Estimate your Student Aid Index (SAI) under the new FAFSA simplification rules and identify legal moves to lower it before submitting. Covers retirement-account exclusions, the primary-home rule, and small-business protection.
The FAFSA Simplification Act replaced the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with the Student Aid Index (SAI) starting with the 2024-25 award year. The new SAI uses a cleaner formula but the same core levers still apply: parental income (about 22-47% of available income counts toward SAI), student income, parental assets (5.64% counts), and student assets (20% counts). Retirement accounts, your primary home, and certain family businesses are excluded from the asset count.
This calculator does two things. First, it computes your projected SAI from your inputs (parent AGI, untaxed income, asset totals split by type, student income and assets, family size, and number in college). Second, it walks through the legal optimization moves you could make BEFORE the asset snapshot date to lower your SAI — without committing tax fraud or distorting your finances in a way that backfires.
The biggest legal moves: maximize retirement contributions in the asset year (401(k), 403(b), IRA), pay down credit card and consumer debt (reduces reportable assets), use taxable savings to pay essential pre-paid expenses (insurance, property tax), and consider whether re-titling student assets to a parent makes sense (parental assets count 5.64% vs student assets at 20%). For business owners, the small-business exclusion ($0-$100k owners with under 100 FTE) is a major shelter.
Step 1 — Enter parent income. AGI from last year's tax return plus untaxed income (untaxed Social Security, pre-tax 401(k) contributions if 'add-back' rules apply for your state, etc.).
Step 2 — Enter assets at the snapshot date. Cash + checking + savings, taxable brokerage, 529 plans. Exclude retirement (401k, 403b, 457b, IRA, Roth IRA, pension value), primary home, qualifying small business.
Step 3 — Enter student income and assets. Student wages, custodial accounts (UTMA/UGMA), and the student's own retirement (yes, student retirement is excluded too). The tool shows the SAI contribution from each line so you can see which levers matter for your specific family.
Enter your AGI, untaxed income, and assets. The tool returns your projected SAI, your need-based aid eligibility, and a list of legal moves that could lower your SAI before October 1.
Open the FAFSA strategy tool →EFC (Expected Family Contribution) was the pre-2024 formula. SAI (Student Aid Index) is the post-FAFSA-Simplification formula. SAI can be negative (down to -$1,500) for very-low-income families, expanding aid eligibility. The asset and income treatment is similar but the formula has fewer adjustments and is more transparent. The 'number in college' bonus for siblings was removed (a big loss for multi-college-kid families).
No — qualified retirement accounts (401k, 403b, 457b, IRA, Roth IRA, pension cash value) are excluded from the asset count for both parents and student. This is the single biggest legal shelter: maxing $24,500 to a 401(k) in the asset year reduces parental income (lowering SAI from the income side) AND moves $24,500 out of reportable assets. Untaxed contributions to retirement accounts ARE counted as untaxed income on the FAFSA itself, but the assets disappear.
Excluded for the federal FAFSA. Your primary home's value and mortgage are NOT reported. (CSS Profile schools — many private universities use this in addition to FAFSA — DO count home equity, with their own home-equity formula.) Investment property and vacation homes ARE counted as assets at full value.
Income is based on your 'prior-prior year' tax return (e.g. FAFSA for 2026-27 award year uses 2024 tax info). Assets are reported as of the date you submit the FAFSA. So asset-side moves (paying down credit cards, making a 529 contribution, paying property tax in advance) can be made any time before you click submit. Income-side moves have to be timed to the 2-year-prior tax year.