Financial Planning/Financing Grad School/Savings Options

[DancerFutureDPT]

Hey all,

So 6 months ago a local bank had a really good promotional CD rate for new customers, so I signed up for it and put about $20k in there (2.75% APY). Anyway, it comes due tomorrow and I'm trying to decide what to do with it.

I don't want to risk it at all, so money market, stocks, and mutual funds are out of the question. All the CD rates right now pretty much suck, and I don't want to lock my money away for more than 6 months since I'll need it in August.

For those of you saving for PT school, where do you have your money? I found a 529 savings account that has like 1% APY. That's appealing to me since you don't have to pay tax on the interest if you use it for school related purchases (room/board, tuition, books, etc.). But at the same time, the interest on any of these accounts are going to be so little anyway that paying tax on it won't matter.

Any suggestions?

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[DancerFutureDPT]

oh, so I came across some other similar topics on other forums....and it spawned another question.

When it comes to getting financial aid, I know it's better to not have any money, because if I have a hefty lump sum sitting in the bank account, FAFSA won't want to give me money.

Is the same true for loans? Will it be easier/harder to get a loan if I have $20k or so in the bank?

One of my friends told me I should either give the money to my parents to hold on to so it's not in my name, or to go buy a car or something with it (which I was looking into anyway) prior to applying for financial aid.

If I were to give up the money, would that potentially screw me over if I were to try to rent an apartment w/o a parent co-signing? Or would I be better off using the money as a down payment on a condo or something prior to applying for financial aid?

I am so confused. I thought I had prepared myself well by reading all the financial planning books and stuff, but apparently not.

 

[helloteenah]

I'm curious about this too. I have a nice nest egg from my dad's death benefits, and I currently make $30,000.00 a year at my FT job. I'm probably guessing I'll get nothing in government loans.

I'm also wondering if I should pay the majority of my tuition up front instead of getting loans for the entire amount because I'm worried about the outrageous interest accruing.

Course I don't want to give all of my nest egg because I need an emergency fund.