Card companies generally can’t issue a credit card to anyone under 21 unless they show their own ability to pay or someone over 21 co-signs. That gives us a few years to practice with a debit card and a budget first.

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You can check your report from each of the three national credit bureaus once a week, for free. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only site authorized to give out the free reports the law entitles you to. A birthday is a good time for a first look, to spot any account you don’t recognize.

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Under FERPA, the rights over your education records move from us to you at 18, or when you start college if that comes first. So it’s worth deciding together what you’ll share with us, and how.

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Fidelity’s Youth Account, for ages 13 to 17, can convert to a regular brokerage account at 18. The teen has 60 days to finish the switch before trading limits kick in. If yours is somewhere else, we look up its rule tonight.

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A parent manages a custodial Roth IRA until the child becomes an adult under state law, typically between 18 and 25. Then ownership moves over to you.

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Some teen apps say plainly that they aren’t banks and hold money through a partner bank. FDIC insurance covers deposits at an FDIC-insured bank up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each ownership category. It doesn’t cover investments, even ones a bank sells.

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Capital One’s MONEY Teen Checking makes a child 6 or older a joint holder with a parent. Chase First Banking, for ages 6 to 17, is opened and managed by a parent. Fidelity’s Youth Account, for ages 13 to 17, is owned by the teen.

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Capital One lists no monthly or maintenance fees and no minimums on MONEY Teen Checking. Greenlight’s plans start at $5.99 a month. Let’s write down the monthly cost of anything we look at before we pick.

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Chase First Banking lets a parent choose where and how much a child can spend, in stores and online. Greenlight lists spending limits and real-time notifications for the card. Let’s agree on the limits together before the card shows up.

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Money in a custodial account is a gift held in your name. It can’t be taken back, and until you come of age it can only be spent for your benefit.

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FamZoo lists card locking and card activity alerts among its features. Greenlight lists spending limits and real-time notifications. Whatever we pick, let’s find that switch together tonight.